Council of Academic Advisors
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
8:30 AM, UAASC Conference Room
Present: Jane Coplan (UAASC), Sue Dagit (Registrar’s Office), Jeanne Gage (COEHS), Molly Homer (Centennial Honor’s College), Ehren Kuzekov (Study Abroad), Charles Noble (Military Science), Ronald Pettigrew (BA/BGS), Andi Potter (CBT‐Eng Tech), Estelle Plewa (UAASC), Chris Ramsey (CBT), Jennifer Sandrik‐Rubio (Physical Sciences), Theo Schultz (Pre‐Nursing), Michelle Terry (CBT), Phoebe Wilson (COEHS), Michelle Yager (UAASC) I.
Standing Committee Reports Professional Development and Networking No Report Campus Affairs and Public Relations The members are continuing to work on the book scholarship fundraiser, Spring For Books. There have been some snags along the way, so it is not coming as quickly as anticipated. Keep watching e‐
mail for updates on how to donate. The dinner gathering at Bay‐Hen did not go as well as hoped because of a problem with the cash registers. Even though the advisors didn’t get to eat there, they saw a number of students and hope to do it again in the future. There will be one more lunch gathering on April 28 at Thompson Hall. They are still working on getting info out on the lemonade distribution. Ellen has been working with those advisors who ordered t‐shirts. Assessment One of the items that came out of the 2014 CAS self‐assessment was the lack of a strategic plan for assessment, so the committee is working on developing outcome goals, measurement tools, and program level revisions. Assessment should be an ongoing process in all college advising offices. Assessment at the council level and program level are 2 different things. The committee would like to present their assessment plan to the advising community at the August Workshop. UAASC’s program assessment tools can be shared with other areas. Julie Brines‐O’Brien and Michelle Yager are willing to conduct assessment training sessions. Advisors thought this might be a good summer workshop. It was suggested that everyone might want to get together to share assessment tools so that new ideas can be generated … this is not intended to critique each other but to collaborate and learn. Awards and Recognition No Report. Technology The ‘not returning’ area on ADEN is in place and Angela is still working on the drop‐down menu. Tim Johnson is still working on the checklist to rank technology needs. If you have other ideas, send to the committee. II.
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CAGAS Report – Jane Coplan There have been several academic dishonesty hearings recently. These are different than other kinds of appeals to CAGAS. In most CAGAS appeals, the student writes a letter to the membership stating their case, but in an academic dishonesty appeal, the student and instructor each appear in person to present their side of the situation. A question was asked about why some dishonestly cases go through CAGAS and others go through the judicial process. No one knew for sure but it was suggested that if a student was not happy with the way their dishonesty case had been resolved at the academic department level, they could choose to appeal their case before CAGAS with the hope of getting their grade changed (depending on the outcome). Judicial would not have the authority to change a student’s grade. News from the Registrar’s Office Outstanding Incompletes have converted to “F” or “U” if no other grade had been submitted. Monday, April 20 – Open Registration begins Monday, May 4 – Final Grade Reporting available (GRRP screen opens) Tuesday, May 19 – GRRP screen closes at noon Wednesday, May 20 a. Grades available to students and advisors b. First degrees conferred (students who have met all requirements) Friday, May 29 – Spring graduation deficiencies deadline Wednesday, June 3 – Spring degrees conferred overnight (available June 4) *REMINDER: If you have new freshmen taking Summer courses, their bill will need to be paid down in order to register for Fall classes at their SOAR program. IV. College/Area News Early registration for Centennials Scholarship recipients is going on this week. As of the end of yesterday, 10 students were registered. If you are registering students, tell Sarah Lawson or Dana Workman what day you want to register them and let Molly know what permissions are needed for Honors classes. Molly would appreciate being notified once an incoming Centennial student has completed their registration. The Honors Reception is Sunday. April 12, at 11:30 in the Lamoine Room. If you plan to attend, let Molly know. Twenty‐two students have sent in a RSVP. If you have students on the RSVP list who are coming but are not registered yet, please focus on them. Thanks were extended to everyone for doing so much work. This year’s reception may be smaller. Eligibility requirements are lower but scholarships are half what they were last year … this year it only pays for tuition and last year it paid for tuition and room, which cuts monetary value off the award. Students receiving the award are required to live on campus 3 years. Molly is open to suggestions on registration changes. V.
