Strategic Plan Implementation Teams

Our new strategic plan, Solution Seekers, outlines the steps we will take in the coming years to elevate vocation, expand innovation, and sustain our community. As the work gets underway, four implementation teams are charged with turning those steps into reality. Each week for the next month, we will use this space in This Week to highlight one of the implementation teams and provide an update on their work.

First up: the Advising Implementation Team. This team is led by Associate Dean for the First-Year Experience and Sophomore Thriving Diane LeBlanc, with Provost and Dean of the College Marci Sortor as the PLT sponsor. Team members include:

• Associate Dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Tina Garrett
• Director of Research and Instructional Technology Ben Gottfried
• Academic Success Center Director Kathy Glampe ’92
• Piper Center Senior Associate Director Nate Jacobi
• Associate Director of Orientation and Transition Experiences Sarah Jurewicz
• Associate Professor of Practice in Romance Languages Sean Killackey ’90
• Head Women’s Basketball Coach Megan Lueck
• Program Director of Advising Karina Sierra

This team is charged with:

• Generating resources and devising training to help advisors and mentors guide student exploration, reflection, and development of their St. Olaf Pathway.
• Developing a robust second-year experience that builds on our existing first-year experience — with a holistic focus on vocation.
• Developing or adopting a software platform that makes the multiple dimensions of a student’s pathway visible and amplifies and facilitates advising and mentoring.
• More information can be found in the Advising Team’s Charter, which is a working document intended to guide the team’s process.

In its first few months of work, the team has begun collecting and analyzing data on student experiences with advising (both at St. Olaf and nationally) and opportunities to improve the second-year experience. They are leading a pilot of a new Advising Form, tailored for each class year, that prompts students to reflect on and talk with their advisor about questions relevant to their current academic and co-curricular experiences. The team is also exploring digital tools and apps that students could use to guide their St. Olaf Pathway. They will present their roadmap for the 2025–26 academic year in May. We want to continue to hear from the community, so please share your feedback or ideas.