Council of Academic Advisors
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
10:30 AM, Union Board Room
Present: Jane Coplan (UAASC), Sue Dagit (Registrar’s Office), Sue Danner (Athletics), Molly Homer (Honor’s College), Caryn Morgan (CAS), Kelly Morris (UAASC), Jinny Page (BA/BGS), Missy Phillips (COEHS), Jennifer Sandrik‐Rubio (Physical Sciences), Theo Schultz (Pre‐Nursing), Megan Shaffer (UAASC), Renee Simpson (UAASC), Michelle Terry (CBT Rep), Larry Tingley (Admissions), Ryan Trump (GA, UAASC), Dana Vizdal (CBS Admin Inter/Study Abroad), Tammy Wilson (COEHS) I.
Minutes The minutes from the February 15 meeting were approved, with a correction. Correction: Under V. Sub‐ Committee Budgets, change the first sentence to read: The Professional Development Sub‐Committee would like to have a team building field trip event in May before SOAR, with an anticipated cost of $200. II. SOAR ‐ Michelle Yager Registration Record Academic departments/programs will determine if they will use the Registration Record form. If they chose to use it, a supply will be available for advisors to pick up (similar to student evaluations) or they can order a desired amount through Debbie Carithers. Parent/Family Group Presentation: How to Help Your Student Achieve Academic Success Michelle will send an e‐mail to all advisors asking for volunteers to help with the SOAR parent presentation, then she will set up a rotation schedule for those who have volunteered. In the past there have been 5‐6 volunteers helping with 2‐3 programs each. III. Transfer Registration Day – Michelle Yager Last year’s transfer registration agenda was distributed. Changes: The date needs to be changed to April 21, 2012. Molly usually pulls students out from 12:30‐1:30 to go to the Fox Room. Michelle will correct the date and will make sure the Fox Room is reserved. Please look over the schedule and let Michelle know if there are any other changes that need to be made. IV. Amendments to the By‐Laws – Michelle Yager Some people have talked to Michelle about the by‐laws suggesting they may need to be reviewed, with possible adjustments, in order to function properly. Sub‐Committee chairs must be members of COAA This topic has been approached in the past and no decision had been reached as to whether to retain it as written or change it to reflect that advisors who are not members of COAA could chair. Because of the many responsibilities advisors have, it would seem to make sense to distribute the workload and offer this position to more people. If the chair was not a Council member, someone on the committee who was a COAA member could report back. PAA points could also come with chairing this committee, allowing more opportunities for advisors to earn points. PAA points are already given to Council members. This is a good idea from the standpoint that if there is only one person on the committee who is on the Council, they would be forced to take the chairmanship by default. Precedence has been set as the CAGAS rep to COAA doesn’t have to be a member but does have to either report back or have someone else report at the Council meetings. Concern has been voiced from directors about advisors being on so many required committees that it takes away from their job responsibilities in their advising area. Opening up the chairmanship to more people might help with this issue. According to the by‐laws, amendments require a 30 day notice before going to a vote by the Council. It was felt that it was appropriate to send this out to all advisors, not just COAA. Since the April 4th COAA meeting was cancelled, Michelle will work with Julie to develop appropriate wording, send it to COAA members for approval, then send to all advisors. Only COAA members will be allowed to vote. Vice‐Chair Responsibilities The Vice‐Chair’s responsibility to sit in on all sub‐committees could become a massive responsibility for that advisor who is also trying to do their own workload. Some thought the position was intended to be a liaison between committees and the Council, rather than sitting in on all committees. The By‐Laws read that the Vice Chair is an “ex‐officio member of all committees”. The question of whether to remove this statement will be added to the e‐mail going out and both will be voted on at the May 2 meeting. It was recognized that Ember Keithley’s Vice Chair responsibilities this year required her to be more involved with the formation phase of the sub‐committees. She did a wonderful job laying a solid foundation which will benefit the groups and allow future Vice Chairs the ability to ‘oversee’ with less direct involvement. INSERT TO MINUTES: After further review of the By‐Laws, it was discovered that the Vice Chair is only required to be an ex‐officio member of ad‐hoc committees, and is required to ‘over see’ standing committees. V. Standing Committee Reports Professional Develop (Jane Coplan) Upcoming Events: April 5 Sandpaper Wisdom with Dr. Donna McCaw, Lincoln Room, 1:00 PM. May 3rd (new event) The COAA Professional Development Committee and UAASC will co‐host the webinar, “An Institutional Approach to Increasing Retention of African‐American Students” at 2:00 in the Multicultural Center. The committee is asking campus personnel to sit on a panel to lead a follow up discussion of the webinar’s topics. COBT has a college meeting that afternoon, but it was thought the date or time could possibly be changed. This event