The College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Undergraduate Advising Center has a new location in Willingham Hall. Located in room 223, the Undergraduate Advising Center is a hub for peer advisors helping freshman and sophomores maneuver through the maze of KSU general education courses.
Buoyed along by KSU’s goal toward increased retention and graduation rates, peer advisors help students develop an educational plan by explaining degree program, minor and certificate requirements. They also offer guidance on academic policies, procedures and rules within CHSS.
Peer advisors also connect students with available campus resources including financial aid, counseling, career services and tutoring. Their new offices, housed in the same building
as the CHSS Director’s office, the Veterans Resource Center and the Honors Program, are welcoming, efficient and easily accessible.
Since its opening a year ago, CHSS peer advisors see approximately 1,200 students per semester. Peer advisors, representative of most majors in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, add unequivocal value by allowing faculty advisers and department heads to focus their efforts on making sure upper division major requirements are met by juniors and seniors.
“I believe what we are doing here is important” said Matthew Waller, Lecturer and Academic Advisor.
In the past, Waller says, colleges and universities were focused on enrollment numbers but now it is more about graduation numbers. Data suggests that if students receive beneficial advisement and feel connected, they are more likely to stay in college.
In an open letter to college and university leaders, a national higher-education commission said that improving college “completion rates is an economic and moral imperative.”
The University System of Georgia concurs. In its Executive Summary of Complete College Georgia, the university system states: “By 2020, it is projected that over 60 percent of jobs in Georgia will require some form of a college education, whether a certificate, associate’s degree, or bachelor’s degree. Today, only 42 percent of the state’s young adults, its burgeoning workforce, qualify. Georgia’s level of higher education attainment is not expected to notably increase in this time period. College completion is an imperative for a prosperous future in Georgia …”
KSU has committed to positively impacting Georgia’s future and is making every effort in achieving high retention and graduation rates. If you would like to play a role, CHSS Undergraduate Advising Center is looking for peer advisors.
Contact CHSS at (770) 794- 7728 for more information.
