Council of Academic Advisors Wednesday, April 20, 2011 10:30 AM, Union Board Room Present: Laurie Black (Registrar’s Office), Donna Bradford (COEHS), Jane Coplan (UAASC), Sue Dagit (Registrar’s Office), Candace McLaughlin (UAASC), Jennifer Grimm (Communication), Kim McDaniel (Study Abroad), Lisa Melz (Athletics), Kathy Meyers (SAPSC and VRC), Caryn Morgan (CAS), Julie O’Brien (UAASC), Andi Potter (CBT‐Engineering Technology), Andrea Riebling (CBT rep), Jennifer Sandrik‐Rubio (Physical Sciences), Theo Schultz (Pre‐Nursing), Tammy Wilson (COEHS), Jeanette Zotz (BA/BGS) Guests: Jeannine Cavicchia and Andrea Dorothy I.
Guest Speaker – Janine Cavicchia, Director of the Women’s Center, who spoke about the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Initiative Janine thanked the Council for inviting her to speak and introduced Andrea Dorothy, the Women’s Center Graduate Assistant for the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Initiative (who joined the Women’s Center this semester as part of the grant). The grant is the result of a $300,000 3‐year grant from the Dept of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). Janine is in the process of hiring a grant‐funded coordinator; she is hoping this position will be permanent either from the university institutionalizing the position or renewing the grant. Western has been on the forefront of bringing public awareness of issues of violence towards women through open communication, visibility of community resources, and open communication with students. The end result is that Western is portrayed as caring about their students’ safety. This grant requires an ongoing mandatory orientation by all new students, either on‐campus or online similar to what has been done as with alcohol‐wise. The presentation is very interaction with scenarios, videos, audios, and scripts. There is a link on the Women’s Center website for available resources Logistics of the online orientation Registration Holds: Registration holds will be monitored through the Women’s Center by the Coordinator of the Interpersonal Violence Prevention grant. Holds will be in place for the Fall pre‐
registration period. Janine has spoken to Vivian about lessons learned through the implementation of Alcohol‐Wise and how to, hopefully, avoid problems with that program. There will be no re‐tests, as with alcohol‐wise and it is anticipated the training will last about an hour. All students matriculating this fall are required to take the training, both freshmen and transfer students. It is hoped that when a student completes the training, there will be an immediate release on the hold. Parental concerns: According to other universities who have been recipients of this grant, parents are appreciative that this subject is being addressed and acknowledged. In the case of a student needing assistance, parents want to know there is help available. There will obviously be some concerns that will need to be addressed, but it is anticipated that these will not be major issues. The goal is for this to be in place by the first of September; students will take the training when they first come to campus. There is a possibility of this being combined with SOAR in future years, but not this year because of time constraints. Some have suggested that this could be done by students at home before coming to campus … the concern is that this is a traumatic subject, and if a student has been a victim already, sitting alone in their room without resources available could be overwhelming. If they take the training while they are on campus they can be advised about where to access resource centers for help. Anything that is sent to students will also be sent to advisors to they know when and what is being sent. Candy will follow up about when the training can be previewed. II. Final Agenda for April 30th and Counts ‐ McLaughlin The Transfer Agenda has been corrected to reflect the Grand Ballroom for all sessions. All registration dates are filled through June, which is up from last year. For the April 30 transfer registration, advisors should be in their rooms and ready for students to arrive by 1:15 PM. It was mentioned that the Wheeler Block Party is also being held on April 30th. III.
