The Advising Express
Volume 5, Issue 4, October 26, 2015
Announcements!
In this Issue...
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• Welcome to the October 26, 2015
issue.
Dropping a Course
Student Excuses
Student2Student Event: Geography Club
Registration
Meet a Peer Academic Advisor in Residence
National Student Exchange
Important Dates and Deadlines
• We encourage any feedback regarding
content and design. Please email
david.marchesani@uni.edu with suggestions.
• Look for the link symbols
to
indicate text hyperlinks that will lead you
outside the publication.
What to Think about when a Student wants to Drop a Course
A student may want to think about these areas
when they want to drop a course such as:
•Financial Aid- will they drop below full-time
status?
•What does having a “W” mean on their
transcript?
•When are the deadlines for dropping a
course to avoid an “F” on their transcript?
A useful tool to help these students is the
flow-chart on the right (click the picture to see
larger). Students can also be referred to
several services to help them decide including
their PAIRs, the Academic Learning Center,
and Tutoring Services.
Remember, the last day to drop a full-semester
course with a “W” instead of an “F” is
October 30th by 5 p.m.
Deciding whether or
not to drop a class
Academic
Information
-Cumulative GPA
-Major Selection
-Summer Courses
-If GPA is
below 2.0 and
student needs
higher to be
admitted to
major choice:
Complete
GPA
Evaluation
Examine
Study
Habits
Minimum Load
Requirements
-Financial Aid
-Scholarships
-Insurance
-Athletic Eligibility
-International Student
-Voc. Rehabilitation
-Other?
(IF YES)
Academic
Requirements
How much will
dropping a course
affect requirements
for major, Liberal
Arts Core,
admission to your
major/school, or
prerequisites for
other courses?
Reasons For
Dropping
-Changing major
-CLEP/previous
credit
-Time demands or
work and/or
activities
-Health reasons
-Low grade
If student will be
short of credits,
EXPLORE
ALTERNATIVES
ALTERNATIVES:
- Credit by CLEP
exam
- Add 2nd half-sem.
course
- Credit/No credit
-Guided Independent
Study course (UNI’s do
not toward Financial Aid)
-Summer Session
course
-Auditing a course
-Take an “incomplete”
If necessary,
examine major
choice
For assistance visit
Office of Academic
Advising (102
Gilchrist)
Examine Study
Habits & SelfManagement
Course Grade Assessment
-Grade so far?
-Checked with professor?
-Final grade based on what
criteria?
-How many exams remaining?
-Minimum grade required?
-Other factors?
Student Excuses
Excuses, Excuses
Student excuses are part of the academic environment. But should
they be? Using the theory of transformative learning, we may be able to
change student responses from creating an excuse for why a task wasn’t
accomplished to how can the student change their perspective and habits
to gain the best college experience available (Kunkle, 2015).
Most student excuses form to relieve the student from guilt in not accomplishing a task
or goal that they are responsible for. In the excuses themselves lie components that the
students create that are subconsciously prioritized in way that prevented them from completing an assigned task. Faculty and staff have an opportunity to help
students realize that they are only hurting themselves. “When students are
presented with the explanation that their excuses are actually a reflection of their choices
and priorities, students must then question their learned interpretation of excuses,”(Kunkle, 2015, p. 1).
This creates what
Mezirow (1990)
terms a disorienting dilemma and
Studythe
Abroad
forces
student
to change their
behaviors or
continue on the
same path toward
unfulfillment. “A
new perspective,
one which
explores how
excuses mask our choices and shields an individual from their own truth, has begun
to form through a process of self-reflection, (Kunkle, 2015, p. 1). The goal is to spark a
question within an advisee’s head. The self-reflection must be a genuine attempt by the
student to evaluate their behaviors and priorities to create a positive change. As advisors
and mentors to these students, we have the unique opportunity to guide our students
to move them forward on a path that will help be successful long into the future. The
long-term goal of this practice is to help students make different choices, both inside and
outside the classroom, so excuses are not a part of their day-to-day lives anymore.
Student2Student Event!
Geography Club
November 4, 2015
4:00 p.m.- 5:30 p.m. in the Bender Hall Rec Room
Learn about the Geography major and
Go Geocaching on UNI‘s campus!
Become a treasure hunter!
Registration is coming!
Registration for students is starting in November!
It’s that time of year again. The Spring 2016 Schedule of Classes is
available and students are gearing up to get registered. A refresher on
viewing and reading advisement reports, reviewing holds, and searching
the schedule of classes can help make your upcoming appointments run
smoothly. SIS has several aids and tutorials to help you with this! You can
also find more information on advisement reports on the Advisor
Development eLearning course.
To view the available resources SIS offers, click here!
To view the Advisor Development course in your eLearning, click here to
sign in!
Registration Dates:
Graduate Students: November 2
Seniors: November 2 - 3
Juniors: November 4- 6
Sophomores: November 9 - 12
Freshman: November 13 - 18
Unclassified: November 18
Meet a Peer Academic Advisor in Residence!
Meet Maddison! She’s the Shull Hall PAIR and a Senior in Public Relations!
How do you handle difficult or special circumstance advisees?
“[They] usually just need reassurance. I have a recurring appointment with one
resident that knows what they’re doing as far as writing papers and such, but feels
confident with an extra set of eyes. It’d be easy to say, ‘You don’t need me, you can
do it yourself,’ but a little positive reinforcement goes a long way.”
The most rewarding experience of being a PAIR?
“Because I’ve done it for three years, [it] is seeing my residents grow as students
over time. I’m helping a student apply for graduation that last year I helped with her
first semester of classes at UNI.”
Contact Maddison at ShullPAIR@uni.edu!
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National Student Exchange
UNI students have the opportunity to attend one of 166 colleges and universities across the U.S. and
Canada for one or two semesters while paying UNI tuition! Exciting opportunities include University of
South Carolina, New Mexico State University, University of Montana, California State University-San
Bernardino, and University of Idaho. This is a great opportunity to enhance a student’s academic,
social and cultural experiences, travel to a different part of the country, and expand social and
cultural awareness. There will be several informational meetings for students
coming up! For more information, check out their website!
NSE Informational Meetings:
Tuesday, November 3: 3 p.m. in the Elm Room, Lower-Level Maucker Union
Wednesday, December 2: 3 p.m. in the Elm Room, Lower-Level Maucker Union
Thursday, January 14: 3 p.m. in the Elm Room, Lower-Level Maucker Union
Wednesday February 3: 3 p.m. in the Elm Room, Lower-Level Maucker Union
Important Dates
10/27
Majors in Minutes, Maucker Union Ballroom, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
10/28
Fall 2015 Graduation Fair in the Old Central Ballroom in Maucker Union, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
10/31
Halloween
11/1
Daylight Savings Time Ends
11/6-11/8 Family Weekend
11/11
Veteran’s Day
11/23-
11/27
Thanksgiving Break
Deadlines
10/30
11/13
Last day to drop Full-Semester course without an “F”
Last Day to Drop a Second Half-Semester course
without an “F”
Contact Us
Office of Academic Advising
102 Gilchrist
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0389
Phone: 319-273-3406
Fax: 319-273-7515
Email: advising-services@uni.edu
Advisor Contacts by College
Stay up-to-date on everything advising by
visiting the Advisor Handbook at:
http://www.uni.edu/advisorhandbook/
Content by Ashley Jones, Graduate Assistant