Council of Academic Advisors
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
8:30 AM, Multicultural Center
Present: Laurie Black (Registrar’s Office), Jan Clough (Art), Jane Coplan (UAASC), Sue Dagit (Registrar’s Office), Erik Dalmasso (Admissions), Monica Eskridge (COEHS), Heather Fletcher (UAAASC), Jennifer Grimm (Communications), Molly Homer (Honor’s College), Kim McDaniel (Study Abroad), Lisa Melz‐Jennings (Athletics), Kathy Meyers (SAPSC and VRC), Caryn Morgan (CAS), Julie O’Brien (UAASC), Andi Potter (CBT‐Engineering Tech), Chris Ramsey (CBT), Jennifer Sandrik‐Rubio (Physical Sciences), Jennifer Tibbitts (BA/BGS), Tammy Wilson (COEHS), Michelle Yager (UAASC) I.
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Consideration of Minutes… Michelle Yager Minutes were approved as presented. Walk Through External Review Itinerary … Michelle The latest copy of the itinerary was sent out via e‐mail attachment with today’s COAA agenda. 9:15 There will be an open session with Dr. Griffin for chairs, students, study abroad, and athletics in the MCC Multipurpose Room … she will meet with the COAA Council immediately following in the Multipurpose Room rather than the Board room. Partitions will be put up for privacy. A Telestars announcement has been sent inviting faculty, staff, and students to attend. Jennifer will contact Career Development and Alumni Relations and invite them to attend this session. Janice Gates will ask business organizations leaders to attend. Faculty and chairs should also attend this session. 4:30 Open Session with Students, Memorial Hall 338 Rooms in the MCC or the Union were not available. Because there will be limited space at this session, Michelle requested that advisors personally ask a couple students who are frank, open, honest, and willing to speak about their advising experience to attend. It is hoped there can be a good cross section representation of students from around the campus, including students from BGS, Honors, and all colleges and programs. Michelle has sent a personal invitation to SGA’s leadership to attend one of the Open Sessions. For the BGS luncheon, it was suggested they might take Dr. Griffin to the Knoblaugh Café to highlight that area catered by students. Michelle talked to Dr. Griffin yesterday about how to prepare for the sessions. Dr. Griffin doesn’t want to know about weaknesses but instead what advisors perceive as strengths and opportunities within 4 areas voted on by the advising supervisors and Ron Williams: 1) advising model on campus, 2) SOAR and NSR, 3) processes and procedures, and 4) student needs and view of advising. Dr. Griffin also wants to determine how important the academic advising program is perceived on campus through resources allocation and if/when advisor presence is included in the decision making process. Updated English Placement Criteria – Michelle The English Department has changed the requirements/criteria for English placement. Students receiving a score of 17 or below on both the English and reading component will be placed in English 100; students making a 420 or below on the writing component or a 430 or below on the critical reading component will be placed into English 100. The English Department has requested that this information not be published; instead, if departments want something to include in publications, Michelle can send them the verbiage the English Department has given for public information. III.
SOAR and NSR Student Evaluations – Michelle Erik Dalmasso will find out if there will be a SOAR online student evaluation completed after registration, if the survey from last year will be used, or if a new one is going to be created. Last summer, students completed the automated survey after registration with a 90% return rate. Erik will also find out if the evaluation Sarah created and used at the November transfer registration will be used again in April or a new one developed. COAA and Sarah could work together to develop an evaluation, if needed. For students needing placements loaded on MVS, contact Caryn or Boris for math placement and UAASC for English placement. IV. Veteran’s Priority Registration – Kathy, Sue & Michelle Sue Dagit, Kathy Meyers, Michelle Yager, Larry Tingley, Sarah Lawson, and Patty Mason met about veteran’s priority registration. 1) Priority registration is April 1st 2) Kathy works with incoming veterans, making sure documentation is in place so that their status on MVS is accurate. Once that happens it will trigger an April 1 registration date for these students. Kathy will tell veterans that it is important to meet with advisors immediately … they don’t have to wait until April 1 to see their advisor. 3) Veterans will not have to be switched to advisor reg so they will look like a current student with an April 1 date. 4) Even if veterans apply, are accepted, and have an April 1st priority registration date, they can’t register on that day if their advisor is not available. They need to set an appointment with their advisor prior to the April 1st date to ensure their advising encumbrance is removed. 5) The process that sets the priority registration date runs on the 10th day of the semester. For new veterans who have applied, been accepted, and coded as a veteran after the 10th day, they 6)
