USF Lakeland Academic Advising

Vision

The Academic Advising unit of the University of South Florida Lakeland will provide personal, first-class advising, enhancing student development, to both undergraduate and graduate students for central Florida’s local, national and international students.

Mission

The mission of the Academic Advising unit of the University of South Florida Lakeland is to assist students in developing an educational plan consistent with their life goals and objectives, supporting the campus’s dedication to excellence, innovation and collaboration. The advisors:   

Excellence

• Hold a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, with the masters’ degree preferred, and are specialized, working with individual, specific college units.
• Are committed to the learner-centered academic environment, preparing students for a life of continual learning, adaptability and individual fulfillment.
• Try to guide (empower) students in developing and implementing sound educational plans that are consistent with their personal values, goals and career plans, and to become self-directed learners and independent decision makers.

 
Innovation

• Strive to be sensitive to the changing needs of the student body and through self-evaluation and assessment, seek to continuously improve the services provided by the academic advising team.
• Continue to personally develop and upgrade their individual skills and training to set a personal example and “raise the bar” of the services they provide.
• Seek improved technology and information to better meet the needs of USF Lakeland’s students.

Collaboration

• Seek to empower students to take charge of their educational careers through developing a collaborative mentoring relationship
• Assist students in understanding the evaluation their transfer credits, progressing  toward the realization of their goals, making intelligent decisions, based on accurate information, understanding institutional policies and procedures and in understanding institutional support services that are available to them (these services are provided to potential, continuing and non-degree seeking students alike).
• Provide counsel and expertise in academic policy, program and class schedule development.
• Assist each student to understand their plan of study for their chosen major and guide them to its completion. The advisors can also help students estimate the time needed to complete their degree program.
  

Goals

The Academic Advising unit of the University of South Florida Lakeland strives to:

• Provide excellent academic advising services to a diverse student population, continuously supporting the goal of a student-centered campus culture that supports the growth and development of well educated, ethical and moral individuals who think critically and act as responsible members of a free and democratic society
• Continuously assess academic advising services through developed survey instrument and bi-weekly meetings to maintain highest level of student satisfaction and degree success.
• Seek to develop best practices for academic advising through continued training, education, shared experiences, and research.
• Be considerate of demands on the students’ time and energy by returning phone calls and emails within 24 hours of their receipt (excluding holidays and weekends), keeping students informed and up to date, and by never making students wait longer than 15 minutes when they have an appointment.
• Revise and revamp our vision, mission and goals to make them more specific to our unique situation and opportunities.