The Advising Office is working to re-establish a Veteran Peer Mentoring program to launch in the Fall 2014 semester. The mentor can offer basic information about benefits that are available for veterans, connect new veterans to on-campus resources, as well as offer suggestions on study skills, time management and campus life, both academically and socially. Six veteran students have signed up to become mentors. Mentors must have completed a minimum of one academic semester at SUNY Orange and have a GPA of 2.50 or higher. The Veterans Club has been instrumental in the implementation of this initiative. In addition, the Advising Office supported student Veterans' participation in co-curricular activities such as fundraising events, a trip to Washington DC, informational sessions that included presentations from Warrior Camp and members from the American Legion in Orange County and VA Hudson Valley. In an effort to recognize student Veterans' academic achievement, the Advising Office played an integral role in initiating the new practice of honoring graduating Student Veterans with Military graduation stoles. We will continue to work supporting student Veterans on campus.

Transfer Advising services included the participation of 100 colleges between both campuses during Transfer Fairs which were held at the end of the Fall 2013 semester. A "Road Map" that identified popular/unique majors at some of the attending colleges/universities was created to engage students and facilitate communication. This road map helped students get the most out of the fair by highlighting the colleges and programs in which they were interested. Also, schedules of that semester's visiting colleges were set on tables located in different buildings on both campuses, which increased student interactions with the representatives and was very well received by the attending colleges. During the Spring 2014 semester, a Transfer Fair was scheduled on the Middletown Campus with  46 colleges in attendance. Additionally, a Nursing Transfer Panel was scheduled as a first attempt to this type of programming. The event was very well attended with over 40 students in attendance.  Colleges in attendance were: Chamberlain School of Nursing, Adelphi, Dominican College, Mercy College, SUNY Delhi, and Excelsior. To better assist students in the Transfer process, the Transfer Advising web page was also revamped. We will continue to implement transfer initiatives to engage students toward degree completion and transfer.

Piloted for the Spring 2014 Registration period, the Advising Office created an online version of the New START geared specifically toward transfer students.  Two sessions were held; one in November 2013 and a second in December 2013, and 71 transfer students were invited to complete the workshop.  To be eligible, the students needed a 2.0 GPA from their transfer school and be ready to take ENG 101.  Students were instructed to view the presentation and supporting materials in Angel, answer quiz questions and apply the skills they learned to create and submit a class draft schedule.  When this had been completed, the students scheduled an appointment to meet with an advisor in person or over the phone. 24 students or 33.8% completed the workshop and registered. We will continue to enhance the online workshop to better service new transfer students.

In an effort to assist students with limited access to advising services, we offered advising via email to 437 students attending classes after 3 pm on both campuses. An email was sent to the targeted group utilizing Qualtrics. The email directed students who wished to take advantage of this opportunity to this link:  https://sunyorange.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_ddoZeuLHTtP5ZPL  Degree audits and students' electronic submissions were saved and notes recorded in Advisortrac for future reference. This initiative was well received by participating students and we plan on expanding  this electronic approach to  registration advising.

Leadership opportunities have been provided to peer advisors by expanding their responsibilities to include supporting Student Services Central in Middletown. This collaboration with Student Services Central will provide peers the opportunity to support students in different online transactions involving different offices in Student Services while assisting by the computer terminals located in this area as well as assisting students using the q-flow system. Also, a peer program has been established on the Newburgh campus during this spring semester and we plan on expanding leadership opportunities for peers on both campuses.

In collaboration with Academic Affairs, an Academic Advising Syllabus was created as a tool to facilitate students' transition to the College. The syllabus provides a breakdown of required activities and reminders throughout the semester to help students develop study skills and plan for graduation. We will utilize this tool to build on the information that we provide to students during the New START workshops.