Council of Academic Advisors
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
10:30 AM, Union Board Room
Present: Laurie Black (Registrar’s Office), Andy Borst (Admissions), Jane Coplan (UAASC),
Sue Dagit (Registrar’s Office), Stacy Dorsett (COEHS), Jennifer Grimm (Communications),
Molly Homer (Honor’s College), Ember Keithley (CBT), Kim McDaniel (Study Abroad), Lisa
Melz-Jennings (Athletics), Caryn Morgan (CAS), Kelly Morris (UAASC), Julie O’Brien (UAASC),
Jinny Page (BA/BGS), Chris Ramsey (CBT), Colin Regness (BA/BGS), Jennifer Sandrik-Rubio
(Physical Sciences), Theo Schultz (Pre-Nursing), Megan Shaffer (GA, UAASC), Michelle Terry
(CBT Rep), Larry Tingles (Admissions), Ryan Trump (GA, UAASC), Dana Vizdal (CBT Admin.
Intern), Tammy Wilson (COEHS)
The meeting was chaired by Ember Keithley.
I.
Introduction of Members
Everyone was given a table tent with their name on it in order for Michelle to identify faces
with names, then was followed by everyone around the table introducing themselves to
Michelle.
II.
Western Commitment Scholarship – Larry Tingley and Andy Borst
Andy began by giving an update from Admissions
There is an OAS enrollment goal of 400 for this fall. Many applications have been received
and today an OAS waiting list is being implemented. The figure of 400 was obtained by
admitting 1,080 students who meet OAS requirements with a projection rate of 38% actually
coming to WIU. Admissions has been monitoring the quality of OAS students admitted last
fall.
Advisors would like to see the success rate on those students accepted during the first week
of classes, many of which were transfer students who had extenuating circumstances which
precluded them from being admitted earlier.
The territory included in the WIU Compact Agreement has been expanded to include
Kirkwood College, Indian Hills, and other areas, and compact agreements in Wisconsin will
also be added by the end of the semester. A question was posed about an easy way to find
those schools, which are not on the articulation page and may not be on U-Select. Andy will
make sure there is a common location that can be easily accessed for identification of
schools with which WIU has compact agreements.
Regular admit students continue to be admitted through the Friday of the first week of
classes.
A copy of the “Western Commitment Scholarship” was distributed, which gives detailed
information about the scholarship.
The President has approved a new scholarship program that will automatically guarantee a
scholarship to students who have completed high school with a cumulative GPA above the
minimum criteria for the award level, maintain continuous full-time enrollment (12 hours or
more) each semester, maintain a cumulative WIU GPA of 3.0 or better, maintain good
standing with regard to the Student Code of Conduct, and submit a completed FAFSA to
WIU prior to May 15. Students who fulfill the above criteria will receive a letter from the
president, a certificate, and the “Pay for College” brochure. Students who receive the
$10,000 scholarships will also be required to actively participate in the Centennial Honors
College and live in University Housing for all four years. If students choose to not live in
residence halls, the scholarship will be forfeited but at that point the student may be able to
receive the $3,000 scholarship.
Scholarships will cover up to the entire direct costs (tuition, fees, room, and board) above
federal grants, state grants, and tuition waivers, if applicable. Students many also use their
Western Commitment Scholarships (not including room waivers) for credit internships and
study abroad. The monetary amount of these 4-year scholarships depends on ACT scores
and GPAs. Students can take ACT test as many times as they want to get a higher score up
to the first day of classes.
Once awarded a scholarship, students have to maintain their high school GPA for the rest of
their high school career. If they fall below in their final year or semester, their scholarship will
be rescinded.
This scholarship is merit-based aid, not need-based aid.
Once at WIU, students need to maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA for the $1,000, $2,000, and
$3,000 award levels. If they don’t maintain the 3.0 for a semester, Mary Lawson, Terri Hare,
and Larry will meet and that student will be given a 1 semester grace period. If the student
does not meet criteria after this additional semester, the scholarship will be forfeited and
can’t be returned to the student.
For students at the $10,000 level, the scholarship will continue to be called the Centennial
Honors Scholarship.
This scholarship can be used for study abroad or for an internship or in the Quad Cities, as
long as the student is a Western student. The student housing will be available to the
student once they return to Macomb.
Students in the military who must leave school for active duty will have their scholarship
returned when they return.
