Council of Academic Advisors
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
8:30 AM, Union Board Room
Present: Laurie Black (Registrar’s Office), Julie Brines (UAASC), Jane Coplan (UAASC), Sue Dagit (Registrar’s Office), Jeanne Gage (COEHS), Jennifer Grimm (Communications), Molly Homer (Honor’s College), Kim McDaniel (Study Abroad), Lisa Melz‐Jennings (Athletics), Caryn Morgan (CAS), Jinny Page (BA/BGS), Estelle Plewa (UAASC), Lydia Quiñones (SGA), Jennifer Sandrik‐
Rubio (Physical Sciences), Michelle Terry (CBT), Phoebe Wilson (COEHS), Michelle Yager (UAASC) Lydia Quiñones was introduced as the new voting SGA rep. I. NSR Transfer and Freshman Registration – Michelle Yager Prior to the meeting, Michelle sent a draft copy of the November 21st NSR schedule and agenda via e‐mail. At the next Council meeting, Sarah Jewel will walk through the schedule. CBT will determine who will pick up their students and take them to register once it is determined how many students each advisor has. The Heritage Room will be used rather than the Grand Ballroom. Students will be picked up from the Capital Room and taken to registration (Michelle will check to make sure this is the correct room) Molly will contact Sarah Jewell about the Fair. Michelle will contact Jocelyn Simmons and Yvonne Oliver to have them contact Sarah about their participation in the Fair. II. III. IV. NACADA Presentation – Michelle Yager Tim, Michelle, and Julie made a poster presentation on tutoring and mobile apps at the NACADA Conference in Minneapolis, MN. They plan on sharing what they learned at the conference on Thursday, December 18th. More information will be coming. Academic Resource Fair Update – Caryn Morgan and Molly Homer The Academic Resource Fair was held in the Thompson Hall dining center. Information was given to students and RAs who stopped by. It was felt the set‐up could have contributed to the limited amount of students who stopped by the tables. Foreign Language/Global Issues Update – Caryn Morgan The Department of Foreign Languages has proposed changing the foreign language/global issues requirement from a 200‐level course requirement to a 1 semester foreign language requirement. It is hoped this will make it more equivalent to the global issues requirement. Most people seem to be in favor of the 1 semester foreign language requirement and 2 years of high school coursework rather than 3 years. This change would not adversely impact 200‐level foreign language courses because more students would have foreign language exposure which might ultimately make more students want to major/minor in it. V. Kline Scholarship for Study Abroad Update – Caryn Morgan Spring study abroad is in conjunction with the WYSE Spain trip sponsored through the Foreign Language Department for which the department has given $75,000 worth of scholarships to 15 students, ranging between $3‐$8,000 per student, in addition to another scholarship of $400. Advisors were thanked for encouraging students to declare a foreign language major, since students have to declare a major to apply for the scholarship. The scholarship will be given again next year, with spring and fall deadlines dates to be determined. VI.
VII.
Tanner Academic Resource Center Flyer – Michelle Yager An infograph advertising the Tanner Hall academic resource center has been developed. It will be printed and posted in the north quad residence halls and each advisor will be asked to post it in their offices. Postcards will be created to remind students in the spring about the resource center. It is hoped that the postcards, geared toward freshmen students in the north quad, can be in their mailboxes by the time they come back to school in January. A suggestion was made to make the background a bright, vibrant color in order to attract student attention to the bulletin boards. Standing Committee Reports Professional Development and Networking … Caryn Morgan Reneé just sent out a ‘save the date’ e‐mail reminder advertising a Career Advising Workshop presented by Michelle Howe on November 5th. The committee is attempting to get NACADA sponsorship of a webinar and then do some follow‐up things that go along with it. Make sure that those involved fill out PAAs. Campus Affairs and Public Relation … Jane Coplan One of the missions of the committee is to share with University Relations what advisors are doing on campus, such as Advisor of the Month and presentations at conferences. Ellen Poulter has been in charge of establishing a contact with University Relations. Any information about Advisor of the Month Award recipients should go to her, as well as other information that should be publicized. The committee has talked about different activities for this year … they are going to have some smaller activities and a bigger textbook fundraiser. There has been alot of support in having advisors eat lunch in the residence halls and giving away hot chocolate in academic buildings during finals week. Please gather at the Union at around 11:45 am on Thursday, October 30, for the first lunch gathering. It is recommended that advisors wear a purple shirt and their name tag. No one was injured and everyone had a good time at Big Pink Volleyball. Thanks were extended to those people for who participated. There may be a campus walk in the spring. There is ongoing conversation about t‐shirts and polo shirts. T‐shirts would have the choice of crew‐ or V‐neck shirts and short‐ or long‐sleeved shirts with purple lettering outlined in gold, with the option of the advisor’s name on the back. Depending on whether long‐ or short‐sleeved shirts were selected, the cost would be between $12‐$17. Polo shirts are basic with a traditional men’s‐ or women’s‐cut shirt at a cost around $20. Reps from each college will be talking to everyone about level of interest. The NACADA poster presentation has been mentioned to the University Relations rep. They will determine how that will best be publicized. Assessment Committee … Julie The committee is looking at some of the assessment recommendations from the external review, such as an overall assessment plan for advising, enhancing the student survey, and creating focus groups. Focus groups could be held on different topics, such as tutoring, early warning grade system, the mobile app, etc. in order to ascertain what students are thinking. Awards