The following message was sent to all faculty and staff on April 22, 2025 regarding SMU’s transition to professional advising.
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Dear Faculty and Staff,
As part of our ongoing commitment to student success, SMU is transitioning to a professional academic advising model for all undergraduate students. This shift, recommended in SMU in Four, our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), was outlined in the Year-Three Progress Report (2023–2024) as a key strategy to enhance retention and timely degree completion.
The professional advising experience will be phased in based on a student’s major declaration date or term of matriculation to SMU:
- Continuing undergraduate students who declared their major before June 1, 2025 will experience no changes in their academic advising through graduation.
- Undergraduate students declaring a major after June 1, 2025, and all students admitted for Fall 2025 and beyond will transition to the new professional advising structure. Both pre- and declared majors will be advised by:
More school-specific details on this transition will be shared with school faculty and staff in late April. We will also launch a new landing page at smu.edu/advising to direct students, faculty, and staff to the correct professional advising unit. Remember, undergraduate students can look up their assigned advisor on their my.SMU Student Dashboard. We appreciate your partnership in ensuring a smooth implementation that benefits both students and the SMU community.
Thank you for your continued dedication to student success.
Best,
Dustin K. Grabsch, Ph.D.
Co-Director, SMU in Four
Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education & Academic Success