New portal provides access to academic advising policies, tools

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Division of Undergraduate Studies recently introduced the Academic Advising Portal as Penn State’s new online gateway to academic advising information, tools and resources. The portal, at http://advising.psu.edu, replaces Advising @ PSU as the University’s one-stop, searchable source of academic policies and procedures and will help students locate what they need to plan and manage successful educational experiences. The new site also supports academic advisers, faculty and staff members as they advise undergraduates and highlights opportunities for professional development and collaboration.Associate Dean for Advising David Smith said, “To improve the way we work with students, a team of Penn State colleagues identified important academic tools and resources maintained across the system and surveyed stakeholders to assess their search habits and preferences.“The team then developed the portal to be an accessible, easy-to-navigate site with multiple ways to find the resources students and advisers most often use.”In addition to various search methods, including a cross-referenced alpha index, the portal features an event calendar, contact information for key University offices and links to important tools, such as MajorQuest, the new MinorQuest, Recommended Academic Plans and the College Information Chart.The landing page also features Academic Advising News and Curricular Updates in a new format and with the option to subscribe.“By providing a central place to access tools and resources housed in many different places,” Smith remarked, “we believe the Academic Advising Portal will meet a significant need at Penn State.” “As faculty, staff and students use the portal and provide helpful feedback, the Division of Undergraduate Studies will continue to monitor the site’s effectiveness and refine it as needed.”The Division of Undergraduate Studies, a unit within the Office of Undergraduate Education, is Penn State’s largest unit of enrollment for first-year students, leads the development of advising policies and practices, manages the University-wide academic information network and provides general academic advising for current and prospective Penn State students.