

With the support of Personal Advising Teams, the Guided Pathways prepare our students with the knowledge and enduring skills they will need to excel in their lives and careers beyond Gettysburg College. We help our students discover their potential and how they can make the most of every opportunity they choose to explore. This holistic and intentional approach to education we call the Gettysburg Approach ensures that every experience on campus—in the classroom and beyond—matters.
Learn more about what you can expect in the first year of the Guided Pathways.
Step 1: Know before you go

Students are introduced to the Guided Pathways well before they arrive on campus through in-person and virtual visits to campus, Get Acquainted Day, and other pre-Orientation programs, such as the GETTing College Ready virtual summer engagement series. These initial communications introduce students to the five thematic pathways listed below:
“I quickly became aware of the Guided Pathways program when I enrolled at Gettysburg College, and I chose to opt into the program,” said Michael Cox ’27. “These elements were heavily marketed to my class, so I knew about them and was advised to utilize them upon arriving on campus in the fall.”
After opting into the program, you will be assigned a co-curricular advisor. The co-curricular advisor teams up with a faculty advisor and a career advisor to form a Personal Advising Team, providing 360 degrees of support and advising as you explore your interests and ambitions. You can view this team through Navigate, an online platform that unites administrators, faculty, staff, and students in a collaborative network. In early August, your co-curricular advisors will send you a welcome email before Orientation and all three advisors will be available to connect with you as soon as you arrive on campus.
Step 2: Meet your Personal Advising Team

At Gettysburg College, our people are one of the defining elements behind our promise of providing each student A Consequential Education. Personal Advising Teams are a strong core of personal resources who will guide you along each step of your undergraduate journey.
Faculty advisers help you navigate your academic progress through a liberal arts and sciences education at Gettysburg, serving as an invaluable resource in preparation for graduate or professional school or that first job.
Through the Center for Career Engagement (CCE), you will connect with a dedicated career advisor. Career advisors will help you reflect on your career aspirations and Gettysburg experience, while cultivating connections within the global Gettysburg Network.
While faculty and career mentors have been key components of Gettysburg’s approach to education for decades, co-curricular advisors help set the Guided Pathways apart from other institutions. Co-curricular advisors seek to establish strong connections to understand your goals and expectations for your college career. You should plan to meet with your co-curricular advisor at least once per semester, but additional meetings can be scheduled any time.

“I start each meeting by checking in with the student to see how they are doing emotionally, academically, and socially,” said co-curricular advisor Cara Smith. “I work with students to identify their interests and suggest co-curricular experiences that will help them develop those interests. Sometimes those interests relate to professional and academic goals, and sometimes those interests relate to personal fulfillment and building community. As students participate in experiences, I work with them to intentionally reflect on those experiences and identify and articulate the enduring skills they are developing.”
Students participating in the Guided Pathways will also be able to add an alumni mentor to their Personal Advising Teams at the conclusion of their sophomore year.
While the Personal Advising Team is a constant presence throughout the Guided Pathways, you may also tap into a host of advising options that develop and support the whole student, including coaches in athletics, academic advisors in the Center for Student Success, leadership mentors at the Garthwait Leadership Center, and other staff and faculty across campus.
“It's daunting to talk to advisors or professors at first, but what they have to say is helpful,” said Grace Jurchak ’27. “I met twice or more a semester with my co-curricular advisor and then had check-ins to make sure I was on track. Being able to choose when you meet and how often you meet was helpful.”
Step 3: Explore opportunities

