Wiregrass Georgia Technical College is proud to announce that our college has been selected to participate in the charter cohort of the Excellence in Academic Advising comprehensive advising strategic planning process. Created jointly by NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising and the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, Excellence in Academic Advising  establishes the aspirational standards for institutions to evaluate and improve academic advising, and acknowledge the central role of advising in promoting student learning, success, andcompletion.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

In this first year, Wiregrass will partner with an Excellence in Academic Advising Fellow who will guide the school through an institution-wide, evidence‐based decision making, planning, and implementation process to improve its academic advising efforts. Using EAA’s nine “Conditions of Excellence in Academic Advising,” Wiregrass Tech will refine, validate, and establish the standards or benchmarks to guide a reflective self- study and strategic assessment of academic advising.  “Participating in the EAA process is a momentous opportunity for Wiregrass,” shared Dr. Jammie Wilbanks, Associate Vice President for Academic Success for Wiregrass.  “We will have the opportunity to systematically look at student data for the past 8-10 years to enhance student success going forward. We will help establish global academic advising standards. Academic advising does not happen in silos; it takes the entire college to guide students to success. This process will afford us the opportunity to look at advising in The ARC (Advising and Retention Center), as well as advising at Wiregrass holistically. This is exciting as it will bring together the entire college for the benefit of each individual student.” 

The Wiregrass’ ARC provides students with the opportunity to meet with a professional advisor for the purpose of gaining assistance in planning their educational career, learning needed skills for academic success, and learning how to access the variety of resources and services available to them on the campus. The ARC is responsible for all first-term, pre-program Allied Health, Associate of Science, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Care and Education, and Culinary Arts students. The ARC also advises all Technical and Industrial and Professional Services students their first term, and all Business Education and Computers Science students up to 60% of program completion. The ARC has seven full-time, and three part-time advisors. 

In addition to Wiregrass Tech, 11 other institutions from across the country were selected from a large pool of applicants with various advising structures. This charter cohort represents a range of two-year and four-year institutions, including small liberal-arts colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, large, online, 4-year regional and state institutions, as well as both online and on campus institutions. 

The cohort includes College of the Mainland, Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY-New Paltz), Florida International University, Frostburg State University, American Public University System, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, University of Hawai’i-Mānoa, University of Southern Maine, Johns Hopkins University, Claflin University, and Wheaton College- Massachusetts. These institutions are committed to addressing some of the most pressing educational and equity challenges at their institutions. 

The ARC at Wiregrass will soon be advising current students for Spring Semester.  The new semester classes will begin January 9, 2019.  New students can apply for Spring Semester and have their application fee waived on Free Application Day, November 8.