For most college students, an academic advisor is a faculty member – maybe in their major – who checks on the student to make sure they are on track to complete their degree. They also answer any questions the student may have about enrolling in classes and planning their schedule. 

WashU Continuing & Professional Studies (CAPS) Student Success Navigators do all of that and much more. 

Dean Sean Armstrong discovered the wide variety of roles Navigators play in CAPS students’ lives during his final Dean’s Day at Your Desk for 2024 where he spent the day shadowing Student Success Navigator Ebony Shippy. 

“I’m overwhelmed,” Armstrong said at the end of the day. “That’s a lot.” 

Wholistically Supporting Students 

Ebony’s day began with a virtual meeting with a student who joined CAPS through the Prison Education Project (PEP). Recently released from the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center (WERDCC), the student is determined to complete her associate’s degree before pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Studies (BSIS) and, eventually, a law degree. 

“She is really one to watch,” Shippy said, proud of the student’s determination and plans for the future. 

Before the meeting, Shippy thoroughly reviewed the student’s academic records. 

“I look in WuAchieve, our degree audit program,” Shippy said. “It will tell us what the remaining requirements are, what credits a student has, and so on. It will also tell us if she’s registered for the upcoming spring and how those courses would count.” 

“Other things I’m checking for would be electives and making sure she’s on track with policies like pass/fail levels,” Shippy tells Armstrong. “For the BSIS, it’s a little bit more complicated because you have to make sure they’re hitting a certain number of credits at the advanced level, and you want to account for the total number of electives they need.” 

Shippy then looked at courses available in the spring, checked her notes on the student’s interests, and came up with some recommendations for what the student should consider taking to complete her associate’s degree. 

But before the student can achieve her goals, she has to deal with some financial aid issues, which is the focus of the meeting. 

“She’s run into a complicated issue with a loan default situation at one of her prior universities,” Shippy explained. “She’s been in touch with the university. They tell her to talk to the loan provider, and the loan provider is telling her to talk to the university.” 

Shippy connected the student with a CAPS financial aid advisor, who opened lines of communication between the parties. When Armstrong learned the defaulted loan was for a relatively small amount, he suggested the student contact the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, which could offer a grant or low-interest loan to resolve the issue. 

Empowering Students to Dream Big 

With some progress on the financial front, the conversation shifted to the student’s adjustment post-incarceration and her spring semester plans. 

“I’ve been settling in alright,” she said. “I think I’m ready to take on a little more this spring… I want to be full-time.” 

The student said she is considering taking more than the two credits she needs to complete her associate’s degree so she can get a head start on her BSIS. 

Shippy pointed out that at the bachelor’s level students can transfer in more credits from other institutions and those additional credits could help the student achieve a concentration in the two fields she is considering: Geographic Information Systems and Sustainability. 

Beyond Traditional Advising 

Later in the day, Shippy and Armstrong met with another student, illustrating the emotional and practical support Navigators provide. 

This student is considering changing their program of study because they are getting pushback from their supervisor at work about trying to advance. 

“I thought I could make all of my dreams come true but now I am in this place with this person and I wonder if I will lose my job if I keep doing this,” the student said. Currently enrolled in the Health Care Management program, she shared her deep passion for helping patients but admitted she was questioning her future path. “I know all my patient’s names, and I work in a pretty big center. They deserve to have at least one person be nice to them… I just really care about people. That’s why I choose to stay in health care. I’m not completely throwing it out the window but I just, I don’t know. I don’t know.” 

Armstrong and Shippy were unanimous in their support of the student, encouraging her to continue with her plans for the future. 

 “You never have to apologize for having a phone call with us,” Shippy said. “Part of my role is also to be a sounding board, especially when it comes to things around your school choices, so I’m glad that we were able to talk and I’m glad the Dean just happened to be here today to share another perspective on how you might push forward.” 

Building Relationships That Transform Lives 

Shippy’s approach to advising stems from her prior experience as an Assistant Professor of Education at WashU, where she found herself naturally drawn to helping students outside the classroom. 

“I was spending a lot of time working with students outside of the classroom,” Shippy said. “It could be career advice, it could be course selection, research advice, all kinds of support. I started looking into advising opportunities on campus and there wasn’t really anything that was available that fit my passions. 

“I was looking for a role where I could really spend more of my time just working with students doing direct advising and student support,” she said, adding that she found CAPS through a student intern at January Hall near the CAPS office. “She was featured in The Record and they mentioned University College (now CAPS). I just happened to see they were hiring. It was one of the easiest cover letters I’ve ever written because the culture of advising here was consistent with how I viewed advising.” 

Her advising approach centers on efficiency, goal-setting and empowering students with options. “If I had to summarize my advising philosophy or coaching philosophy, I’m about efficiency, creating choices for yourself and being goal-oriented,” Shippy said. “That’s been one of the things I’ve appreciated a great deal about transitioning to CAPS. Advising modern learners, it certainly is a different type of conversation when you’re working with somebody who is saying ‘I want to do this. I’m very serious about school. This is why I’m doing school, can you help?’” 

Behind the Scenes: The Work of a Navigator 

Between meetings, Shippy walked Armstrong through the behind-the-scenes work she does to support students. She demonstrated her process: sending recap emails with next steps, creating to-do lists, and preparing for future meetings. 

She also explained the admissions review process for new applicants.  

“For applicants to certificate programs, it is pretty straightforward,” Shippy said. “We just need to make sure they meet the age requirement, that their identity matches their application and then we can go and see if they’re already working with an advisor. If the student is applying for a BSIS program it’s a bit more involved. We review the transcripts to make sure we can bring in at least 45 credits, that their cumulative cross-institution GPA meets our minimum requirements and that they qualify for admission.” 

Once a student is admitted, Shippy immediately contacts them to welcome them to CAPS and schedules a meeting to start building a relationship. 

Redefining Advising at CAPS 

By the end of the day, Armstrong was deeply impressed by the multi-faceted role Navigators play; something he implemented with a strategic shift from an advising to coaching model in 2023. 

“Navigators aren’t just advisors—they’re mentors, advocates, and problem-solvers,” he said. “Their work is invaluable to our students and our mission at CAPS.”