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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Advising Coordination Project<\/a> aims to implement an updated, shared model of advising across the University and is aligned with the Plan for Pitt 2028<\/a>. Some faculty advisers have voiced frustration with mixed messages and a lack of clarity from the University.<\/p>\n The new shared model<\/a> will consist of a \u201cstudent success team\u201d 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.<\/p>\n \u201c[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 \u2014 such as academic coaching, program advising and resources \u2014 along the way,\u201d Herndon said.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> is the most recent school to make the transition to staff advisers, as multiple departments implement the new model in fall 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Herndon said administration is working with the Senate Educational Policies Committee<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d Herndon said.<\/p>\n Jane Caldwell, a teaching professor and undergraduate adviser for the Department of Economics<\/a>, said faculty advisers were told about the project through a short email sent in the summer of 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was about three paragraphs from the provost\u2019s office and just said \u2018This is what\u2019s happening,\u2019\u201d Caldwell said. \u201cShortly after that, there was a Faculty Assembly<\/a> 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n During this Faculty Assembly meeting,<\/a> leadership explained the project aimed to give students \u201cmore than one advising destination.\u201d Caldwell said the information given to the faculty has continued to change throughout the project\u2019s implementation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey said we were going to have additional staff to advise, but that is not what has ended up happening,\u201d Caldwell said.<\/p>\n