Call For Proposals

 

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Eligibility

Any MUS staff or faculty with direct advising or advising supervision responsibilities is invited to submit a proposal.

Award & Recognition

MUS Advising Fellows will be awarded and recognized for exemplary approaches to holistic advising practices and exceptional commitment to bettering outcomes for all students. Selected MUS Advising Fellows will be announced in September 2026. In addition to recognition, fellows will also receive a $1,500 award and up to $500 to directly support activities of their advising community of practice.

Expectations and Goals of MUS Advising Fellows

The MUS Advising Fellows program seeks to build communities of practice to advance holistic advising in support of supporting student success. As MUS Advising Fellows, advisors commit to building and sustaining communities of practice by:

  • Designing and facilitating an Advising Learning Committee (COP) of 6-10 advisors (faculty or professional staff) at your institution working to advance holistic advising approaches or strategies that align with institutional advising goals and that are evidence-based in supporting improved retention and on-time graduation;
  • Participating in MUS Advising Fellows program events;
  • Developing and submitting resources that promote adopting and enhancing holistic advising practices that emerge from the COP and sharing resources across the MUS;
  • Participate in a system-wide advising events to share approaches, findings, best practices that emerge from the advising community of practice.

Advising Communities of Practice

Each MUS Advising Fellow will design and lead an academic-year long advising community of practice (COP) that seeks to advance components or strategies of your institution’s holistic advising model. COPs should focus on learning about, adopting, testing, and assessing specific evidence-based holistic advising strategies or approaches. Holistic advising strategies or approaches should be those that have direct and measurable impact on key student success outcomes related to advising. Advising Fellows will collaborate with advising directors and other campus student success leaders to identify and develop learning outcomes and a COP facilitation plan that advances key goals of institutional advising. Fellows will recruit for and lead a community of practice that will work in support of these goals. Ideally, CoP will have 6-10 participants. Fellows will have up to $500 in stipend funds to support COP activities. At the conclusion of the academic year, each Advising Fellow will develop a resource (white paper, praxis guide, learning modules, etc) based on the activities and outcomes of the advising community of practice. Advising Fellows will share these resources in a common MUS hub available to other advisors and advising communities across the system.

To Apply

Complete applications must be submitted by September 30, 2026. Applications must include the following:

  1. A brief online application.
  2. A letter of application (no more than 2 pages) that includes a proposal for the advising community of practice (to be submitted via the application form). Letters should address your vision of holistic advising at your institution and a proposal for the advising community of practice including the learning outcomes for the community, how learning outcomes will be assessed within the COP, and how the work in the COP advances holistic advising and student success outcomes at your institution.
  3. A letter of support from an institutional leader connected to advising (such as a Director of Advising, AVP or VP of student success, provost, academic Dean, etc) addressing how the proposed community of practice advances institutional goals around holistic advising.

Requirements for Participation

  • Must attend the MUS Advising Fellows orientation (date TBA).
  • Must compile roster of 6-10 advisors and hold at least one community of practice meeting in the fall 2026 term;
  • Must have plan for conducting a community of practice including learning outcomes and proposal for how COP will contribute to holistic advising at your institution.
  • Must participate in MUS Advising Fellows check-ins (1-2x/semester)
  • Must contribute resources that includes focus area of advising community of practice; tested approaches/strategies; learnings or best practices emerging from the COP; and considerations for implementation.
  • Must complete all administrative paperwork including expense reporting and reimbursement by deadlines to receive award and stipend.

Selection Criteria

Selection for MUS Advising Fellows will be based on the following criteria:

  • Demonstrated commitment holistic advising that directly supports key, measurable student success outcomes, including intellectual and academic development in field of study, retention, graduation, and career development.
  • Proposal for a well-designed COP including clear learning outcomes and description of how COP will support participating advisors in developing, adopting, and assessing holistic advising practices or approaches;
  • Alignment of proposed COP activities with institutional advising goals;
  • Demonstrated commitment to holistic advising approaches that promote success for all students;
  • Potential impact to enhance holistic advising among participating advisors and across the institution more broadly;
  • Commitment to contributing learnings from COP to the larger MUS advising community by submitting resources and participating in MUS advising-related activities.