Office of Advising Strategies

The Provost’s Committee for Advising (PCA) enhances student success by continuously improving advising methods and culture at UNM. Its goals are to:

• Create a quality advising experience by investigating and sharing best practices.
• Utilize the advising community as a body of expertise that contributes to the goal of student success.
• Provide an environment that promotes opportunities for communication and support that fosters collaboration amongst units.

The PCA is administered through the Office of Advising Strategies and under the direction of the Director of Advising Strategies.

A Brief History of PCA

The Provost’s Committee for Advising (PCA) was founded in 2005 by Stephanie Hands, Michelle Steiner, and Jennifer Gomez-Chavez, and was an overarching committee charged to enhance University-wide advising practices for the betterment of the student experience, and to provide advisors with professional development opportunities. The committee was instrumental in affecting change in the University and providing a platform for collaboration across academic affairs, student affairs, and athletics.

The PCA founded the bi-annual Advisor Institute in 2000 and created an Advising Passport that helped advisors and their supervisors track progress for advisor training. Based on recommendations from a NACADA 2012 site visit, the PCA launched an advisor awards program in 2013, and has continued to present day.

PCA Today

The team was tasked PCA to develop taskforce groups that study student-advising matters and provide recommendations for improvement. In 2017 a leadership team made up of Stephanie Hands, Quinton Freeman, Andrew Gonzalez, Angela Pacheco, and Laura Valdez assembled to gather ideas for invigorating the PCA. The team has tasked PCA to develop taskforce groups that study student-advising matters and provide recommendations for improvement.