Advising in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences will look a little different for many students this fall, as advising responsibilities shift from faculty advisers to staff advisers.
The Advising Coordination Project aims to implement an updated, shared model of advising across the University and is aligned with the Plan for Pitt 2028. Some faculty advisers have voiced frustration with mixed messages and a lack of clarity from the University.
The new shared model will consist of a “student success team” made up of designated staff academic advisers and additional resources, such as advisers for student-athletes or for specific certificates. Meredith Herndon, a University spokesperson, said the goal is to have all undergraduate students under this system by 2028.
“[A full system of academic support] means they will be assigned an academic adviser, along with opportunities to engage with faculty mentoring and various other support systems — such as academic coaching, program advising and resources — along the way,” Herndon said.
Since planning for the project began in 2024, schools including the School of Computing and Information and the Swanson School of Engineering have already transitioned to the new advising model. The Dietrich School is the most recent school to make the transition to staff advisers, as multiple departments implement the new model in fall 2026.
Herndon said administration is working with the Senate Educational Policies Committee, associate deans and other academic leadership across schools and colleges while transitioning to this new advising model. Herndon also said the University is holding workshops and conversations open to all interested faculty.
“We are working very intentionally with each undergraduate college and school to shift to a shared model of advising that fits best for them and their student population,” Herndon said.
Jane Caldwell, a teaching professor and undergraduate adviser for the Department of Economics, said faculty advisers were told about the project through a short email sent in the summer of 2024.
“It was about three paragraphs from the provost’s office and just said ‘This is what’s happening,’” Caldwell said. “Shortly after that, there was a Faculty Assembly meeting where [Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor] Joe McCarthy and [Assistant Vice Provost] April Belback came to the meeting to address all of the fury that that email had incited.”
During this Faculty Assembly meeting, leadership explained the project aimed to give students “more than one advising destination.” Caldwell said the information given to the faculty has continued to change throughout the project’s implementation.
“They said we were going to have additional staff to advise, but that is not what has ended up happening,” Caldwell said.
At the meeting, McCarthy said the new model was still “in development.” Herndon said during the early stages of the project, faculty input was considered when shaping the new advising system.
“During the project’s launch in 2024, we had important conversations with faculty — including with the Faculty Assembly — and received valuable feedback that helped shape our approach,” Herndon said. “One of the most significant outcomes of those discussions was reaffirming our commitment to ensuring that faculty voices remain an integral part of the work as it continues.”
According to Caldwell, faculty advisers will become faculty mentors, but she said the University has not clarified to her or fellow advisers what this new role is and what it entails.
Currently, advising makes up one-third of Dietrich faculty advisers’ responsibilities, and the other two-thirds are faculty duties like teaching courses, according to Katherine Wolfe, a teaching professor and undergraduate adviser in the Department of Economics. Wolfe said how faculty advisers’ workload will operate under the new system is still unclear.
“The Dietrich School doesn’t know how much of our workload this faculty mentoring is going to take,” Wolfe said. “My students can come and see me in October to get their spring holds lifted and figure out their spring schedules and get some advice if they’re graduating. We have no idea what’s happening the year after that.”
Tyler Bickford, unit president of Pitt’s faculty union and professor in the English department, said the union has personally discussed the advising project and changes with the University.
“The administration has assured the union that there will not be any reductions in advising or mentoring work assigned to faculty,” Bickford said. “We are monitoring the implementation of this program to ensure they meet those commitments.”