Training Overview
With generous assistance from ACA and advising representatives from across campus, the Vick Advising Excellence Center has created VAST, the Vick Advising Skills Training.
VAST is an asynchronous Canvas course with 15 modules containing all the foundational, institution-wide knowledge that every UT Austin academic advisor needs to provide excellent advising experiences to their students. The content of the training is aligned with NACADA’s Academic Advising Core Competencies, emphasizing the conceptual, informational, and relational knowledge that is critical to advising at our institution.
The training serves as the baseline for onboarding new UT Austin academic advisors and should be supplemented by additional, area-specific training, advising appointment shadowing, check-ins with advising supervisors and team members, etc. In other words, VAST is a tool to assist the colleges and schools in providing comprehensive training for their advising staff; it is not intended to be the singular element of an advisor’s training.
If you already have access to VAST, you can view the course here.
If you are looking to gain access to VAST, please see the link below to request access.
Curriculum
The modules in VAST are wide-ranging and were developed to provide advisors with a foundation in advising theories and approaches, detailed information on university academic policies and procedures, and, along the way, the skills needed to cultivate a collaborative and resourceful helping space to meet the holistic needs of every student. Below are the modules included in VAST:
- Welcome to UT
- The Advising Profession
- University Basics for Advisors
- Academic Basics for Advisors
- Registration
- Types of Credit and Grading
- Majors, Minors, and Certificates
- Advisors Toolkit
- Audits, Profiles, and Codes
- Drops and Withdrawals
- Scholastic Probation Dismissal
- Orientation and First-Year Programs
- Graduation and Certification
- Tips for Working with Specific Populations
- Other Offices and Student Resources
Implementation Guide
Advising leadership who are looking to incorporate VAST into their regular training experiences for new advisors should review our Implementation Guide, which has much more detail about what to expect from the course, and our detailed recommendations for integrating VAST with college-, school-, and unit-specific training plans.
Requesting Access
Advisors, or supervisors on their advisors’ behalf, can request access to VAST by clicking the button below.
While VAST was designed with new advisors in mind, it can be a helpful resource for seasoned advisors too. We will approve course access for anyone with an advising or advising-adjacent student support role. Please feel free to request access and use VAST to support your individual needs.
Contact Us
The Vick Advising Excellence Center is available to help make this training work for the unique needs of each college, school, and advising office. We will happily meet with teams to brainstorm how they could use the training most effectively. This training is a tool for the advising community, so, more than anything, we want to be responsive to your needs.
There is a tremendous amount of information in this course. Indeed, it is VAST! We have every intention of keeping the information up to date as things change at the university. But, we’re bound to miss things. If you notice any errors or content that needs to be updated, please let us know. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with questions, concerns, and ideas at advisingexcellence@utexas.edu