SPARTAN SPOTLIGHT
The Science of Advising
By Brett Bralley
Whether it’s helping students achieve their dreams or serving the College of Science through an era of growth, Director of Academic Advising Jamie Alea keeps her eyes to the future.
Jamie Alea believes in the power of change.
She also believes that an academic advisor can make or break a student’s college experience.
So it comes as no surprise that Alea, director of academic advising for San José State University’s College of Science, led the effort to transform the college’s advising process. Her work helped revamp the College of Science Advising Center (CoSAC), whose mission is to provide the right resources and information to students to help them succeed.
That is also what drives Alea: Whether it’s through her role as an academic advisor or as a member of the college’s Antiracism Committee or its Strategic Planning Committee, she works to uplift students as early as their first days on campus, when they learn about CoSAC during orientation.
“That’s the center of what we’re doing here at SJSU — supporting and empowering students. We want to listen, to help them figure out what’s best for them,” she said.
Change from the ground up
Shortly after Alea joined SJSU in 2015 as an academic advisor in the biology department, she noticed a few ways the advising process could improve.
For instance, freshmen and sophomores typically meet with an academic advisor. Once they move into upper-level courses, they meet one-on-one with a faculty member. That transition from lower- to upper-level advising seemed disjointed, said Alea. Faculty often weren’t up to speed with students’ histories, or they weren’t sure of current requirements.
“Faculty are key for so much in advising — giving career advice, helping students decide what classes they should take to help them in their desired career paths — but they don’t always have the time to keep up with university policies and graduation requirements,” she explained. “We needed to set up a system to help faculty stay more engaged.”
So Alea collaborated with Jeffrey Honda, then chair of the Department of Biological Sciences. Together, they worked to improve communication with faculty members. They also established a shared online file system to keep track of students’ advising histories — such as what advice they had previously received and what courses they still needed to take. That way, faculty had everything they needed to serve their students not only as advisors, but mentors, too.
The model was a success, prompting Alea’s transition into her current role as leader of CoSAC. After that, many of the college’s departments adopted her same model. CoSAC even created an online course for students who needed extra resources to help them succeed, such as studying techniques and time management tips.
“As a woman of color, I want to make sure that we, as a college, work to solve some of the issues we face.”
— Jamie Alea
Jaime Alea, director of academic advising for San José State University’s College of Science. Photo: Robert C. Bain
“One of the reasons I love working at the College of Science is that everyone is so collaborative,” Alea shared. “Everyone was supportive of the students and of each other. That environment allowed us to grow and evolve.”
Then, March 2020 arrived, sending everything Alea and her staff had built into a momentary tailspin. But thanks to Zoom — “thank goodness for Zoom,” she emphasized — plus her staff’s initiative, CoSAC adjusted to students’ needs by offering more drop-in virtual hours and increased communication during the pandemic.
Alea said she knows some students felt the effects of COVID-19 more intensely than others. International students learning from their home countries, for example, often faced challenges that come from simply working on their courses in a different time zone.
“And there were certainly students who, at least initially, did not have the proper equipment to learn remotely. They may not have had a space to go to that was private, like maybe they were sharing a room with siblings — all of those things were challenges for students, so we had to make sure we were referring them to the best sources available for them.
“I wish we could have done more. We still wish we could do more, because I know these problems persist. We strive to be empathetic, listen to our students, help them navigate the system and try to help them get the services and support they need.”
Michael Kaufman, dean of the College of Science, said that Alea and her team “have done a tremendous job building the systems needed to provide consistent, accurate support to our more than 3,000 science majors.”
“The partnerships Jamie has built with departments are crucial to student success and helped make the pivot to online advising go remarkably smoothly,” he continued. “In fact, online advising has been so effective in meeting student needs that we plan to offer that option even post-pandemic.”
“That’s the center of what we’re doing here at SJSU — supporting and empowering students. We want to listen, to help them figure out what’s best for them,”
— Jamie Alea
“I feel like it’s my purpose to work with first-generation students and students of all backgrounds.”
— Jamie Alea
Focused on a better future
As the first person in her family to graduate from college, Alea understands the unique challenges first-generation students face — and the impact their success can have on others. That’s why she feels a particular passion for serving this community of students.
“First-generation students sometimes just don’t know what they don’t know. A STEM degree is not easy to navigate to begin with,” she explained. “And it’s not just about the courses — there are other components, like getting involved in research or an internship, for example. For first-generation students, this doesn’t always occur to them.”
Graduating from college wasn’t just a personal goal for Alea; it was one shared by her entire family, especially those who weren't able to attend or finish college because of life's challenges. Alea earned a bachelor's from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a teaching certificate from the Illinois State Board of Education. She followed that with a master’s in counseling and a doctoral degree in cultural and educational policy from Loyola University of Chicago.
“After I graduated college, some of my family members followed in my footsteps,” she said. “That made me realize that sometimes just seeing someone in your family graduate can have a tremendous impact on what you think is possible for yourself. When I work with first-generation students, I think about what a college degree can mean not just for the student, but for their family and for future generations.”
San José State has been an ideal institution for supporting first-generation students, she said.
“I’m serving students whose lives will be changed because of having gone to college, because of having gotten a degree. I feel at home at San José State. I feel like it’s my purpose to work with first-generation students and students of all backgrounds. This is where I can do my best work.”
That work isn’t limited to making powerful changes in the advising center. Alea is playing a key role in the college’s Strategic Planning Committee, helping to serve students in critical moments of transition in their academic career.
“We’re focused on refining recommended goals, metrics and initiatives for critical student transitions to SJSU for freshmen and transfers, as well as smooth transitions from SJSU into the workforce.”
She also sits on the college’s Antiracism Committee, partnering with two faculty members to establish a unique approach to training that addresses classroom inequities, power dynamics and systemic racism.
“We start from this assumption that building these relationships is where the work can occur, where we can share with one another. It’s a more effective way of getting people to open their minds rather than to tell someone that what they’re thinking is incorrect.
“As a woman of color, I want to make sure that we, as a college, work to solve some of the issues we face.”
That work — among Alea’s other contributions — has been transformational for the college, said Miri VanHoven, associate dean for research in the College of Science.
“Jamie has made invaluable contributions to our college’s efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion,” she noted. “Her initiatives promote equity for students, faculty and staff within our college community.”
Whatever students’ goals are, Alea said it’s exciting to see how she and College of Science faculty and staff can help students achieve them.
“We care, and we’re invested in their success,” she said. “It’s the most important thing you can do — help a person reach their full potential. In advising, you get to be part of that.”
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Top photo: Robert C. Bain/Jamie Alea in her office at SJSU.
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