Council of Academic Advisors Wednesday, February 9. 2011 10:30 AM, Union Board Room Present: Keri Allison (RPTA), Laurie Black (Registrar’s Office), Donna Bradford (COEHS), Jane Coplan (UAASC), Sue Dagit (Registrar’s Office), Jeanne Gage (COEHS), Jennifer Grimm (Communication), Niall Harnett (UAASC), Leonie Meijer (Study Abroad), Lisa Melz (Athletics), Candace McLaughlin (UAASC), Katy Meyers (SAPSC and VRC), Caryn Morgan (CAS), Russ Morgan (CAS), Julie O’Brien (UAASC), Andi Potter (CBT‐Engineering Technology), Chris Ramsey (CBT), Andrea Riebling (CBT rep), Jennifer Sandrik‐Rubio (Physical Sciences), Theo Schultz (Pre‐Nursing), Tammy Wilson (COEHS), Jeanette Zotz (BA/BGS) Everyone introduced themselves to Keri Allison, new RPTA Advisor. I.
Review of first week – McLaughlin Since very few students came for placement testing early Monday morning, there was no need for a table in the lobby. As students came they were directed to the reception area and then taken into testing. Students continued to trickle in throughout the week so the faculties were adequate for all students needing placement testing. Students registered for Chem 101 who were allowed to skip Math 100 and go directly into a Level 3 math course were dropped from the Chem class since the computer does not recognize that students have met the pre‐requisite by jumping over Math 100. This apparently cannot be fixed so advisers who know they have students in this situation can contact Jennifer Sandrik‐Rubio or Caryn Morgan and they can manually enter permission for the student to stay in the Chemistry class. Of the students who were offered the option of skipping Math 100 and going directly into a level three math course, 81 chose to take advantage of this. Thirty‐six enrolled in Math 100, and 5 students didn’t return to WIU this semester. It is hoped that more students will be eligible for this option this semester by taking the Math 099 course seriously and doing well in it. The other issue noticed during the first week involved faculty members who questioned students attending courses who were not on their first roster even though students had permission to be in the course. Advisers commented that it seemed like more students had large encumbrances that they had trouble clearing this semester so they attended classes they were not yet officially registered for. II.
By‐Laws Update– McLaughlin The new COAA By‐laws were sent to Ken Hawkinson and Ron Williams for approval prior to implementation. Candace will follow‐up if she has not heard anything by the next meeting since there are parts of the By‐laws that the Council wants to implement as soon as possible. FYE Updates – Coplan and Morgan Topics to be discussed at the next FYE meeting next Friday: III.
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Juniors who dropped their FYE classes their freshman and sophomore years and who now need to enroll in one or two FYE classes in order to graduate. Please let Caryn or Jane know if you have a creative suggestion about what type of activity could be created for these students to fulfill the graduate requirement other than completing FYE classes as upper classmen. Need to clarify what the FYE requirement is for reentry students who did not complete the requirement prior to leaving. Students with Military Background. There was discussion at CAGAS about a military student who appealed, and was granted permission to waive the second FYE class. Some faculty felt that the classes would benefit from the maturity level and background of military personnel in the class. Kathy Meyers suggested that an FYE section (possibly in psychology) be created that would be composed of military personnel, or one section that would have a majority of military personnel along with traditional students. Raising the FYE class enrollment numbers. In order to save calls to Sarah about letting students into FYE classes at the beginning of the semester, the suggestion was made to raise all FYE classes to 20 in time to help students who are struggling to get into an FYE class. The decision had originally been made to add by permission to save spots for majors who required specific gen ed courses such as Elementary Education. One possibility is to identify those education and social work classes affected and keep them at the minimum number and raise all other classes to 20. This will be discussed at the next FYE meeting, but it was unclear if this was a decision the committee could make. Candy will also check with Judi to see what she thinks. What is the coding for international students? Are they required to take an FYE course? Alcohol‐Wise Updates – McLaughlin and Coplan Candy and Jane met with Vivian Coeur to discuss the holds and to get updates. This is what Vivian sent to Candy via e‐mail: Below is a link which will take you to Part 86 of the Educational Department of General Administrative Regulations. Instituting Alcohol Wise was WIUs response to providing education on the effects of alcohol as part of a widespread prevention program. The Biennial Review, which is on WIUs website, is the comprehensive document completed every 2 years to comply with EDGAR. The 2010 report has been completed but I did not look to see if it is posted on the web yet. Initial indicators show that student knowledge increased by 50% as measured by the pre‐
test, post‐test. http://www.2.ed.gov/poilicy/fund/reg/edgarReg/edgar/pdf I view this requirement as similar to the procedures we employees go through for our annual Ethics and Sexual Harassment Training. It is a good refresher and you can never prove what you have prevented because the problems never arose. At least the students do not have to complete Alcohol Wise more than once. In a separate e‐mail, Vivian responded to the Alcohol Wise holds: I have just now sent the list of holds to Stacie Hunt. It is likely that the process will be finished by the end of the week or early next week. Once she has placed the holds, students receive an e‐
mail from her notifying them. We will be checking the database very frequently. FYI, out of the 319 spring matrics on my list, 219 have not finished the main course yet. There were 972 holds from the fall list for not completing the main course or not completing the follow‐
up. I know some of those are not returning or never made it here in the first place but I don’t know the number of dropouts or not shows. I will be sending reminder e‐mails to complete the follow‐up. Please encourage students to complete the survey in a timely fashion so they will not be prevented from registering. When international students are required to complete this depends on how they are coded. Once WESL students matriculate into WIU they need to complete the survey. Nothing can exempt students from completing the survey since the intent is that ALL undergraduate WIU students complete it. The majority of the international students are graduate students and are therefore not required to take it. V.