Gettysburg features more than 120 clubs and organizations along with the Garthwait Leadership Center, Eisenhower Institute, Center for Public Service, and study abroad programming, all of which offer unique and distinctive experiences for students to explore during their undergraduate tenure. In your first year, you will be encouraged to take advantage of experiences within multiple Guided Pathways and reflect with your Personal Advising Team to draw connections between your interests and aspirations.
Each Guided Pathway features introductory activities for you to investigate in your first year. You could publish an article in The Gettysburgian, attend a culturally-based event such as Salsa on the Square, participate in GIV (Gettysburg is Volunteering) Day or Ascent, play on one of our athletic teams, or meet with a career counselor to improve your resume or cover letter. Those are just a handful of the different opportunities that can help you figure out which Guided Pathway might best fit your expectations and goals. You can select most of your experiences through engageGettysburg.
Pursuing the Leadership, Teamwork, and Collaboration Pathway while majoring in history and political science, Cox participated in the CliftonStrengths Assessment, EI Democracy Week, and GLC Challenge Course in his first year on campus. A graduate of Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore, Maryland, he also took part in the Civil War Institute’s First-Year Experience Program, an opportunity within the Career Development Pathway.
“I appreciated that the entirety of the program was set up on engageGettysburg, allowing me to see all the experiences I could complete to receive credit for the program,” said Cox. “It made choosing my Pathway and planning how I will complete it by senior year much simpler. It eliminated a lot of stress and uncertainty I had regarding the program.”
Throughout the program, you can reconnect with your advisors to determine which activity might best fit into your intended Guided Pathway, and how the skills and knowledge you gain during that activity can be applied to your academic and career goals.
“We brainstorm skills and experiences they would like to pursue, and I make suggestions,” Smith noted. “One of the exciting features of the Guided Pathways is that they provide a framework and suggestions of experiences for students to consider.”
Additionally, by participating in the Guided Pathways, you have access to competitive grants up to $4,000 to apply toward a Pathways experience. Guided Pathways grants will be awarded as early as the summer after your sophomore year and will be applied to a Pathways experience that advances your career goals.
Upon completion of the Guided Pathways, members of the Class of 2027 and Class of 2028 will earn honor cords to display at Commencement, formally recognizing and celebrating the knowledge, enduring skills, and experiences you’ve gained at Gettysburg College.
Step 4: Reflect on your experiences

Reflection is key to leading and learning at Gettysburg. As you complete each experience within the Guided Pathways, you should compose a first-person reflection before that experience is checked off your list. You can complete this reflection by discussing the experience with your co-curricular advisor or answering questions via a survey in engageGettyburg.
Reflections allow you to look back on your journey and see how you have grown over the course of your education. The introspection can also help you gain a fuller understanding of the linkages between campus activities and career ambitions. Most students choose to compose a handful of reflections as they dabble in various experiences across the Guided Pathways.
An art history and museum studies major and history minor, Jurchak plans to pursue the Creativity and Innovation Pathway. The graduate of Montrose Area High School in Montrose, Pennsylvania, quickly realized the value and impact of reflection in helping her focus on goals and expectations.
“Having those reflections makes sure you remember everything that happened in the experience. Without writing those things down, we tend to forget the smaller things,” said Jurchak. “I wrote reflections about my role in the costume shop and the Gettysburgian. I also wrote reflections about events I went to on campus such as philosophy panels and the Smithsonian internship webinar.”
By reflecting on your experiences in the Guided Pathways, you will gain a greater insight into yourself and be able to more effectively communicate your knowledge and enduring skills to potential employers and graduate schools after attaining your Gettysburg degree.
Step 5: Get ready for year two

Your first year in the Guided Pathways builds a strong foundation. It encourages you to explore your interests while building those all-important enduring skills valued by employers today.
According to Smith, the checklist for that debut year in the Guided Pathways should include at least two meetings with a co-curricular advisor (one per semester), participation in at least one Introductory Experience, and a reflection in at least one of the Guided Pathways. Additional meetings and experiences are up to the individual student as they chart their path forward.
“Toward the end of last year, I took a few hours to sit down and assess my first year in the Pathways program and set goals for next year and the two years thereafter,” Cox said. “I planned out several potential experiences in each level for the Leadership, Teamwork, and Collaboration Pathway and the Career Development Pathway that I could complete either next year or in future years.”
The Personal Advising Team will be there to guide you along the way and help hone your focus and interests. The addition of an alumni mentor to the team will help you tap into the far-reaching Gettysburg Network and provide additional guidance on how to reach your career goals. At the end of year two in the program, you will select one Guided Pathway to pursue for the remainder of your Gettysburg experience.
“Going into sophomore year, I want to broaden the experiences I do,” Jurchak said. “I hope to write more reflections in different areas other than the Career and Creativity Pathways. Going out of my comfort zone is easier when I can see the different experiences I can do and choose which one sounds the best for me.”
By Corey Jewart
Photos by Abbey Frisco, Saiman Adhikari ’26, Shawna Sherrell, Jason Minick, Casey Martin
Posted: 07/11/24