Office of Academic Advising
At the University of South Carolina Aiken, the Office of Academic Advising (OAA) works with first-year and pre-professional students (Business, Education, and Nursing). OAA advisors work with first-year students from Orientation to the end of their first summer or until admission into a professional school. Although a student is assigned to a professional advisor in the OAA, students are encouraged to connect with faculty mentors.
The office follows a holistic and intrusive advising approach. When working with students, the advisors have six main goals: Prepare, Advise, Connect, Empower, Retain, and Support. To meet these goals, the OAA educates students on their degree and graduation requirements and trains them to use the university's technology (DegreeWorks, Self Service Aiken, and Navigate).
Apart from pre-professional students, students will be transitioned to faculty advisors in their department after their first full academic year at USCA. Each department provides guidelines for assigning students to faculty. The OAA will retain students who have a GPA below 2.0 or have earned less than 24 credit hours.
Once the students are transitioned to a faculty advisor, they are notified via email. The students are reminded that the office is still available as a resource if needed.
To become a faculty advisor, new faculty must attend the Advisor Academy held by the Office of Academic Advising and the Center for Engaged Teaching and Learning. Faculty can begin advising after they complete one academic year.
This model was set forth by the Quality Enhancement Plan the University proposed in 2020.