The Fulbright College Advising Center has moved to the third floor of Champions Hall and expanded its services.

Since its inception, the center has been housed in Old Main — the iconic home of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. However, to better meet the needs of its students, the center has continually expanded the ways in which it offers advising support leading to a need for more space as well.

With the addition of several advisors, the center has realigned the recruiting, orientation, advising, and graduation processes into one coordinated student success strategy — and one comprehensive academic advising center for all Fulbright College students.

"This realignment was crucial for us to be able to provide the kind of high-quality advising support that bolsters student success — one of our univeristy's top priorities," said Todd Shields, dean of the Fulbright College. "Champions Hall was a natural choice for the center's location, since it was already a hub of undergraduate activity."

The move to Champions Hall has already allowed the center to enhance its current advising services as well as to offer some new, more innovative services including:

The Fulbright Advising Lab

Offering hands-on advising support all-day, every day

The new Advising Lab allows the center to offer an additional layer of advising support that is uniquely helpful in two ways:

1. Support is offered in an immediate, walk-in basis.
2. Support is given in a way that utilizes hands-on learning and develops long-lasting abilities instead of only providing short-term answers. 

The lab includes at least five peer mentors and one academic advisor at any given time, all of whom are trained and ready to help students via participative, active learning with UAConnect and UASuccess issues, by teaching students to schedule an appointment on their own, how to navigate the UA website and Blackboard and more.

Fulbright Foundation Advising Program

Recruiting, Orientation, Exploring Majors, and the First-Year  

A team of Foundation Advisors offer support as students progress from prospective student through orientation and until the end of their first year at Fulbright College.

All students are routinely given opportunities to explore the full range of major/minor/career options in Fulbright College, the relationship between those options, and fundamentals of an effective, personalized planning process. Foundation Advisors use an ever-evolving mixture of advising delivery methods including:

• One-on-one sessions.
• Group sessions.
• Social media.
• Walk-in advising labs.
• Proactive communication methods.

Academic advising is mandatory during five first-year Fulbright Foundation Sessions:

• Prospective student visit.
• New student orientation.
• Fall foundation session.
• Spring foundation session.
• Transition session (at the end of first year, each student has the opportunity to solidify their major and career choices and meet their college adviser). 

Given the myriad needs of first-year students, these sessions offer much more comprehensive support than would traditional advising appointments. They also offer students a more interactive role in creating the vision they have for their coursework.

College Advising Program

Second Year through Senior Year 

From first to second year, students transition to a College Advisor that is specific to their major. The student will stay with a single college advisor for the remainder of their undergraduate advising experience, barring any changes to their academic program. 

The College Advisor builds on the knowledge and planning competencies established by Foundation Advisors. Ideally, the student's interaction with the College Advisor is one of executing an established plan, adjusting when needed, and engaging in more detailed growth and exploration. This is based on the center's goal of fostering timely graduation, achievement of long-term academic and career goals, personal ownership of the college experience and the philosophy that academic advising is an ongoing, multi-modal, educational process.

Fulbright College Advisors work hand-in-hand with the Fulbright Academic Services Office, the Director of Fulbright Student Success, and all 19 academic departments in Fulbright College to ensure clear and reliable degree pathways for students. 

Visit Champions Hall

With these initiatives now fully realized, Shane Barker, assistant dean and director of academic advising for the college, said the Fulbright Advising Center hopes to continue its history of successful developmental advising for all students at the University of Arkansas.

"Our Fulbright College Academic Advisors work with students to co-create a comprehensive plan that maximizes the college experience and achieves the student's life, career and academic goals," he said. "After students graduate from the Fulbright College and University of Arkansas, the tools and resources provided to each student will help them achieve whichever goals they pursue."

Barker said their office also aims to support all undergraduate students within the Fulbright College by creating student-advisor connections that are meaningful, educational, developmental and based on accurate information. 

The Fulbright College Advising Center is open year-round, he said, "We hope to see you soon in Champions Hall!"