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will come in through the Veterans Resource Center and their status will be updated by Admissions. When documentation is received for those accepted after the 10th day, Admissions will notify Sue Dagit or Sarah Lawson to change the registration appointment to April 1. If a veteran applies, is admitted, and has an April 1st registration date, it’s no longer possible for this student to select a SOAR date. If the veteran wants to attend SOAR, the advisor needs to contact Sarah Lawson so she can manually added the student to a SOAR program. The SOAR requirement is waived for veterans, especially those who have been in active duty for 4+ years. Veterans who have been at WIU and have come back as a re‐entry student but have not applied for admission before the 10th day would not automatically be assigned an April priority date. Re‐entry veterans should go to the Registrar’s Office to have their registration date updated. Students do not have to completed basic training to get a priority registration, but they do need to give their DD214 form to Admissions as documentation to support their status. Once training is completed, students need to go to Admissions to change their status. Students who are coded as a veteran or in the reserves will have an April 1st priority registration date; they wouldn’t have an April 1 date if they didn’t apply before the 10th day. Advisors can see a student’s status on the ADVG screen; it was not known if students could see their own status on STARS. If a student doesn’t provide documentation to Admissions by April 1st, their registration date would default to a regular pre‐reg date or the first day of open registration (in the case of a new student) and the veteran code will be removed. If there is no documentation on file and the student is marked as a veteran, the student will be contacted first before the veteran code is removed. It was requested to make a notation on the PSNT screen when a veteran status is removed such as; ‘switched to non‐veteran status since paperwork was not received’. Once documentation is received, it is put on WebID where advisors have access to that information. Kathy Meyers was asked to create a sign for advisors to post in their offices asking students to identify themselves as veterans and include a list of benefits. She will send this to Michelle and it will be forwarded to advisors. Documents for priority registration include DD214, confirmation of basic training, or a letter from the CEO. Most documentation is in an electronic format so it can be forwarded to the Registrar’s Office. If a code is removed and documentation is provided after it is removed, the student can be reinstated and given priority registration for the next registration period. For questions about documentation, contact Sue Dagit; for questions about registration dates, contact Sarah Lawson. Larry Tingley is developing a report to interface with the DOCU screen to cross reference students who have indicated they are veterans with those who have turned in documentation. He will run this report each semester after 10th day count. A ‘thank you’ was extended to Kathy for all the work she does for veterans. V.
There were 114 new veterans last fall. Standing Committee Reports Professional Development Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Training March 5; 1:00‐4:00; HH1 Brown Bag Luncheon … Mental Health and College Students March 27; the committee will be sending articles to read May 12 … Advisor Retreat Noon – 4:30 Campus Affairs The springs semester outreach effort is a push for students to see their advisors early. There will be a message on STARS to go through the end of March that will urge students to see their academic and financial aid advisors with an artificial deadline of March 31. There will also be a generic letter going out on Telestars with a link to help students find their advisors; one went out last week and others will follow on March 1 and March 20. There will also be a newsfeed on WesternOnline and inserts in the Family Association Newsletter in February and March asking parents to talk to students about registering. It will also be in the Honors Newsletter and on electronic boards. The clothing Drive was successful … around 400 items were donated and distributed to 72 students. Awards and Rec The committee will be meeting for the February Advisor of the Month. Advisors should have received an e‐mail from Michele Aurand about national awards. Look through these to see if you are eligible for any of them and then nominate yourself or have someone else nominate you. Assessment The student survey has been sent to the listserve. Postcards were also included. The survey could not be sent directly to students because it would identify individual students. Students can take the survey multiple times if they have more than one major. Advisors were asked to send the survey to their advising list of students. The committee would like this permeated to students as much as possible. An announcement will be sent through Telestars. For the prizes (blankets purchased last year), an e‐mail account has been established on the last page on the survey asking students to respond back with their names. The survey will be available online through May 2 with prizes given during finals week. They are hoping for a better return rate from students than received last year VI.