NSR Questions ‐ Michelle Yager The April 17 password was given out. Please contact Michelle if you need it again The NSR Survey was sent in an e‐mail to the listserv on April 3rd Please make sure all students complete the survey after they register for their classes. VI. COAA items Reported to the Provost Team as part of UAASC’s Annual Report 1) Book scholarship The campaign is entitled Spring for Books and should be sent by e‐mail today with a kicker every Wednesday for the next 4 weeks regardless of whether you have donated or not. This initiative will happen every April. There will be a thank you e‐mail sent to donors. The earliest the money will be distributed is spring 2016. The fund has to grow before awards can be handed out. The committee will determine criteria and Financial Aid will select recipients. The idea is to help students who aren’t getting a lot of scholarship money. Please share this information with others in your area. 2) Research on a SOAR Pre‐Registration Program Appalachia State University has a pre‐registration class that is basically an online tutorial which incoming freshmen access the week of open registration. Every student who is registered for their summer orientation program is sent information about the Pre‐Reg tutorial. Each student must take a math placement based on their major (either a basic test or a calculus‐readiness test for those students who are in majors that are math rich). Both online placement exams were created by the Appalachia State Math Department. All students take a placement exam, no students are exempt. Within the tutorial there are instruction videos on gen ed, degree plans, major area courses, electives, FYE requirements, U100 requirements, course search and creating a class schedule. Students who have completed the tutorial with a passing score (70% or better) and have completed their math placement exam, will be given an access code which allows them to register for classes. Students are given 3 opportunities to complete the pre‐reg test. After this time, the program instructs the student to call an advising office to speak with an advisor. This advisor can look at the student’s test and reteach the items where they are making mistakes. When students come to their summer orientation/registration event, they are given an individual academic advising appointment. At the appointment the advisor checks their schedule and makes adjustments as needed. This program has been in place at Appalachia State for 3 years. There has been a learning curve for the students but as of the summer of 2014, 97% of the students have come to summer registration having taken their placement exam, having completed their pre‐registration tutorial (with a passing score) and having registered for at least 1 course. Of this group, 67% have registered for a full course load. Students were more empowered and ready to register for spring classes because they were better prepared after having been through the tutorial. Students and advisors also reported better satisfaction from their summer advising appointment. Michelle will send out a link for Appalachia State and advisors can go through their program (the test can’t be taken but the tutorial can be viewed). There are different tutorials for different majors. This program has been presented to the Admission Office Director and the Assistant Director of Orientation and received their full support. If this program is going to work at Western, the Math Department would need to create an online assessment that is different than COMPASS. The Math Department has not been approached as of this meeting. Michelle would like to establish a committee to research the feasibility of bringing this program to Western. As part of the study, Michelle would like to have a telephone conference with the committee and Appalachia State representatives. Another idea is to find out what other peer institutions, in and out of the state, are doing similar programs on their campuses. One benefit of this program is that it locks students into a schedule while in high school…which could benefit Western’s recruitment efforts. At Appalachia State, if students are registered for courses but don’t attend the mandatory summer registration program, their schedules are cancelled and the classes open for other students. This type of program would create an early student/advisor relationship. At Appalachia State students wanted individualized advising rather than group advising at their summer orientation event. Students coming to the summer program with a schedule in hand received more intentional and specific assistance from their advisor. The advisor can access the student’s schedule as soon as it’s created. This allows the advisor to tweak mistakes and reteach the scheduling protocol during the individualized appointment. Honors and OAS requirements would have to be built into the tutorial. This should be possible since the tutorial is calibrated according to the student’s ID number. That ID number should activate program status, which directs students to the correct tutorial screens. This type of process might allow advisors to become more involved in intrusive advising and retention strategies. An instruction might need to be put on the first screen of the program indicating that ONLY students can complete the tutorial. 3) Automated freshmen advising appointment. Supervisors are going to meet about this to see what needs to be in place for this to happen. They will report back after the meeting. VII. NACADA – Region 5 Conference – Michelle Yager Julie O’Brien‐Brines, Caryn Morgan, and Jennifer Grimm will be making a present on assessment and the assessment process in Indianapolis, IN at the NACADA Region 5 conference. This is the same presentation that was successfully delivered at ILACADA last year. VIII. Nominations for COAA Vice Chair and CAGAS No one has indicated an interest in serving as vice chair. Caryn has agreed that if no comes forward she would be willing to assume the position for the next 2 years Lisa Melz‐Jennings has volunteered to be the CAGAS rep. This rep is also mandated to sit on the Campus Affairs Committee. Lisa was notified of that responsibility and still agreed to pursue the IX.
CAGAS representative nomination. SOAR Major Meetings – Michelle Yager All equipment requests have been confirmed. A discussion on what should be presented in major meetings to create continuity of information and student learning outcomes was discussed in order to make this meeting different from pre‐reg. Suggestions were: 1. Understanding what major programs students are in and if it is the right one What does the major entail? Discuss courses Illustrate the differences between academic areas Discuss such questions as ‘why am I not in pre‐nursing?”… “what is undeclared?”… etc. 2. Confirm students are in the correct meeting 3. Minimum GPA and credit hours in the major 4. Tentative class schedule for each of the different majors Illustrate what their first semester will look like? Allow time in your schedule to get to classes 5. Introduce advisors – CAUTION…OAS advisors will not be in the room. These students and parents may become confused when advisors are introduced. You may want to say, “Here are some of the advisors in our college/department/program. You might want to say something like; ”If you do not see your advisor here it’s because you will meet them at a meeting later today.” 6. Explain the U100 and Y course requirement? Discuss Gen Ed What classes will you be taking your first semester? 7. Getting students ready for transitioning Students need to get their STARS password from their parents Info on AP and dual credit Transfer of summer enrollment information 8. What advisors do and don’t do Questions about classes and academics Advisors don’t give loans or call parents Limited information about FERPA presented (parents can set up a guest account through STARS) Time management 9. Advisors need to be careful because OAS students will be in the room! Do not mention having just one advising appointment because this will not apply to all students. WIU’s administration hopes that OAS students will begin to identify with their major department by attending this meeting. 10. Students are ultimately responsible for graduation 11. Check WIU e‐mail daily during the summer and make sure that it’s set up Have students log into Guava 12. Stress the importance of books and not ripping the cellophane off the book the first week of classes when you are not sure you are going to stay in that class 13. Teacher Education’s major meeting is very different as they need to explain licensing policy and procedures. 14. Some items are covered in a hand‐out Send any handouts you use to Michelle and she will attach to minutes 15. Leave time to answer questions There being no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 9:50 AM. Respectfully submitted, Debbie Carithers