will be open campus‐wide to individuals and departments. May 14th Field Trip Event. No updates. The Committee will meet on Friday to discuss this and will have updates soon. In order to pull together a budget request for the Provost, there needs to be documentation that we have explored other professional development partnerships on campus. The May 3rd presentation is a good example that programming is being developed of interest to community and campus groups that would benefit everyone. CITR does not want to partner at this time. They feel the need to have more faculty‐centered programming and will not provide professional programs geared for advisors. Awards and Recognition (Tammy Wilson) Nomination criteria for Advisor of the Month went out via e‐mail. The deadline for the first award is April 6 at 4:00 and the committee will discuss nominations at their meeting the following week. One award will be made this semester, then three in the fall and three the following spring. Taking the winner(s) to lunch was discussed, but it might be difficult to use appropriated money for food. Possible alternative awards were suggested, such as a book store gift certificate, special parking spot, BCA tickets, athletics tickets, etc. It might be appropriate to ask individual departments to donate items to be used as awards. There also may be associated costs such as paper and printing. Public Relations & Social (Kelly Morris) The committee is developing an Iron Chef competition rather than cupcake decorating. Andi Potter is coordinating this event with Cheryl Boston and some students. There will be teams of 4‐5 people. They hope to have this event on April 26 from 3:00‐4:30. They have talked about a budget, with perhaps having participants contribute $5.00. The committee will get back with more details. It was mentioned that there is already an event scheduled in the Corporate Dining Room on April 26, so the committee may want to confirm the date and make sure that all areas are communicating with each other. Missy indicated she will have to check with her department’s Dean’s Office about the Iron Chef event being scheduled during work hours. It may be the expectation that advisors use vacation or COMP time to attend social events. The committee thought this would be a team‐building event, as well an opportunity for students to work and collaborate with advisors. All these events scheduled by committees are new to the university, and we do not want to set a precedent that will create a ripple effect and negatively reflect back on the committees, COAA or the advising community. This is a gray area; some felt confident that departments would support the Horn Lodge event due to the activities being more in line with professional development where the Iron Chef could be viewed as a social event. Some felt committees should not co‐share events and that get‐togethers, camaraderie, or any other social events should be scheduled after work hours. It was pointed out that retirement receptions have been held during work hours in the past. In April, there will be a campus beautification event and a Horn Lodge event, as well as something at the end of SOAR to celebrate the completion of registration. The Horn Lodge event is a collaborative endeavor between the Social (luncheon) and Professional Development (team building effort) Committees. In September, door hangers will be given to students again, which emphasize seeing their advisors and scheduling appointments. In October, teams representing advisors will participate in Pink Volleyball. The idea behind all these events is becoming more visible in the campus community. Campus Affairs (Theo Schultz) Bill Pulley has been named chair of the Ad‐Hoc Committee discussing mid‐term grades. Faculty members, two student reps, Angela Lynn, and Theo are also on the committee. On Friday the committee will finalize an electronic survey to go to students and faculty on early warning grades. To make it mandatory for faculty to submit early‐warning grades would be a contractual issue and probably won’t happen. The committee can make a recommendation that it’s included in the next contract, but there was little faculty support for this idea. On the other hand, the student representatives felt this was a good idea. Theo does not have a vote on the committee, but students do. It was not discussed if this survey will go to advisors. There is a huge disconnect in the role of advisors with the survey. Theo had to push for a question to be added asking if the students see their advisors after receiving early warning grades. If there are other questions that advisors would like to see included, such as does the advisor contact the student after receiving early warning grades, please e‐mail Theo. Several faculty turned in ‘I’s for all students. Students and advisors need to know actual grades if the early warning grades’ reports are going to be successful. The ad‐hoc committee will be going over data, interpreting it, and drawing conclusions, on Friday. SGA is going to send faculty an e‐mail about returning early‐warning grades. There is no way to enforce it other than a phone call, even for final grades. Even if it is mandatory, it would be tough to enforce. Students and advisors have access to WesternOnline, but not all faculty use it. It is important that faculty communicate with students, no matter what system they are using, although faculty can say that