About the OAA

OAA advisors provide academic advising to New Paltz students1 from onboarding through graduation. In addition, students will have a dedicated faculty advisor once they declare their major. OAA advising includes guidance with academic policies and procedures, holistic academic support and educational planning, and informed referrals to campus resources. OAA staff includes a School of Education specialist and degree completion specialist.

For general advising inquiries, contact us at advising@newpaltz.edu or (845) 257-3015, or visit us in Wooster Hall, Room 106, during our drop-in hours (Monday-Thursday, 2-4 p.m., and Friday, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.).

Our Mission

The mission of academic advising at SUNY New Paltz is to assist students as they develop meaningful educational plans to help them achieve their academic, career, and life goals. The Office of Academic Advising (OAA) supports this mission by advising SUNY New Paltz undergraduates1 who are in the process of selecting majors. The OAA is integrated with the Center for Student Success to provide whole student support and partners with faculty in support of advising efforts.

Goals

The primary goal of the OAA is to assist students in identifying and clarifying their academic direction and educational goals and to help them develop meaningful and compatible educational plans and success strategies.

Informed by institutional data and in coordination with the Center for Student Success, the OAA will proactively communicate with students who could most benefit from holistic academic support, guidance, and resources in a timely manner.

Intended Student Learning Outcomes

As a result of meetings with their OAA advisor, students will be able to:

  • Determine the educational pathway that best aligns with their personal strengths and attributes in support of their academic, career, and life goals.
  • Demonstrate responsibility for their education by monitoring their academic progress, including their degree audit (Progress Report), and by making informed choices that support their academic goals and time-to-degree.
  • Gain a better understanding of what it means to be an engaged student both in and out of the classroom by using the many campus resources available to promote their learning, development, and overall success.
  • Reflect upon the value of their New Paltz education, including General Education and their co-curricular experiences, to gain a better understanding of the skills and competencies they have acquired during their time at the university.
  • Develop an appreciation of the meaning, purpose, and value of general education and the liberal arts in a way that fosters a greater self-awareness of personal interests and values, lifelong learning, and civic engagement.

Our Vision

SUNY New Paltz aspires to be recognized nationally for excellence in academic advising among four-year regional public universities.

With the understanding that effective academic advising is central to student success, the OAA will:

  • Be a mission-driven, data-informed nexus of academic advisement and educational transition services focused on supporting undergraduate students’ intellectual, creative, personal, and professional development through meaningful educational planning;
  • Encourage student learning and development in a personalized, student-centered manner, while remaining sensitive to each student’s timetable for degree completion;
  • Cultivate partnerships with faculty, staff, administration, and students in support of common educational and student success goals, particularly for student groups with unique barriers to success including first-generation college students, transfer students, and students from historically underrepresented populations;
  • Encourage the development of student responsibility and self-advocacy, support efforts to normalize help-seeking behavior, and promote an institutional culture of student success;
  • Consistently demonstrate academic advising as a high-impact practice; and
  • Support the communication of key academic policies to students, examine the ways in which academic policies influence persistence, and make policy recommendations to enhance student success.

Professional Advisors

1

Exceptions are noted above, under Professional Advisors.