Student Success Navigators support online students
The Division of Enrollment, Marketing and Student Success is excited to share updates about the student success navigator role, a key part of our Strategic Enrollment Plan (SEP) efforts to enhance support for fully online undergraduate students.
This spring semester, a pilot program aimed at supporting new fully online undergraduate students has launched. The program is designed to offer proactive, personalized guidance to keep students connected, engaged, and on track, ultimately improving retention, progression, and graduation rates. Approximately 450 new fully online students will participate in the pilot, supported by four dedicated navigators. The pilot will run through the end of the spring semester, with the goal of expanding to provide Navigator support for all incoming fully online students starting in fall 2026.
This new role complements recent changes to our advising model, where dedicated academic advisors now exclusively serve fully online students. This shift ensures students receive focused, tailored academic guidance, while Navigators provide additional support for navigating university resources, services, and proactively overcoming challenges.
Together, these efforts—rooted in our SEP, particularly the GS Online Strategy—aim to improve student engagement, enhance retention and create a seamless experience for our fully online undergraduate population.
What is a Student Success Navigator?
Navigators serve as the primary point of contact and act as concierges for new fully online students, offering personalized guidance and proactive support to ensure their success. Navigators streamline the student experience by:
- Connecting students to resources: Assisting with university services, policies, and support tools.
- Maintaining engagement: Conducting regular check-ins and providing proactive communication to keep students on track.
- Facilitating solutions: Acting as a bridge to services like advising, tutoring, tech support, and counseling.
- Collaborating for success: Partnering with academic advisors and campus departments to create a seamless support network.
How Is This Different?
This new model establishes a clear, but complementary, distinction between Navigators and Academic Advisors:
- Academic advisors provide specialized academic guidance tailored to the unique needs of fully online students, including course selection, degree planning, and program-specific requirements.
- Student Success Navigators take on a concierge-style role, serving as a single, centralized point of contact for new fully online students, addressing their needs and connecting them with appropriate resources.
By specializing in these roles, the navigator-advising partnership provides personalized, focused support that reduces the need for students to navigate multiple offices. Instead, students have one dedicated person who takes ownership of their concerns and ensures they get the answers and assistance they need, enhancing their engagement and overall success.
Click here to meet the team.
Posted in Faculty, Staff, Students, You May Have Heard