Greetings Spartan Community!
Fall is here! University Advising and the Undergraduate Academic Advisor Resources and Engagement team are looking forward to another engaging semester.
University Advising
University Advising is entering our third fall as a new team. We engaged nearly 2,000 new students during New Student Orientation Advising and Enrollment this summer. We are happy to rebrand exploratory advising as an opportunity for our Spartans. University Advising wants to reiterate that exploratory majors are not default majors but the institutional resource that MSU provides to students who need additional clarity and guidance in choosing a major, meeting goals to enter a major, or reimagining their ideas about a major pathway. With the help of each major department at MSU we seek to encourage students to confidently declare a major and most importantly learn, thrive, and GRADUATE!
The best part of being a newer division is that we have had the chance to explore what works best for our students. We will continue to reach out to our college partners to ensure we connect you with students who would like to explore your majors. In the spirit of true learning, UA advisors are being trained as exploration experts to ensure students aren’t limited in their exploration options. We have aligned our leadership titles to be reflective of our work and make it easier for campus partners to connect with us.
- Director of University Advising, Stratton C. Lee, III
- Associate Director for Retention & Transitions, Debra Thornton-Fitzpatrick
- Associate Director for Strategic Initiative, Freddie DeRamus
- Associate Director for Operations & Advising, Justin Landis
Contact our team
- Email: UniversityAdvising@msu.edu
- Phone: 517-994-6673
- Our new centralized phoneline will collect voicemails that we be forwarded routinely to the most appropriate persons/offices.
- Website: Exploring Students
Name Change! Undergraduate Academic Advisor Resources and Engagement
Our leadership and professional development area has upgraded their name to reflect the amazing work that happens for advisors across MSU. The formally known leadership and professional development area is now Undergraduate Academic Advisor Resources and Engagement. The team still consists of Dr. Qiana Green, director, and Education Developer Katie Peterson, along with our 2025-2026 fellows: please welcome Dr. Carmen Ruiz-Sanchez (Lyman Briggs College), Advising Network and Engagement Fellow; and Scott Fitzpatrick (College of Natural Science), Advising Professional Development Fellow.
Undergraduate Academic Advisor Resources and Engagement will be hosting the first Advising Collective event this fall, a space for academic advisors to connect, exchange and grow. Advisors, we heard you, this is a fresh take on the advising summit, and we are proud to shift into an advisor specific day of training, resource sharing, and campuswide advisor team building. We spend a lot of time encouraging the student experience, now it’s our time to model this idea by strengthening the relationships across our entire advising community. This event will be held Tuesday, Sept. 30 in the Multicultural Center, 12:30-5 p.m. Please register here.
The commitment to developing advisors across campus continues. Advisors, supervisors, department chairs and deans are encouraged to make time and space for development. Check out the development opportunities for the season.
Undergraduate Education NSO Advising & Enrollment Wrap-up
A huge thank you goes out to each advisor for working so hard to get our new Spartans through the process. I enjoyed working with our IR, tech, RO, admissions, and NSO teams and look forward to further streamlining student processes for next year. My team will be reaching out to garner information as Dr. Q, director of Undergraduate Academic Advisor Resources & Engagement; Dr. Rebecca Dean, director of Assessment and Data Analytics; and I work on an NSO Advising & Enrollment Assessment Plan to provide us with a wholistic view of our advising practice across all colleges during this critical time of student engagement. We desire to continue to streamline and advocate for more efficient resources long term. Thank you in advance for your support.
Important Academic Dates
As we embark on the start of the fall semester, find a few important dates as we begin the semester.
- Aug. 25 - Fall Classes Begin
- Aug. 29 - Open Add Period Ends
- Sept. 1 - Holiday University Closed
- Sept. 1 - Minimum Tuition and Fee Payment Due
- Sept. 18 - Tuition Refund Period Ends (date only applicable to full-term Fall semester courses) & Quarter of Semester