Mitzi M. Montoya, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost
Paul R. Kohn, Sr Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment and Student Success
T. Chase Hagood, Vice Provost for Student Success
This fall, Academic Affairs is launching a new regional structure that integrates academic advising and career coaching under the leadership of Vice Provost for Student Success T. Chase Hagood.
Under this model, academic advising and career coaching will be organized into three regions, each led by a senior director who oversees both functions. Each college will have a director of advising who reports to the senior director while keeping a dotted-line relationship with their college, similar to the U’s advancement staffing model.
The three regions are:
- Region A: Colleges of Humanities, Science and Social & Behavioral Science; School for Cultural and Social Transformation
- Region B: College of Engineering; School of Business
- Region C: Colleges of Architecture + Planning, Education, Fine Arts, Health, Nursing and Social Work; Exploring and Pre-Professional Advising within Undergraduate Studies; Division of Medical Laboratory Sciences; Utah Asia Campus
Why the changes
These changes are designed to make the student experience more seamless and sustainable as the U grows. Integrating academic advising and career coaching will help students see clearer connections between their academic choices and career goals, while a regional structure will ensure larger, cross-trained teams can provide consistent, timely support. For staff, this model creates greater clarity in roles, equity in workloads and pay and stronger opportunities for professional development and career advancement. Together, these shifts position us to better steward resources and advance our Impact 2030 goals: expanding enrollment, achieving an 80% graduation rate and reaching 90% job placement at graduation.
Context and foundations
This work builds on the National Institute for Student Success (NISS) assessment of student success efforts at the U, along with focus groups and interviews conducted last year with students, faculty, staff and campus leaders. That research confirmed what many of us already know: across the U, teams are doing excellent, student-centered work that makes a real difference in students’ lives. At the same time, it revealed that as the U has grown, our services have grown, too, often in independent ways. The result is that students sometimes experience a fragmented, confusing path to the support they need.
The integrated regional structure also builds on recent efforts already underway. The Colleges of Humanities, Science, and Social and Behavioral Science, along with the School for Cultural and Social Transformation, created a shared advising structure that has provided important insights. The Colleges of Education and Social Work also transitioned to a shared advising model. These pilots demonstrated the benefits of consistency and collaboration across units and serve as important models for the next phase of work.
Finally, these changes build on the recent realignment of U Career Success under the vice provost for student success. Work is already underway to strengthen the intentional integration of durable, career-ready skills into the General Education (GE) curriculum by aligning General Education Program Learning Outcomes (GELOs) with nationally-recognized workforce readiness standards. In the coming weeks, this work we’re calling “Infusion” will expand across all undergraduate education, ensuring services and curriculum support students to, through and beyond their experience at the U.
What’s next
This fall, the project team will develop an implementation plan for transitioning to the new model, with phased implementation expected to begin in January 2026. Work will include designing new processes, establishing standards, building infrastructure and aligning practices across units.
We know change can spark questions and concerns. Faculty and staff have consistently emphasized what matters most: preserving college-specific knowledge, keeping students connected to their academic homes, making services easy to access and supporting staff morale. These priorities will shape the design process. Our shared goal is to strengthen what is already working through consistent processes, coordination and common values.
As we move forward, we will also draw on lessons reinforced during earlier transitions to shared advising. Those experiences underscored the importance of transparency, valuing people and inclusive decision-making. We are committed to carrying those priorities forward to ensure an open design and smooth transition.
The new regional structure and SEP
The new structure is a critical part of the Student Experience Project (SEP), a series of efforts aimed at creating a more navigable, equitable and integrated student-centered support system at the U, spanning services, scholarships, communications, technology and engagement.
As the U grows, so do our ambitions for student success. By integrating academic advising and career coaching into a regional structure, we seek to ensure students have seamless and timely access to the resources they need to thrive while staff have the support and career pathways that enable them to serve students more effectively.