By Joslyn DelSignore / The Jambar
With registration for spring 2027 approaching quickly, students across Youngstown State University’s campus will soon be meeting with academic advisers.
David Graham, associate provost for student success, said changes were made to academic advising and the Division of Student Success that students might not have noticed.
Graham said the most significant change was made to the academic advising model last spring. YSU moved from a decentralized adviser model to a centralized model.
This means all programs such as college advising, athletic advising and the general studies program are all under the same shared system.
“What we wanted to do is create a similar — shared experience that would enhance the student experience across all the colleges, across the university,” Graham said.
One of the main goals for the changes, Graham said, was to reduce the caseloads of the academic advisers, which means reducing the student-to-adviser ratio.
When the division started this process, Graham said the adviser ratio was 370 students to one adviser. The current goal is to get to a ratio of 250 students to one adviser.
“Bringing those caseloads down is going to increase the opportunity for more engagement, more outreach from the advisers [and] more opportunities for the students to engage with their adviser,” Graham said.
Since 2025, YSU has hired 12 academic advisers across multiple programs. Graham said the university now has approximately 40 academic advisers.
“We believe that advising is critical to student success,” Graham said.
Graham said a program titled advising academy was launched this year to train new academic advisers. It is a class on Blackboard with nine modules and lessons on developmental advising, student success, referral sources and student support.
“We’re training new academic advisers to serve, understand the advising ethos [across] the university and really working on building their skill set, the tool box, so they can serve students better,” Graham said.
Another goal for this semester is to get students to engage with their advisers earlier, Graham said. Emails will start to be sent out by grade level to schedule advising appointments.
Graham said they are looking to increase help for students that may need additional resources. The Division of Student Success also looks to offer more support to first-generation, low-income students.
“We’re trying to give them as much support as we possibly can, so that they don’t feel alone in their journey here,” Graham said.
The Division of Student Success’ business hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Its office is located in Todd Hall, Room 203.
Anyone with questions can contact Graham at dlgraham01@ysu.edu.