SOAR 2011 and 2012 SOAR dates – McLaughlin Final 2011 Dates (see attached) July 7,8 is advertised as a “closed” date, to be opened if needed. July 27,28 are not advertised but held in reserve in case there is increased enrollment which might necessitate an additional SOAR date. 2012 Dates Draft July 14 will be a possible Discover Western date although this is not final The Task Force has recommended that July 23rd be the July transfer date. The Council did not object. Enrollment is up but there is only a slight increase in SOAR reservations (10) at this point compared to this time last year. It was suggested that the Task Force consider having all SOAR dates in June and return to an expanded orientation in the fall. Some advisers miss the major meetings that used to be held before classes started. It was pointed out that this would also leave July open so advisers had more opportunities for vacations. Some advisers have no back‐up people to cover for them when they are gone. Advisers asked what parents indicated on their evaluations about the SOAR program and staying overnight. There was some concern that not all students would be able to attend a June program. Candy will check to see what parents said on their evaluations collected by SDO She will also see about reconvening the committee that was exploring possible changes in SOAR Pre‐Nursing and Broadcasting will be developing living/learning communities in the residence halls. If a student is a major but does not stay on the floor they can still participate in all functions. Tara Munro is in charge of plans for the communities. History and other areas are thinking about doing the same. Broadcasting has a nice living/learning video on their website. Revising the registration record will be discussed at the next meeting. Please be thinking of changes you would like to see implemented. VI. CAGAS ‐ Tammy Wilson The Academic Integrity Policy was discussed. Wording on the Policy will be changed and, hopefully, will be voted on and approved at the next meeting. The next issue CAGAS will tackle is the change in admission standards. The new CAGAS chair is Bob Quesal and the new Vice Chair is Cecelia Benelli. VII. News from the Registrar – Dagit Important Commencement Dates: • March 1 – Informational postcard will be mailed to prospective 2011 spring and summer graduates • March 18 – Deadline for graduation applications to be turned in for names to be printed in the commencement program • March 21 – Caps and gowns go on sale at the University Union Bookstore • March 31 – Quad City Grad Prep Day, 2‐6 pm • April 1 ‐ Macomb Grad Prep Day, 9 am ‐ 2 pm in the Union Concourse • The commencement weekend (May 13‐15) schedule can be found at www.wiu.edu/commencement • Graduation deficiency notifications were e‐mailed to advisors Tuesday, 2/8 Letters to students will be mailed Monday, 2/14 • 2011 summer and fall schedules are being finalized and will be available on Course Search beginning Monday, 2/14/11 •
Registration appointments and advisor encumbrances for summer and fall are on. They can be viewed on MVS. Students can see their appointments on the STARS instruction screen when they first log in now. Their appointments will appear on the STARS registration screen beginning Monday, 2/14 Reminder: Please send the original of the Major Declaration form to the Registrar’s Office and keep the copy for your files. Some colors do not scan well. White is preferred. A question was asked about why the new formatting on the ADVG screen. Now the major information is at the bottom of the screen and minor information is at the top. It was also felt that it was hard to read. Sue will check into this. Grade replacement will begin in fall 2011. Some parents are not happy with the plus/minus system. There were more ‘pluses’ earned than ‘minuses’ fall 2010 semester. Several grade changes have gone through from C‐ to C but it was discovered that this was due to a data entry error by a faculty member. VIII. College/Area News – Council Members Arts and Sciences – Russ Morgan They are concerned about basic skills and so many students placing into Math 099 and English 100. They will make a proposal to Faculty Senate that if a student has not completed Math 099 by the end of their 1st year at WIU they will be forced to enroll in it. This was also an item that came up in Retention Committee meeting last year. In order to pass the Certification of Basic Skills, elementary education students must now pass 75% instead of the previous 35% in reading, writing, math, and English. Students can re‐take this 5 times and if they have not passed it by the 5th time they can never teach in the State of Illinois. Theo will check on the biology policy to see how many times a student can miss a lab in a semester and what constitutes an excused absence. IX.
Miscellaneous ‐ McLaughlin The recommendations proposed for changes in the stipend and trophy given to the Outstanding Adviser were not approved and will stay as in the past with a plaque from CITR and a $250.00 stipend from the Provost’s Office (rather than the proposed $1000 stipend and crystal trophy awarded to outstanding faculty). It is hope that this can be revisited at some point in the future. Candy reminded the Council that it took many years to get an advising representative on CAGAS. •
Candy asked advisers to let her know if there were any objections to the UAASC advisers reaching out to 2nd semester freshmen who are on probation or warning in an attempt to offer suggestions for alternative majors and to volunteer help with study skills, etc. This will not be a formalized program such as the former GRIP program. The major adviser would stay the same. It is an attempt to be proactive and to encourage students who are not doing well to seek additional help. Most of the advisers welcomed the intervention. Others will check with their colleagues and let her know. •
Julie is working on the UAASC website. •
A spring advisors workshop from 8:30‐12:00 after spring break is being considered. Topics to be discussed will be grade replacement, Foreign Language/Global Issues, and any other items as needed. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:50 am. Respectfully submitted … Debbie Carithers