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The advisor survey will be reviewed today and will be sent out over the summer. Last summer’s advisor survey had a great return rate. CAGAS The re‐vote on the 20‐hour limit on retakes was denied by CAGAS; however, this was overturned by Faculty Senate so there is no longer a limit on retakes. WIU was the only state school with a limit on retakes. Students can still only re‐take a class 2 times. The final policy will come from the Registar’s Office with an updated link. This action should be retroactive. The limit on AP credits has not formally been put on the agenda. A proposal has been submitted to the Global Affairs Committee that would allow veterans to use time spent serving abroad to satisfy their Foreign Language/Global Issues requirement. This was approved by the Foreign Language/Global Issues Committee and will go forward from there to the next step. News from Registrar’s Office … Sue  Week of February 24 – Commencement information postcards will be mailed to prospective undergraduates.  Friday, March 15 ‐ Deadline to file a graduation application in order to have name in the Commencement program  Monday, March 24 – University Bookstore begins selling caps and gowns  Thursday, April 10 (1 – 5 p.m.) – Grad Pre Day at the Quad Cities Campus  Friday, April 11 (9 a.m. – 1 p.m.) – Grad Prep Day at the Macomb University Union Concourse. Early Warning Grades 
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Monday, February 24 – The grading screen (GRRP) will open for SP14 instructors. Monday, March 10 – Grading screen closes at 4:30 p.m. o In the evening/overnight Early Warning email notifications will be sent to students and reports will be sent to advisors. Summer and Fall 2014 Course Schedules ‐ Now available on Course Search. VIII.
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Program Change Announcements This category has been added to the COAA agenda as a way for programs/colleges to announce program changes, especially for lower division classes. Send any changes to Debbie Carithers to be attached to the minutes. If a course if re‐numbered and combined with another class and a student fails the course, it can’t be retaken because it is now a different course. College/Area News ‐ Council Members Communication There is a new small group communication class that satisfies social science and gen ed requirements. Students can start registering for the class in the spring. Computer‐Mediated Communication is a new communication minor that encompasses classes from English, journalism, and marketing. The class looks at how social media is utilized. There will be 2 main online summer courses. Students wanting to complete this minor can do most of it online; however, it is not necessarily an online program because students have the option to take many of the courses on campus. COEHS At the COEHS Advisor staff meeting, the Associate Dean distributed the SOAR schedule to the advisors. Questions about the schedule were generated and Tammy Wilson brought them to COAA. Michelle had not seen the SOAR schedule and could not answer Tammy’s questions. Michelle will invite Sarah Jewell to the next Council meeting to discuss SOAR and April 25th’s NSR programs. Day 1 … It does not appear that advisors are involved until Day 2. 6 PM … Check‐In; Honors College Reception 7 PM … Welcome Families need to be told to eat before coming to campus since the only meals provided are breakfast and lunch on Day 2 9 PM … Social with Deans and Chairs Day 2 8:00‐9:30 AM … Math and FL placement There was concern with the 8 AM time scheduled for placement exams. Historically, this time slot was not in the student’s best interest due to a lack of sleep from the evening’s festivities. 9:30‐12:00 … ID pictures, on‐campus living, CSI Survey, & leader conversation, is part of a small group rotation. Leader Conversation could involve course search, but it appears advisors will not be involved 1:15 … Major meetings w/parents and students Are the major meetings and exploring majors 2 different meetings or the same? X.
2:00‐4:00 … Parents at the Union while students are registering. Course search can be done during this time. When finished, students should be sent to the Student Fair 2:30‐4:00 … Student Fair Fall Orientation and move‐in Week Wednesday and Thursday … Camp Leatherneck Friday … Move in, convocation and picnic Saturday … major meetings (including UA) at 9 AM. It is unclear who will be involved in this. OAS students will go to their major meetings … they will have an OAS meeting at another time separate from this one. Some of the computer labs are not available for transfer registration on April 25. Michelle has scheduled a meeting with Shannon to discuss this next week. The computer labs in Morgan Hall may need to be used. Michelle will share more information at the March 5 COAA meeting. Knoblaugh 105 and 106 and some G‐COM labs might be available. Andi Potter will get back with exact seating capacity and Caryn will check on computer labs in Morgan Hall New Business There will be an Engineering Technology Open House on March 28. The agenda with a registration link can be found online at WIU.edu/engrtech. Pre‐registration is needed since a free lunch is being provided. Community college advisors, high school teachers, and prospective students have been invited to attend. Current students interested in the major may also attend. Veterans Resource Center The deadline to apply for Salute National Veterans Honor Society is Friday. Since more than ½ of WIUs veterans have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, please encourage veterans to apply. WIU has been asked to host an employee networking fair for veterans only on March 4 and it is hoped it will be well attended by employers and students. Kathy is inviting student veterans from other institutions to attend. There will be a strong representation from the law enforcement area. Some sessions will involve veterans networking with other veterans. Kathy will send a flyer to Michelle to send to the listserve. If you know of areas your students would be interested in attending, please let Kathy know. VA Rehab will be represented to tell about resources for these individuals. New Business Advisors were urged to complete their Sexual Harassment training. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:45 AM. Respectfully submitted, Debbie Carithers