Under the leadership of Jade M. Felder, Ed.D., M.S.Ed., Assistant Vice President, University Advisement Strategy and Innovation, PACT directly supports Mercy’s commitment to improving student outcomes and graduation rates.
In 2025, PACT transformed into a teams-based resource that takes undergraduate and graduate advising to the next level. Each team provides specialized guidance that evolves with student need. From freshman year, as they advance through their education, preparing them to graduate and then succeeding in what comes next, Mercy’s PACT program is students’ one-stop-shop for support, so they can reach their personal and academic goals.
We sat down with Dr. Felder to ask her some questions about how PACT is designed to support students, from day one to graduation.
Q&A
What are the key responsibilities of your department?
Our key responsibilities are providing structured advising, actionable mentorship, proactive student intervention and a demonstrated standard of care to all Mercy students. We provide strategic direction in the student registration processes and adjacent functionalities for each year of student enrollment. We identify areas to continually strengthen student engagement and retention through providing holistic support and directional pathways during the college experience. We focus primarily on supporting exceptional student outcomes, continually refining our efforts to meet the evolving needs of the student demographic.
What does a typical day look like for your team?
Our team is immersed in the day-to-day functions, from student operational needs to charting a path forward in unique student circumstances. We conduct advising appointments with students and provide reporting on key advising outcomes, trends and patterns. We also offer advising-specific programmatic events, as well as providing student onboarding and conferral necessities. We triage student enrollment concerns and support students in their holistic development through mentoring relationships. We offer students solutions to develop their personal and professional growth as they navigate the complexity of college course material.
What are the most common questions your department receives?
One of the most common questions we get is “What courses should I register for?”
Our PACT team is designed to provide advising for Mercy students at every stage of their academic career, from first year to final year. Our advising approach helps students review their DegreeWorks plan throughout their 4-year planning timeframe. We provide them with course selection advisement according to their degree sequence maps and major specific requirements. We want students to be prepared to self-register as soon as their time ticket opens! We also support students who may need course selection adjustments based upon academic performance outcomes. Helping students navigate each stage of their college career is essential to our operations.
What’s one thing you wish more people knew about your department?
That Mercy’s student support services are truly exceptional. PACT delivers advising and mentorship, and so much more, to students in all schools, majors and modalities. And we also help students with 4-year degree planning.
Who should Faculty, Staff or Students contact for assistance?
General Office Contact Information - All Inquiries are fielded accordingly.
What’s one helpful tip from your area of expertise that you’d offer to fellow members of the Mercy community to help them thrive or simplify their day-to-day tasks?
Allow Mercy’s mission and vision to be your North Star. It will help to reaffirm purpose, strategies and overall goals, no matter your department or office. From there, day-to-day tasks and action items are easily identifiable in alignment of the larger university mission. If it does not help us reach those enrollment, retention, and student experience metrics, it is perfectly fine to re-prioritize tasks and switch gears.
Do you have a fun fact or little-known insight about your office, department or the nature of your work that you would like to share with the Mercy community?
The great thing about PACT is that its physical location is central on every campus, symbolic of the centralized support mechanism it provides in powering the Mercy community. Stop in to see us any time!
