Two Noel-Levitz consultants made a visit to the Texas Tech campus Feb. 2 to Feb. 4 to review the advising system at the university.
Brenda Williams and David Trites were the two consultants to visit the campus.
“A lot is going well at Tech, like the Pegasus program. But some of the suggestions on improvement I plan to give are for advising, which appeared uneven across the campus with examples of both good and bad advisers,” Trites said.
Trites said he talked to about 15 to 20 students and was impressed.
“Tech has a level of student satisfaction that is significantly higher than national averages for similar universities,” Trites said.
The exit briefing on the last day of consulting stated the intention of implementing identified opportunities for improvements and realistic goals for advising, retention, enrollment, along with observations and recommendations.
Elizabeth Teagan, managing director of Academic Operations and Services, said she has been waiting for consultation like this for about seven years and is pleased that Tech organizations and officials participated at a rate close to 99 percent.
“They didn’t have to go, but it was important enough to them to go and not only did they attend – they participated and engaged,” Teagan said.
According to Noel-Levitz Web site, the organization is a leader in higher education consulting committed to helping institutions meet their goals for enrollment and student success.
Tech provost Robert Smith said it is common to have outside consultants visit a campus.
He said he has worked with Noel-Levitz before and said they have the best consulting of their type in the country.
“Initial feedback in my mind has been very positive,” Smith said.
The consultants interacted with students, he said, and those students had the right perspective.
“Students really care about quality of programs and facility and that perspective is somewhat fresh,” Smith said.
Michael Shonrock, senior vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, said Tech has numerous engagements with Noel-Levitz.
He said the Board of Regents approved a long-term consulting agreement with the organization for three years with an option of up to five years on Aug. 8, 2008.
The visit to campus about advising and retention was one of several separate engagements Tech has with the company, he said.
Teagan said the consulting also was about tweaking the system to support ways to become more effective.
By working with the systems in place, Teagan said, one goal is to increase retention.
“It’s rarely a people problem, it’s usually a system problem,” Teagan said.
According to the agenda, Williams stayed in Philosophy building Room 251B and focused mostly on advising while Trites stayed in English building Room 201 and focused mostly on student success.
According to the Noel-Levitz Web site, Williams has received numerous scholastic and professional awards and has more than 35 year of experience in higher education.
Trites has 20 years experience in higher education, including as dean of Student Services at Alexandria Technical College.
The written statement the consultants will give to Tech is being worked on, Trites said, and it will be ready in about two weeks. He said the statement will include observations, analysis of what is going well, what needs improvement, and specific recommendations about what can be expanded.
During the consultants’ time on campus, numerous representatives of the university community met with the consultants including President Guy Bailey, Smith, associate deans, student support groups, the Strategic Enrollment Planning Council, Resident Life professional staff, Student Government Association officers and college coordinators and advising and retention groups.
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