First Year Advising and Exploration and the Sophomore and Second Year Center seek to create innovative opportunities for students to connect with their respective advising offices. These connections can only be fostered through exchanging meaningful interactions. Therefore, FYAE and SSYC hosted an Advising Open House on September 3 to encourage students to build relationships with their academic advisors at the inception of the academic year. A total of 315 students attended the Advising Open House, and this number denotes a significant increase (48%) from last year in regards to attendance.
During this event, students were able to meet with their academic advisors based upon their assigned office. If students opted to schedule an appointment with their assigned advisor, they obtained 1,500 LINK Loot points. To appeal to our target populations, we offered free food and prizes provided through the assistance of the Fairwinds Credit Union grant. Students could spin the prize wheel to win a variety of prizes. Several campus partners including Knight Quest, Student Academic Resource Center, University Testing Center, and Fairwinds had tables where students could learn about the resources that each provide for social, academic, and personal success. “Through visiting these tables, students also had the option to be entered into a chance drawing for a pair of Disney tickets or a UCF Spirit Ticket package,” said Courtney Demings, academic advisor. “This event was truly designed with the intent of creating an atmosphere of ‘edutainment.’”
According to the survey given at the end of the open house, 98.6% of students strongly agreed or agreed with this statement: “This event was beneficial to me as a first-year student.” Such a high percentage indicates that FYAE and SSYC were successful in meeting the goals determined by the organizers. Another student stated: “This event opened my eyes to all the resources available on campus that I had previously only heard about in orientation.”
“It is truly great to read the positive responses from our students and know that they are receptive to establishing relationships with their academic advisors,” said Demings. “FYAE and SSYC look forward to continuing a fruitful partnership in hopes of launching a larger event next year.”
FYAE and SSYC are departments in the Division of Student Development and Enrollment Services.