Consequences for a student who withdraws for a semester and then comes back the next
semester, or students who drop below full-time, have not been addressed.
Information about the scholarship is being advertised on the university website, sent to all
students who have gotten an offering letter, those who have above a 22 ACT and who have
inquired at WIU but have not applied, and to every guidance counselor in our area.
A question was asked about selecting a registration date by a certain date could be added
to the criteria, in order to have students register early and show their intent to come to WIU,
but Andy felt getting students to select a registration date is not a problem since those
already signed up are double those of last year. Having students secure housing is more of
a problem.
The President has approved this scholarship as a 2-year pilot program. If it is determined
the scholarships are not working after 2 years, new scholarships would not be offered to
other freshmen but would continue to be funded for those already awarded. The university
has the 1.3 million dollars necessary to sustain the program for the 2-year pilot program.
Transfer students and current students are not eligible for this scholarship although, if
successful, the second phase of the program would include a component for transfer
students and those current students here who are excelling.
This is a 4-year scholarship and funds will not be available to students who must continue
their program for a 5th year.
GPAs will not be rounded.
This scholarship is not tied to grad track.
All advisors present felt this scholarship is a good recruiting tool since it guarantees a
student’s cost would be covered for 4 years.
The scholarship is open to everyone. Students don’t need to select a major and can change
majors as much as they want.
If requested, Andy and/or Larry would be glad to speak to respective groups about the
program.
III.
Review of Opening Week - Keithley
STARS crashed on Friday of the first week of classes, but came back up quickly.
MVS was slow the week before and during the first week of classes.
This semester, advisors as a whole, saw a larger population of students still looking for
classes during the second week of classes and some students are still attending classes
who were not officially registered. This could be attributed to a larger population of students
with financial holds. Advisors found it challenging to register those students who got their
holds lifted on Friday and Monday. Students have to leave residence halls if not signed up
for classes.
Students with holds need to contact their advisors so they can be told to attend classes
while they are getting their encumbrance(s) cleared up. It was suggested that someone
from Billing and Receivables be invited to attend a COAA meeting to see if there is a way
students can register for classes but be dropped if their bills aren’t paid by a certain date.
Students erroneously think they can’t see their advisors until they have their encumbrances
cleared.
WIU students lack education on restricted registration and enforced pre-requisites. It was
asked if a statement could be programmed on the registration screen that says, ‘if you drop
this class you can only get into it again with special permission’.
Since students already have permission to be in a particular class, it seems like it wouldn’t
be a complex programming issue to change sections of that same class. The problem lies in
that fact that permission is programmed to be attached to a particular section. Students
don’t understand that since they don’t think they are dropping a class but just changing
sections.
Students also don’t always understand that there is a difference between FASPA and
promissory notes.
It was suggested that when holds are put on a student’s account they be sent a notice, in
addition to having it loaded on STARS. In this way students may be made aware earlier
about their encumbrances and can start paying their bills sooner.
It was asked if UAASC could distribute a list of contacts for students to go to for permission
to register for closed classes since instructors often don’t know how to give permission. It
was suggested that maybe this topic of how to help students with late registration could be
discussed with Faculty Senate, chairs, and other faculty.
There is a lag time from between when students are admitted and when they actually arrive
on campus. So if they are admitted on Friday of the first week, they may not understand that
open registration ends that day. It would help if we could do open registration for 5 days, but
only admit for 4 days (in the spring semester, that would mean admit through Friday but still
allow open registration on Monday.
It was questioned what WIU, as an institution, is telling students when they are accepted
after the first week of classes are over … is WIU telling students that the first week of
classes doesn’t matter? It is important for students to get off to a good start and in this
respect is WIU sending the wrong message. Andy said that WIU is still trying to build back
from the decline in numbers 2 years ago. Most of the students who are accepted late are
transfer students but that creates a problem in that there are limited classes for them.
Application deadline date for spring semester is December 15 and May 15 for fall semester.
Next year, the President has put deadlines dates in the undergrad catalog. This will convey
that WIU thinks this is important. (But in practice, students may continue to be admitted
through the first week of classes.)
At the beginning of the 2nd week of classes, there was a message from the O-Team on the
SDO 2015 website class page that said “syllabus week is over”. Some advisors felt that
sends a bad message.
IV.