Summer SOAR 2011 – McLaughlin (see attached documents) •
Pre‐Advising Handout for students and families “Information to Help You Select Courses for Your First Semester” One change that will be incorporated is adding “International Baccalaureate” to “Please list any courses you anticipate receiving credit for through Advanced Placement, etc …” The sample schedules for the different majors are in the General Education Handbook. Please let Candy know of any other suggested changes to either of these handouts before the next meeting on May 4. •
Registration Records final draft The “Other” category and fonts will be corrected before sending to DPS for copies •
SOAR Student Evaluation Draft No other changes were noted. There will be a 5 question survey in the student packet at check‐
in about how often students use handheld devices. Students will be encouraged to start the survey while waiting for the program to start. These will be collected after testing and on day two along with the music interest form and the religious preference cards, etc. If students have not turned then in already, they may need to be collected in the advising session. A sample copy of the survey will be distributed at the next meeting. IV. CAGAS – Wilson CAGAS will vote on the admissions criteria tomorrow. Students who fall below the range will be encouraged to submit a personal statement, which will be reviewed by Admissions. Once approved by CAGAS it will then go to Faculty Senate. A much simpler grid is being used, with white indicating regular admits, yellow go directly into OAS, the pink area is where OAS and Admissions get together and make the final decision, and blue represents denials. Based on recommendations from the consulting firm Noel Levitz, there are now no assessment, interviews, or defers in the admission process. OAS numbers are up, but it is hard to predict how many will students will actually come to WIU. This can’t be determined until the end of summer when numbers will show who actually came to registration. The CAGAS chair next year will be Bob Quesal (CSD). Vice Chair is Cecelia Benelli (Curriculum Instruction). Steve Rock will be chair of Faculty Senate next year. V. News from the Office of the Registrar – Dagit Double major discussion continued •
There is no way to put an additional advisor hold for both advisors of students with double majors. •
There are 272 students with double majors: 52 freshmen, 40 sophomores, 61 juniors, and 119 seniors •
Reminder to please use only yellow highlighters on forms that need to be scanned. Other colors do not scan. •
Open Registration begins Monday, April 25. Most BGS restrictions will be lifted by 8:00 AM (some departments will leave the restrictions on a bit longer). Chris Ramsey will look at online business class counts prior to April 25th and at that time she will decide whether students can register for any remaining openings or whether they need to get on a wait list. If you want your students put on a waiting list, please send an e‐mail to CBTadvising@wiu.edu listing name, ID, anticipated graduation date, star number, and class VI. College/Area News – Council Members Study Abroad – Kim McDaniel There will be an informational meeting on the Fulbright Fellowship on May 3rd from 3:30‐5:30 in the Union Capitol Room. Juniors are the targeted population, but sophomores can come and get information to see if they want to pursue this their junior year. Please share this information with your students. Leonie Meijer is leaving WIU to go to the University of New Hampshire, with her last day being May 4th. Emily Gorlewski will be assuming Leo’s caseload for now, especially those students studying abroad this summer and fall. The position will be filled but it is unknown when the new person will start. They are attempting to update their website. The fall Japan trips will be discussed at this week’s Study Abroad meeting; however, the State Department has downgraded Japan’s status from Travel Warning to Travel Alert. Nothing has been received from the 3 students registered to go to Japan about wanting to change their plans. Leo had sent students a note earlier saying they may want to think about WIU classes in case they are unable to go. Construction Management/Engineering Technology – Andi Potter An accreditation team for Engineering Technology has been on campus. They anticipate receiving accreditation for the manufacturing and construction programs very soon. The accreditation team’s recommendation has been sent to the president. A request for changes in the GCom/Construction Management major and GCOM/Construction Technology minor is on Faculty Senate’s agenda next week. STARS has recently been upgraded to reflect changes in GCom classes. If you or your students have questions about fall courses, please e‐
mail Andi. If passed by Wednesday Andi will forward the information to Julie to include in the Gen Ed handbook. COBT – Andrea Riebling Andrea asked what advisors do with international second‐degree seeking students when no course descriptions and syllabi are available. It was felt that this should be the responsibility of the department chair and if the chair is unwilling, then the Dean should be responsible. Arts & Sciences – Jennifer Rubio‐Sandrick The Pharmacy option in chemistry was approved. Students choosing this route will receive a BS in chemistry, with an emphasis in pharmacy. Fine Arts – Jennifer Grimm The 2011 catalogue will reflect changes in the Communication major. Broadcasting 323 has been removed and two communication classes, which students will need to take, have been inserted. Broadcasting 323 will be offered online periodically as an elective. Jennifer is working individually with communication majors who fall under the old catalogue. UAASC – Candace McLaughlin There will be a September 1 advisor opening in the Academic Services Program in the UAASC to replace Teresa Stockler who plans to retire at the end of August. A search will be conducted during the summer. VII. Miscellaneous The June meeting will be held on June 4th (the June 11th meeting will be cancelled). Candace will send by‐laws to the entire mailing list asking those interested in running for vice chair and CAGAS rep to send her an e‐mail. The names will be forwarded to the Council and voting will take place at the May 4th meeting. The subcommittees listed in section VII. B will be formed after the Vice‐Chair is elected. Any advisers on campus can serve on the subcommittees. Membership on the Council is not required for membership on a subcommittee. The new by‐laws allow many advisers to be involved in academic advising issues on campus so it is hoped many more advisors will consider serving in some capacity. The last assessment of advising identified items that need to be addressed by the Assessment Committee before the next formal assessment in 2013. The new Vice Chair will be responsible for forming the subcommitees outlined in the By‐Laws. The CAGAS rep is a non‐voting member unless it is determined by the college that this person will also represent the college. The term for the CAGAS rep is 1 year; the term for the Vice Chair is 2 years. The current CAGAS rep sits through CAGAS meetings through the last August meeting. The new rep should come to the August meeting with Tammy. Andi is the Council rep on the Advisor Award Committee. The committee will meet next week. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 12:05 PM. Respectfully submitted, Debbie Carithers