and Recognition … Jennifer Grimm The September Advisor of the Month award was presented to Ehrin Kuzekov. Applications have already been sent out for October. They may try to set up a Twitter following to generate interest in the award recipient without giving away the winner and maybe get people to follow them for the presentation. Technology … Phoebe Wilson The committee is trying to create a flow chart on how to go about getting things done. There are several people to contact about how to proceed. Tim went to a presentation which demonstrated how students could automatically create a class schedule which would work with course search and registering. Although AIMS is very busy, if this is something that would be beneficial, it might good to get this on their list of items to work on in the future. It was also suggested to have instructor names listed on the early warning grade sheets and/or on the MVS student schedule screen. Representation on this committee might be expanded to other areas, such as the Registrar’s Office and AIMS. Caryn will see about having someone from U‐Tech come to the next meeting and explain the process of submitting a proposal to AIMS and to look at the flow chart. A request for an electronic Change of Major form has been submitted to the Technology Committee. The possibility of sending declarations by FAX, scanning, or e‐mail was discussed. Since an electronic version will take time to develop, something needs to be in place in the meantime. A motion was made by Caryn, seconded by Jennifer, that the new process for declaring a major is that the new major advisor notifies the previous major advisor through e‐mail and an updated electronic form will be put on the web. Motion passed. This will be taken back to the constituency for their input and a vote taken at the next council meeting on November 12th. The new online form should include the date of notification with a check mark to replace the signature line. The previous advisor’s name should be written on the form; there is no need to attach the e‐mail. VIII.
For student athlete questions, contact Lisa. CAGAS Report This week Leah Monihan discussed admission modifications into the pre‐nursing program. In the past, new freshmen admission to the pre‐nursing program was done on the basis of application (essay) with a 22 or above composite ACT score. They are now going to a more objective, easier system that says that anyone who has a 20 or higher composite ACT score and a high school GPA of 3.0 will be automatically admitted into the program. Those who are below these numbers can be admitted as UA students and take nursing classes with the hope of being admitted by their junior year. This was approved by CAGAS and it is thought the proposal needs to go before Faculty Senate. This new procedure will be especially helpful at SOAR. Regular appeals were also heard. IX.
News from the Registrar’s Office Graduation Applications  When all of the information from Career Development Center is received, we will update the form. o The link (to Symplicity/Leatherneck Link) is currently correct on the online form. o We will not send out new forms to all advisors. Please use what you have and let students know about the link that can be found on line at http://www.wiu.edu/registrar/forms/graduation.pdf  2014FL Early Warning Grades o EWG submission by course section within the EWG population:  2012FL – 68.5% of course sections reported EWGs  2013FL ‐‐ 64.7% of course sections reported EWGs  2014FL ‐‐ 66.3% of course sections reported EWGs  Course Type Return Rates o FYE Classes =  FL12 =84.7%  FL13 = 83.7%  FL14 = 74.4% o Online Classes  FL12 = 67.3%  FL13 = 74.8%  FL14 = 76.2% o All classes in which freshmen were enrolled  FL12 = 74.4%  FL13 = 71.2%  FL14 = 71.6% o
University 100 
FL14 = 80.5% 
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Friday, October 24 o Graduation Applications due in Registrar’s Office for name to be in Commencement Program. o Incompletes are due in the Registrar’s Office.  Tuesday, October 28 o Download will be run to determine who will receive invitations to the Honors Convocation.  Sunday, November 2 o This is the last day that students can drop individual FL14 classes or withdraw from the University. o If a student decides to withdraw completely over the weekend and needs our help to drop the final class, please have him/her email Registration@wiu.edu or R‐
Office@wiu.edu and we will take care of it first thing Monday, November 3. o November 3 is an “unofficial grace day” that we will accept drop/withdraw requests. If requests are received after 4:30 p.m. on that Monday, the student will have to appeal to CAGAS for a late total withdrawal.  Monday, November 3 o Advance Registration opens for SP15. How are registration appointments set?  There are several factors. In general… o # of hours earned (This does not include currently registered hours.) o Current class schedule (Registration appointment times are scheduled around a student’s class schedule.) o Both things being equal, alphabetical order o A couple of exceptions are…  Honors Students o Freshmen and Sophomores can register at the beginning of the sophomore group. o Juniors and Seniors can register at the beginning of the senior group. o Registration appointments are still scheduled around current class schedule.  Military‐affiliated students get a registration appointment that does not conflict with their current class schedule on the first day registration opens. College/Area News A student doing a total university withdrawal can still not drop the last class. If this occurs on a weekend, there is a grace period of Monday but the student should still send an e–mail to the registrar’s office telling them that they are doing a total university withdrawal, since offices are not open on the weekends. Ehrin Kuzekov will be on campus a couple of days next week, then off to another conference. A reminder was made that most of the spring faculty‐led courses have an application deadline date of November 2. Students only have to start the online process by November 2; they don’t have to have everything, such as vaccinations, done by that date. Deposit deadlines are December 5. XI.
New Business There was no new business. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:00 AM. Respectfully submitted, Debbie Carithers