Interpersonal Violence Prevention Initiative Update – Michelle Yager
Michele met with Justine and Janine from the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Initiative
(IPVPP). Discussions were held last semester regarding student holds, that that they were in
the grant, and were supported by administration when it was submitted. Since then
administration has changed and that piece has been reexamined, but because it is written in
the grant that piece can’t be taken out
The survey is not mandated for students who enrolled last fall, 2011, but they are highly
encouraged to be part of it; it is mandated for students coming to WIU this January.
Students who started in January have until the end of the summer to complete the program.
Holds won’t go on until fall for students who haven’t completed it, which means students can
pre-register for fall but not for spring.
It is hoped that this program will have a good system in place for releasing holds as soon as
the student completes the requirement. Ideally, the system would be automated and once
the student completes the survey and submits it there should be a way to download it.
Justine will be at the UAASC staff meeting next Tuesday and Michelle will find out more
information about how encumbrances will be processed. E-mail Michelle if you have
questions to be asked at the meeting.
One question asked is if this grant is an automatic renewal or can it be changed to take out
the encumbrance portion, which would make registration easier; however, the grant writers
are not supportive of removing it.
The VPs told them that they will not put another hold on registration. A suggestion was
made that encumbrances related to student services be given some sort of other hold not
related to academic registration; for example, a student could not sign up for housing
renewal unless s/he had done Alcoholwise and Violence Prevention, but they could still
register for their classes. If a student lived off campus, they would not be able to receive an
approved off campus housing waiver until they complete these items.
V. Standing Committee Reports
Professional Development
U-Select training will be held tomorrow at 1 PM in the 2nd floor Malpass Library classroom. In
March Jude Kiah will speak and in April Sandpaper Wisdom will be presented. The
committee is working on an event for May. The committee would welcome suggestions for
future programming.
Awards and Recognition
The committee is working on solidifying criteria for Advisor of the Month, who would
automatically be entered into advisor of the year, along with anyone else who is nominated.
Hopefully at the next meeting the committee will have more information to present. It was
suggested that the award recipient might be awarded a reserved parking spot.
Public Relations/Social
A taco luncheon will be held this afternoon to welcome Michelle to WIU. Door hangers,
funded by the Provost’s Office, were handed out to approximately 100 students last
Thursday, 98% of whom knew who their advisor was. Written on the back of the door
hangers were advisors name, location, and telephone number. Students were urged to see
their advisors early in the semester. There are still door hangers left, so if you need more to
share with others in your area, please let a member of the committee know. The committee
would like to do this again in the fall, where it was felt it would have a greater impact on
transfer students. The tutoring display drew a lot of attention. The Union was a good
location. There was a good response from students.
They are also in the process of finalizing more events, such as a stress-breaker social later
in March such as a cake decorating workshop with help from the FCS department in
Knoblaugh. They are looking for a unique service project, one that is not commonly seen. If
you have a service project, let a member of the committee know. One suggestion was Love
Luggage, where luggage is decorated and given to children in foster care. If this is what they
decide to do, people will be solicited for items with which to fill the luggage, such as various
toiletries. Another suggestion was to contact Ann Dickson, WIRC, about disposal of
electronic equipment. (Currently hours for disposal are the1st Saturday of the month, 8-12:30
and certain other times throughout the day. Ember will get more information about this.)
Campus Affairs
Confidentiality of answers on Western’s Knowledgebase was discussed at the last meeting.
A few people can pull answers out if needed for security issues, but they are not contained
in the general analytics they are seeing on a regular basis.
Assessment
The committee had their first meeting of the semester today. They are working on the
freshmen and junior survey and hope to send it out in February. Although they are not sure
of the procedures, they will be giving a $25.00 bookstore gift certificate as an incentive to
complete the survey. The survey will include sections on tutoring, using a planner, time
management, more services available, and where to go for help. The hope is that Terri will
have something for the committee to look at soon. If there is enough time, the committee will
try to get it out to the whole advising list. The goal is to get the survey out earlier this year
and to use the information provided. The will work on the advisor survey, which will probably
go out about the time school lets out.
VI. CAGAS News – Julie O’Brien
If you have a student who has filed an appeal, have the student give as much information as
possible. A lot of times the members will ask for clarification, and it seems if that enough
information is included the appeal will be taken more favorably. Have the student talk to their
professor; an appeal is not viewed favorably if the student hasn’t made an effort to resolve it
at the instructor level.
