Hello, Panthers!
I want to highlight for you a critical program that is helping our students reach their maximum potential.
Why? Because I’d like for everyone to familiarize themselves with our Quality Enhancement Plan. The QEP reflects Florida Tech’s continuous improvement efforts and is part of SACSCOC accreditation.
Titled “Steps to Success Through Transformative Advising,” our QEP follows best practices in student success by shifting the undergraduate advising model from faculty advisors to professional staff advisors.
The QEP formally launched in Fall 2024, and we have seen many advantages the change in advising models has spurred. Among them:
- Professional staff advisors can offer more consistent and dedicated time to students, while faculty advisors need to balance teaching, research, and service commitments.
- Professional staff advisors will get specialized training in advising and academic coaching that faculty advisors may not.
- Having the consistent presence of a single advisor throughout a student’s academic career can help build stronger relationships and provide better continuity of care, leading to more successful academic outcomes.
We’re hiring and training additional professional staff advisors to bolster this program and enhancing the functionality of HUB and Canvas to give all advisors access to more data to better advise students.
We are also expanding Florida Tech’s early alert system to sooner identify students who may be struggling.
And look for the development of a new, dedicated Student Advising Center coming to Evans Library in Fall 2025!
The “Steps to Success” QEP will help ensure our students have the tools they need to realize their educational aspirations. It’s a great “step” into a fantastic future!
We’ll talk again soon. Until then, go Panthers!
Sincerely,
John Nicklow, Ph.D.
President
