Chico State 360 Advising Information

Training

The Chico State 360 platform is a valuable tool in providing high quality advising that is critical in student retention and success. This shared note system will allow advisors to get a more complete picture of students and provide them with a more holistic advising experience. Training will be provided each week beginning August 24, 2020 through October 1, 2020. The trainings will provide faculty advisors with an overview of the system, hands on practice, and information on where and how to get help if needed.

Gain Access

During the Fall '20 semester, CS 360 access will be granted to advisors the evening prior to their selected training. To request access to CS 360 after the Fall '20 semester, please contact your College Advising & Retention Specialist (CARS).

Access Support

If you have any questions regarding Chico State 360, there are various supports in place to assist you.

Within the Chico State 360 Help Menu:

1. Academic Advising Business Process Guide 
2. Academic Advising Guide for College Advising & Retention Specialists
3. Faculty Advising Business Process Guide

Outside Chico State 360:

1. Knowledge Base(opens in new window)
2. Policies and Procedures

If you need assistance after accessing these resources, please contact your College Advising & Retention Specialist (CARS). 

Distributed: 10/09/2019

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to provide an update on an important initiative to enhance academic advising in the colleges. 

We know from research at the national and CSU level, and from our own students, that accessible, high quality advising is a critical driver of student retention and success.  When students have regular and supportive guidance about their degree requirements, options, and support services, their path to graduation is clear and navigable.  Too often, they must find their way through multiple and sometimes confusing messages from various offices, and while some students have rich and frequent contact with advisors, others go through multiple semesters with no guidance.  Especially as first-generation students are now a majority on our campus, this is an urgent area of concern.

To improve our students’ advising experience, we have made two major investments this year.  First, a university-wide engagement platform, Chico State 360, will enable professional advisors, faculty advisors, and support program staff to share advising notes, make referrals, and better align centralized advising with advising in the majors.  Second, new professional college-based Advising and Retention Specialists will provide coordinated support across departments and promote shared best practices in advising and retention services. 

Some of our programs are already served by professional advisors; in others all major advising is done by faculty.  This initiative will not impose a one-size-fits-all model but will provide resources to improve, expand, and align what is best serving our students.  College Advising and Retention Specialists will support faculty advisors by delivering regular updates on their advisees, handling referrals, providing support in the use of e-advising tools, and creating user-friendly data reports with critical program-wide information about students’ progress to degree.  With this additional support, faculty will be able to spend more time in meaningful, discipline-based advising with their students, and departments as a whole can better understand and address college-based challenges for students throughout the enrollment cycle. 

In the next week, Dean of Undergraduate Education Kate McCarthy and Assistant Vice President for University Advisement Kaitlyn Baumgartner Lee will convene a group of faculty from all seven colleges to serve as an advisory team for this initiative.  This group will provide guidance on aligning roles of faculty and staff advisors and on implementation of the new advising platform.  A parallel advisory team of professional college-based advisors, led by Senior Coordinator for Academic Advising Programs Kelly McGregor, will come together to provide university-wide coordination and shared best practices in advising.  

Our central Academic Advising Programs office is already using Chico State 360 and will provide knowledgeable support as other campus units come on board.  Training and support materials for faculty advisors will be developed this fall and we anticipate bringing all faculty advisors onto the platform in spring 2020.  You will receive regular updates on this process throughout this academic year. 

This initiative is enabled by Graduation Initiative 2025 funding with the overarching goal of providing our students with equitable, accessible, and meaningful advising.  I know how deeply committed faculty and staff advisors are to helping our students find purpose and success in their studies.  Thank you.  I’m confident that this investment will empower you in that effort.   

Please direct questions about this initiative to Kate McCarthy (kmccarthy@csuchico.edu) or Kaitlyn Baumgartner Lee (kbaumgartner@csuchico.edu).