Navigate user of the month: December 2020

How has your department/unit benefited from using Navigate?
The Department of Biological Sciences has benefited from using Navigate through scheduled appointments for our students which is a well-structured system and has accommodated our orientation for freshmen each academic year. This system has given us the opportunity to meet students and to answer all manner of questions and in turn we are able to share resources with them. Through navigate, advisees have benefited immensely from our referrals to the many units on Virginia Tech campus as well as our ability to review previous appointment summaries from previous Advisors. This gives us prior knowledge before each meeting and helps develop how we can provide resources from all levels on campus. A good example is using Navigate as a means to assist our Freshmen affiliated to the Global Education Office, VT Bound, VT Advantage, International students etc with a few students who are unable to schedule meetings with their Advisors. In short, navigate has streamlined our time management usage and helped us coordinate our meetings successfully as a University.

What feature in Navigate do you utilize the most?
The feature in Navigate utilized the most are the appointment summary and scheduling. This feature has helped me to follow up on previous appointments made with my Advisees.

What would you tell other advisors who are thinking of using Navigate?
Navigate is the best tool to familiarize ourselves with as Advisors, especially getting to know your Advisees and building a good relationship. This tool helps our daily interactions once it is documented since students are part of the discussion. Advisors benefit immensely from the services of Navigate and I encourage all my colleagues to embrace it. The continuous usage of Navigate by all Advisors will ameliorate the university structure of successful academic advising for all our students.