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Goal: Academic advising at WMU will empower Â鶹´«Ã½s holistically to develop skills and knowledge around academic requirements, career resources, Â鶹´«Ã½ for engagement outside the classroom, and financial literacy. 

Objectives:

1. Ensure each Â鶹´«Ã½ has a Student Success Plan in place by the end of the first semester.
2. Engage Â鶹´«Ã½s in understanding how to access their success plan, the importance of each task, and how it relates to their academic, personal, and career success.
3. Empower Â鶹´«Ã½s to customize success plans to honor their cultural, personal, and contemporary needs.
4. Empower Â鶹´«Ã½s.

Metrics:

1. Students can identify three goals that were in their success plan that they achieved by the end of the Sophomore Year.
2. Students will annually, at least once a semester, engage in Â鶹´«Ã½ success programs to access university resources. 

Goal: Academic advising at WMU will provide high quality academic advising services, while fostering outstanding relationships between Â鶹´«Ã½s, faculty, and staff to support a culture of appreciation and belonging on campus.

Objectives:

1. Provide multiple Â鶹´«Ã½ to engage Â鶹´«Ã½s in developing their academic sense of self to support retention and progress to degree.
2. Facilitate consistent, transparent, and accessible communication between advising offices, Â鶹´«Ã½ support units, and other university stakeholders. 
3. Pursue trainings, events, and developments that support a campus culture where everyone is supported, respected, appreciated, and valued by the university. 

Metrics:

1. Increase Â鶹´«Ã½ participation in academic advising appointments and outreach events.
2. Incorporate Â鶹´«Ã½ survey feedback in decision making and informing advising practice.

Goal: Academic advising at WMU strives to foster a safe and inclusive environment to advance equity where every Â鶹´«Ã½ feels like they belong and has access to advising and the support they need to thrive.

Objectives:

1. Develop and maintain safe and inclusive spaces, whether virtual or physical, that provide equitable access for all Â鶹´«Ã½s. 
2. Empower and provide resources for Â鶹´«Ã½s through advising with campus partners that move toward eliminating disparities and increasing graduation rates.

Metrics:

1. Increase 2nd-year retention rate, 3rd and 4th year persistence rates and 6th year graduation rates of historically underrepresented, minority, first-generation, and adult Â鶹´«Ã½s.
2. Advising offices will provide various modalities of advising access to support Â鶹´«Ã½ success at WMU.
3. Advising staff will participate in professional development to improve knowledge and skills related to supporting diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice that are proportional and responsive to campus demographics.

Goal: Academic advising at WMU encourages Â鶹´«Ã½s to think of themselves as global citizens and collaborate with fellow Â鶹´«Ã½s on campus to increase cross-cultural competency. 

Objectives: 

1. Encourage open dialogue with Â鶹´«Ã½s to identify their needs, Â鶹´«Ã½ to provide support, and increase awareness of cultural differences. 
2. Collaborate with Â鶹´«Ã½ engagement and international Â鶹´«Ã½ services to promote and encourage participation in events and trainings to both domestic and international Â鶹´«Ã½s.
3. Increase Â鶹´«Ã½ participation in study abroad, cultural courses, and language courses.
4. Recommend training and content for gateway courses, Signature, and other incentive programs specific to international perspectives.
5. Provide mental health resources, referrals, and support while being cognizant of cultural stigmas. 

Metrics:

1. Increased enrollment in cultural and language courses, and increased attendance at cultural events on campus.
2. Add a question to the advising satisfaction survey that assesses and evaluates if an advisor mentioned and/or supported the Â鶹´«Ã½'s interest in study abroad programming.

Goal: Academic advising at WMU contributes to the high research activity of our doctoral university through high caliber research and creative scholarship that advances the field of professional advising to ultimately improve the experiences of academic advisors and Â鶹´«Ã½s to elevate the human condition.

Objectives:

1. Academic advisors are supported with professional development funds to attend state, regional, national, and international conferences in order to stay informed of best practices and have Â鶹´«Ã½ to present our research and findings.
2. Advisors are supported with designated time to conduct research, apply for grants, and submit research to journals for publication.
3. Advisors are rewarded for engaging in research and publishing research outcomes.
4. Students are encouraged to participate in research with academic advisors and are supported to attend and present at conferences with academic advisors.

Metrics:

1. Tracking creative performances or exhibitions, publications, and presentations directed and/or curated by advisors and Â鶹´«Ã½s.
2. Annual professional development expenditures. 

Goal: Academic advising at WMU will maintain awareness of university sustainability practices and initiatives and work to promote and disseminate this information to Â鶹´«Ã½s.

Objectives:

1. Help build a campus-wide culture of sustainability through all of our interactions with Â鶹´«Ã½s. This includes supporting and underscoring the value of the Planetary Sustainability WMU Essential Studies requirement.
2. To the extent possible, reduce or eliminate the use of paper advising files and communications.

Metrics:

1. Monitor and record our Â鶹´«Ã½s’ completion of the Planetary Sustainability WES requirement.
2. Model reducing our carbon footprint across advising units by increasing the use of technology to support Â鶹´«Ã½s’ academic, personal, and professional growth. 

Goal: Academic advising and Â鶹´«Ã½ success services at WMU strive to provide a safe environment to support Â鶹´«Ã½ and advisor holistic well-being.

Objectives:

1. Provide a safe and welcoming environment to foster a culture of wellness for all campus stakeholders, promoting equity, accessibility, holistic health, and safety.
2. Staff will actively participate in trainings, workshops, certifications, etc. to stay abreast of current best practices in wellness promotion.
3. Connect Â鶹´«Ã½s with campus resources as a part of their success plan, based on their specific wellness needs, in conjunction with the Western Well-Being Wheel.

Metrics:

1. Increased discussion of wellbeing in gateway courses and advising/support meetings.
2. Increase university trainings, workshops, and certifications in line with the eight dimensions of wellness.
3. Inclusion of specific wellness resources in Student Success Plans.