The USM Dual Advising Program is designed to assist students in identifying and achieving their educational and career goals utilizing an advising as teaching model and a strengths-based approach.  This approach assists students in constructing meaning, skill identification and development, critical thinking, learning strategies, and helps to build the scaffolding of knowledge and transferable skills while identifying the student’s individual strengths.  Institutional and academic integration is a priority within the advising model.  The dual advising model relies on the critical role faculty play in the success and retention of students, making partnerships and collaboration between faculty and professional advisors a key component of its success.  

The key programmatic goal of the USM Dual Advising Program is to increase student retention through student advising and support strategies. This will be accomplished by the following:

  1. Connecting student academic, career, and life goals to major, general education, and community based learning opportunities.
  2. Helping students understand the value of both faculty and professional advising.
  3. Supporting student learning through learning strategy assistance, career advising, and proper referrals.
  4. Assisting students with institutional navigation by teaching students how things work, how to maximize available resources, and how to understand and become part of the campus ecology.
  5. Contributing to University-wide efforts to promote institutional integration.
  6. Providing current and accurate advising information.
  7. Being as accessible to students as possible.
  8. Developing meaningful relationships with students.
  9. Identifying and removing barriers that prohibit student success.

Advising at the University of Southern Maine will be improved by implementing a training and development plan for professional and faculty advisors.  This plan will be informed by current faculty and professional advisors and will include best practices of advising, utilization of MaineStreet, electronic advising notes, campus resources, building the advising relationship, transitioning students to faculty advisors, understanding the value of faculty advising, FERPA, using the degree progress report, developing graduation planners, career advising, and the different types of advising meetings.  The model will also follow the national standards and best practices set forth by the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education for Academic Advising, NACADA Core Values, and the professional principles of the National Career Development Association.  An assessment program will be employed and continuously revised to influence and improve practice, measure goal attainment, and guide decision-making. 

The general programmatic responsibilities of USM’s Dual Advising Model are as follows:

Undergraduate Advising:

  • Advising is responsible for advisement, support, development of graduation plan, and course registration of all students 0-53 credits.  At 54 credits students transition to faculty based advising model with professional advisor acting as a resource. Professional advisors support the early student-faculty connection.
  • Faculty are primary advisor of record responsible for developing early ongoing connection beginning in the first year as well as advisement and course registration for 54-120 credits.

Graduate Advising:

  • Faculty are primary advisor of record responsible for developing an early connection and advisement/course registration preparation throughout their enrollment with the professional advisor acting as a resource.