There were a significant number of students who appealed to CAGAS. A few re-appeals
that made it through were successful because they provided additional information they
hadn’t provided the first time. Students need to explain the situation and submit
corroborating information such as faculty and advisor support letters, letters from the
instructor and department chair, etc.
If the factors that contributed to the problem were beyond the student’s control and
documentation is provided, along with evidence that the problem is resolved, along with
faculty letters of support, appeals are likely to be viewed more favorably.
There is a SGA resolution currently on the table to require faculty to submit early warning
grades since students don’t feel they’re getting good feedback on how they are doing in
classes. There are mixed reactions about this at CAGAS.
If interested in being the COAA CAGAS rep next year, talk to someone who has served on
the committee.
VII.
News from the Office of the Registrar – Dagit
•
•
•
•
The Graduation Department will be doing early checkout for spring and summer this
week.
o Advisors will be sent an e-mail list of names of students who have deficiencies.
o We will give the advisors a few days to check the lists and provide any
subs/waivers that are applicable.
o The letters and WARD reports for students with deficiencies will be mailed out to
those students next Wednesday, Feb. 8.
ƒ The addition of grade replacement to the mix is only going to impact how
we do early check-out slightly.
ƒ If a student has a GPA deficiency, we will see that as a problem
regardless of whether the student is taking something for grade
replacement. We might be less inclined to move a grad app to a future
term if the student is taking replacement courses, but we will still
recognize the deficiency because at the current time, that is exactly what
it is---a deficiency.
Commencement
o Friday, March 16 – Deadline for Graduation Applications to be turned in to
the Registrar’s Office in order for the candidate to have his/her name in
the Commencement Program.
Registration
o Registration appointments are on for Summer and Fall.
ƒ Advisor holds are on.
ƒ Friday, Feb. 3 – Students can view their registration appointments on the
STARS Instruction Screen.
ƒ Tuesday, Feb. 14
• Registration appointments will be visible on Registration Screen.
• Summer and Fall class schedules will be available on Course
Search.
New Students
o Sadie is starting to put registration holds on for new freshmen, new transfer
students, and re-entry students.
o
o
New transfer students will be placed on probation until we receive final
transcripts from their previous institution(s).
Monday, April 2 - Transfer students who are entering WIU with their completed
Associate’s Degree must have final transcripts showing the degree posted to the
Registrar’s Office on or before for the Transfer Cost Guarantee to be in effect.
VIII. College/Area News
Study Abroad
There is a lot of scholarship money available for business majors to study in China.
Art minors who participate in the Art in New York class this summer, Art H 379, can have
the class count toward their art minor.
Applications for individual programs for summer or fall are due by March 1. If you have
students interested in this, ask them if they have contacted Study Abroad. This program
would be the one where only one student is involved.
Business
Chris has not heard anything about Larry Roller’s position in the Quad Cities.
Arts & Sciences
If instructors agree to it, students who can’t afford a calculator can arrange to use one
from the Math Education Resource Center, Morgan 209. Students can use the calculator
in class or in the Math Resource Center from 8-4:30.
Shelly Meyer is the new GA advisor in Biology.
Sharon Keeling’s office has moved to Morgan 203F; the phone number remains the same.
Russ Morgan is the new associate dean in CAS.
IX.
Miscellaneous
Jane was thanked for sending out an e-mail about processing declaration forms. Usually the
most effective way to process a declaration form is for the new primary advisor to send it in
the campus mail to the previous advisor, rather than giving the form to the student to deliver
in person.
If a student wants to drop a 2nd major, the primary advisor needs to send the declaration
form to the 2nd major advisor for a signature. Anything deleted on the form will be deleted on
the screen, so Sue will check to see if a line can be put on the form that says “delete”.
Students have concerns about not being able to pay for books. This subject should be taken
to Faculty Senate. In one situation, a student bought a book and then purchased the access
code, and the book was actually available on line through the access code. It was
suggested that Jude come to a future COAA meeting for a discussion. A suggestion was
made that more communication about textbooks could be given at the summer SOAR
program.
There is ongoing discussion about what day the fall transfer/new student registration will be
held in Fall 2012. It is currently scheduled for Wed, Nov 30. Jane did propose the date be
moved to Friday; the possibility of leaving it on a Wednesday or moving it to a Saturday is
also being discussed. The Friday suggestion was met with mixed feelings.
New listing of advisors, telephone numbers, and rooms was requested.
Kate Pohlpeter is the new CSD undergrad advisor.
Having no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:55 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Carithers