May 21, 2019

Medicine Hat College (MHC) is excited to announce that its academic advisors recently received the Most Effective Team in Student Services award at the 2019 Alberta Student Services Conference (ASSC) in Calgary, Alberta.

The award is presented to a team that collectively demonstrates effective provision of student services. This includes, showing improvements in programs and services offered; demonstrating initiative in developing innovative practices; implementing best practices in student services and team building that contributes, and enhances relationships with students, staff and faculty.

Nicholas Langat, manager of student engagement, says it is nice to see the team recognized for their hard work, and commitment to students. “To be acknowledged and recognized by our peers means that we are doing something right”.

“We have a team of eight advisors who are all very committed to ensuring our students are supported in their pursuit of education. They’ve integrated themselves into the college community by volunteering for events and have embraced a new way of thinking when it comes to the ways we can serve our learners.”

Langat adds that the team regularly designates innovation time in which they think of creative ways to better their services. Examples of their successes include creating resources such as university transfer guides; streamlining the registration process; and developing how-to-videos, website resources and an online booking system to reduce wait times and increase efficiency in appointments.

The advisors also volunteer for a number of college initiatives including: the Mental Health Task Force, student engagement social committee and strategic enrolment management group.

They support many student-focused events like New Student Orientation (NSO), Long Night Against Procrastination (LNAP), career fairs and recruitment events. 

At last week’s conference, the advisors spoke about their academic probation process, in which a student completes an online self-assessment/blackboard module so that a centralized profile is created outlining the issues, concerns and needs of that particular learner. From that profile, an individualized success plan can be created by the advisors and referrals made to other academic support areas. Following the implementation of the process in the fall of 2017, the college has noticed a significant increase of students on academic probation engaging with academic support services.

 “Our team also presented this at the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) conference last fall and received great reviews from our presentation. A number of institutions even asked to borrow some aspects of our process to help them develop theirs.

We created it as a way to help our students succeed in their academic journey by supporting them towards  taking advantage of the resources and supports that we provide and enhance their experience at MHC,” says Langat.

For Irlanda Price, associate vice-president of student development, the award is well-deserved.

“The significance of this win is two-fold. Not only are our students receiving the most innovative, caring and efficient support by our advisors, they are also being given an opportunity to further develop their own skills and competencies as they begin their journey as an MHC student,” says Price. “Our team, in turn is setting the standard extremely high in the province, nationally and internationally.  I am beaming with pride with the work they have done and am excited to see what great innovation comes next.”

To learn more about the programs and services available at MHC, visit www.mhc.ab.ca.