Memorandum of Understanding
Between the UW-Stevens Point Student Government Association and the Division of Academic Affairs
Regarding Academic and Career Advising and Differential Tuition
September 18, 2015
The following document describes the model for academic and career advising at UW-Stevens Point that
both the Student Government Association and the Division of Academic Affairs have agreed to
implement in the event that students approve a new differential tuition proposal in the referendum to
be held in November 2015.
Outcomes
Use resources provided through differential tuition to ensure that:
• All new first-year students receive consistent, high-quality academic and career advising from
professional advisors during at least their first three semesters at UW-Stevens Point, including
orientation
• All new transfer students receive consistent, high-quality academic and career advising from
professional advisors during at least their first semester at UW-Stevens Point, including
orientation
• All students in transition between majors and students who are academically at-risk receive
appropriate academic and career advising from professional advisors
• All professional advisors receive ongoing training that includes both knowledge of the General
Education Program and sufficient knowledge of academic programs and policies to facilitate
advising students in transition.
• All faculty members responsible for academic and career advising for students in the majors
receive consistent and ongoing training from professional advising staff
• All academic and career advising at UW-Stevens Point be subject to annual assessment for
continuous improvement.
Structure
The existing Student Academic Advising Center and Career Services offices will be merged under a new
structure in which all staff will share common responsibility for both academic and career advising. This
unit will be moved from the Student Services building to the Learning Resource Center (LRC) to form a
comprehensive Academic and Career Advising (ACA) Center and will be responsible for all undeclared
students at UW-Stevens Point. The ACA Center will also establish satellite locations in each of the four
colleges staffed with professional advisors also responsible for both academic and career advising.
These satellite locations will assume responsibility for students with declared majors in each of the
respective colleges.
As part of the relocation to the LRC, the new ACA Center will become part of a larger student success
unit called University College. This unit will align academic and career advising with tutoring, the
disability and assistive technology center, General Education, the library, and a new teaching and
learning center for faculty/staff professional development, which will also include professional
development related to academic and career advising.
The satellite ACA locations and personnel will each remain part of their respective colleges, but they will
be subject to the accountability measures outlined below.
Accountability
In order to achieve and maintain the outcomes noted above, the Division of Academic Affairs will work
to ensure accountability for academic and career advising in the following manner:
• Create an organizational structure—specifically, a new University College that includes a new
Academic and Career Advising Center—that facilitates adequate support and accountability for
academic and career advising. The Dean of University College and the Director of the ACA
Center will become chiefly responsible for all aspects of advising at UW-Stevens Point. The
Director of the ACA Center will chair a reconstituted Advising Council that will report to the
Dean of University College.
• Provide appropriate facilities and physical space to support this new organizational structure.
Specifically, the campus ACA Center will be relocated to the LRC to facilitate greater visibility
and better integration with tutoring, the disability and assistive technology center, instructional
technology, the library, and other student support services. In the colleges, each satellite ACA
Center will be provided a similar common space to provide this same level of visibility.
• Ensure that all professional advisors in the ACA Center and the four satellite locations have a
common core position description. These responsibilities will receive priority over other
responsibilities and must include as primary roles:
 Advising all new first-year students for at least three semesters, including orientation
 Advising all new transfer students for at least one semester, including orientation
 Advising students in transition between majors and those academically at risk
 Providing career services to all students as an integral part of academic advising
 Providing training to faculty and peer advisors
• Professional staff within the campus ACA Center will additionally serve as the principal contacts
for communication with external stakeholders regarding such things as internships, job fairs,
campus recruiting, etc.
• Ensure that all training for advisors—professional, faculty, and peer—is consistent and provided
on a regular basis. The Director of the ACA Center will be responsible for this effort. Training
for professional advisors will include both knowledge of the General Education Program and
sufficient knowledge of academic programs to facilitate advising students in transition. Training
for faculty advisors will include a “Master Advisor” program to be implemented through the new
teaching and learning center.
• Ensure that all advisors and their students utilize the same tools to support academic and career
advising, including advising syllabi, academic plans, scheduling, degree audits, advising notes,
early warning systems, and other support materials. These tools will be developed as part of the
implementation of a new student information system over the next two years and will be
provided as much as possible online.
• Ensure that all academic departments adhere to common policies related to advising, including
adherence to the definition and learning outcomes approved for academic advising, the use of
waitlists, the assignment of “Permission Required” status to courses, the 60-credit rule in the
General Education Program, and other related policies.