The University of Calgary returned to the Students’ Legislative Council (SLC) on Nov. 3 to report on its academic advising review and ask councillors where the next phase should focus.
Vice-Provost (Student and Campus Experience) Verity Turpin and Institutional Effectiveness Specialist Tanille Butler presented a consultation on the Ahead of Tomorrow Academic Advising Impact Initiative. The project is a broad review of how students receive advice on academic progression and completion of their program requirements.
Butler said councillors completed a two-part co-validation exercise this fall. The first part was a Qualtrics survey for faculty representatives, which the university is still analyzing. The second was a worksheet asking whether three themes from two earlier consultations matched students' experiences in their faculties: clearer and more consistent information, more accessible advising, and greater clarity and access to self-serve tools. Consistent information was the top priority ranked first by seven faculties, with seven of the 12 faculties calling for a better and more accessible degree guide.
Turpin said the Provost’s office is considering five initiatives for 2026-27 which have not yet been approved. They include mandatory degree guides on the academic calendar and mandatory advising notes visible to students in all faculties. The other three are a graduate hub, a network of graduate advisors, and a map of advising roles and responsibilities within graduate studies.
As the floor opened to questions, councillors said consistency remains the central problem.
Faculty of Science Representative Sehaj Kang said students get different answers about the same courses.
“Is there any kind of line of communication between the profs as well as the advisors?” Kang asked. “Because if we can have a channel or bridge those two kinds of information gaps between one another, I think a lot of communication or information surrounding the courses, the details, the workload and all that kind of stuff can get pretty clear that way.”
Butler said degree guides would help.
“I do think that the degree guide living on the academic calendar will enhance this because those would be outlining what would be applicable to your degree journey,” Butler said.
Faculty of Medicine Representative Laiba Nasir said consistency is not enough on its own.
“I think the important part is not only keeping it consistent and accurate but having a sort of accountability as well,” Nasir said.
Turpin said the advising notes would add transparency.
Faculty of Nursing Representative Natasha Tenor brought up how 98 per cent of students within nursing find out where their clinical placements are less than two days before they begin. She said she would like to see placements matched to the region where students live.
Vice President Academic Zoe Zeritsch said consistent information is the right priority but the university should also consider how degree progression differs for international and part-time students. She asked that advisor training reflect those differences.
Vice President External Mahad Rzain asked the university to plan for long-term maintenance.
“I just wanted to offer, I guess, a little bit of meta priority on top of these priorities and that what's really important not only just kind of for myself but other students as well is that for all these initiatives that once they are done, they are also done right. And they’re done in a way considering sustainability,” Rzain said. “It's very important that after three or four years, the content of the degree guide does not become outdated.”
“I can tell you this is a priority for the Provost,” Turpin said. “I’m going to include in the implementation how we intentionally track all deliverables on an annual basis while revisiting them to ensure they remain relevant and accurate over time.”
Planning for 2027-28 will begin in winter 2027 and focus on faculty-specific initiatives. Once the implementation plan is approved, the university will begin tracking progress and report any changes to the Vice President Academic every other month.
A progress report and the 2027-28 priorities are expected to be brought to SLC in March 2027.
