Cohort advising builds connections

May 1, 2025

When I became chair in July 2021, the pandemic had worsened a problem with getting students to attend department events. Our standard “Pizza with Professors” event no longer reliably drew students the way it had in the past. It was clear that we needed a new strategy for building community within the major and connecting students to important resources across campus.
 
To that end, the department approved a “Cohort Advising” plan that Dr. Marita von Weissenberg (Miti) and I had drafted together. Two faculty members would serve as the advisors for the incoming class of history majors each year. Students would be assigned one of these professors as their advisor for all four years. In addition to individual advising appointments, students would attend one cohort meeting each semester. We also developed meeting topics that would anticipate the needs of students each year. For instance, we decided that spring of the first year was an ideal time to invite the Center for International Education to present on the options and cost of study abroad. Other topics addressed during the four years include undergraduate research opportunities, the transferable skills of the history major, and resume writing.
 
Miti and I served as the advisors for majors who entered that fall, and we added any students in the class of 2025 who subsequently became history majors to the cohort. As new classes arrived each fall, Miti and I shared our plans for cohort meetings with the new advisors.
 
There have been bumps, of course, but the advantages have outweighed the imperfections. We have improved the consistency of our advising while also helping incoming students build a community more quickly. Perhaps the best sign of success came last spring when our first cohort told us they wanted the final meeting of their senior year to be a celebratory event with faculty. We have accordingly planned a celebration right after finals next week, and I am hopeful this will become a new tradition with future cohorts.
 
If anyone has interest in more details about our cohort advising program, please feel free to contact me at whipplea@xavier.edu.
 
Amy Whipple
Chair, Department of History