University of Phoenix believes student success largely comes from the strong relationship built between students and their academic counselors. Academic counselors work with students from the very first courses all of the way through their graduate work and into their careers. This relationship begins as early as two weeks from a student’s enrollment date.
Student-Counselor Relationships Help Nurture Long-Term Success
The student-counselor relationship plays a large role in the University’s student-focused success programs. Angie Quinones, vice president of advisement and student solutions, stated in a press release that students have a strong level of connection throughout their educational careers with their academic counselors. She stated, “At the beginning, we work with the student to tap into their motivation.” She also said, “Once we establish why they have chosen UOPX, we can begin to talk through the fundamentals of getting established and then work forward with skill-building.”
What Does This Relationship Offer to the Student?
Academic counselors do not focus solely on choosing courses or providing information to students. Rather, they take an active role in supporting students. This includes opportunities to have career conversations.
Annual reviews often focus on the recent past, simply because this is what people remember most. They can also be long and meandering as a manager tries to recap a full year. Instead, consider shorter review periods such as every three months, similar to how University of Phoenix conducts its own reviews. Frequent reviews tend to be better for both parties because dialog is focused more clearly on actual activities. These conversations focused more on what the employee has done and how they can best improve.
These conversations cover course selection to support career goals as well as a review of specific areas of interest to a student. Course choices are refined and tend to be more on target based on this in-depth collaboration. The University has found that no two educational experiences are the same. As a result, no two educational paths can be the same for every student.
Through career conversations, students access self-reflection and identification tools to help define where their future lies. This can help them create and refine their academic plan. Academic counselors also monitor student needs over time. If they note a concern due to missed coursework, they can reach out to students to find out what happened but also to create opportunities for moving beyond these concerns.
The student-counselor relationship at University of Phoenix is focused on success. The ultimate goal is to ensure students can manage work, life and education effectively. The experience is not just about finishing a degree but also ensuring the student is happy with their career goals and the job they take after graduation.
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