it is ultimately the students’ responsibility to know where they stand since requirements and grading for classes are on the syllabus, but sometimes students don’t get tests and other material back in a timely manner. This ad‐hoc committee will meet every two weeks and hope to submit a recommendation to Faculty Senate by the end of the semester. There are 2 separate surveys going out, one to faculty and one to students. The committee also discussed moving the early warning deadline to a later date in the semester but that could cause problems as it will be too close to the last day to drop classes. Sue Dagit distributed a percentage of faculty submitting early warning grades by spring semesters. This represents all sections within the early warning population. It does not include online classes, but does include any section that meets regularly and is expected to submit undergraduate grades, including the Quad Cities. There is a need to convey to faculty that advisors feel this is an important tool as we act on the information provided, and use it to help students decide whether to drop a course. Some faculties don’t realize the importance of early warning grades. Assessment The committee did not meet today due to absences and sickness. The advisor survey is being edited and will go out soon. More information about this will be discussed at the next meeting. The student survey has been returned and data from it is being collated. VI. CAGAS – (Michelle, in Julie’s absence) Julie is out and has no new reports VII. News from the Office of the Registrar – Sue Dagit Important Dates: o
o
o
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It is too late for Commencement participants to get their names in the program if
they have not submitted their Graduation Applications already. (Deadline was
Friday, March 16)
Friday, March 23 - Incompletes are due
Monday, March 26 - Caps and gowns go on sale
Sunday, April 1 - Last day to withdraw from a Spring 2012 class. (Grace period
Monday, April 2, for students unable to drop class over the weekend)
Monday, April 2 ƒ Transcripts showing Associate’s Degree are due in Registrar’s Office for
Transfer Cost Guarantee
ƒ Advance Registration for Summer and Fall 2012 opens; open registration
begins Monday, April 23.
Early Warning Grades Summary by Spring Semester Term 2011SP 2012SP Active Students1 9644 9553 Course Sections in EW Population 2061 2043 768 807 37.3% 39.5% 1293 1236 62.7% 6209 100.0% 733 11.8% 798 12.9% 1436 23.1% 60.5% Course Sections‐No EWGs Submitted Percentage Course Sections‐EWGs Submitted Percentage Grades Applied C‐ D+ D 5553 842 643 1170 100.0% 15.2% 11.6% 21.1% D‐ F 542 2304 8.7% 37.1% 576 2119 10.4% 38.2% I 2 396 6.4% 203 3.7% Students Receiving EWGs 3840 39.8% 3395 35.5% 1
Includes all undergraduate students ‐ not just those in early warning population classes (per Enrollment Comparison report from S. Lawson). 2
Cannot be Determined (Insufficient evidence to determine grade) VIII. College/Area News – Council members IX. Old Business •
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Sub‐committee budget requests need to be submitted to Ember Submit budget request to Ember so she can work on the overall budget at which time she will give it to Michelle to present to the Provost. CAGAS election scheduled for April 18th meeting….nominations due to Michelle by March 30th The CAGAS election is scheduled for the April 18th meeting; nominations are due to Michelle by March 30th. This announcement has been sent to advisors. Hopefully everyone will go back to their areas to discuss this and then nominate people who are interested in serving. X. New Business Questions for Admissions: •
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Sue will checking to see if there is going be an electronic wait list section and when it would be implemented. Having an electronic wait list would give a good indication of how many students are interested in a particular section per semester. This was used at Sue’s former school and it was a valuable tool. For those advisors who keep waitlists, everything would be in an electronic format and advisors and departments would have a better idea of what classes/sections need to be offered. This process would be fairer because there would be documentation of who the first people were on the wait lists. In addition, if wait lists were a part of STARS it would let all students know lists are available. It would be a consistent way for different departments across campus to make wait lists more visible for everyone. The Retention Committee has made available for faculty a new optional attendance report that goes to both students and advisors. This is coordinated by SDO and the new software automatically sends the retention specialist monitoring information about student class •
attendance, and then they advise the RA to make contact with that student. This would make a good professional development presentation for advisors next fall. Again, this is contingent as to whether instructors are willing to use the optional system. A volunteer was asked to speak to SGA reps about their dissatisfaction with advising on campus. COAA has been unable to get a rep to come to Council meeting so maybe a representative should go to them for clarification. COAA has tried for many years to have a SGA rep on the Council. Maybe there needs to be a group developed to sit down in an informational discussion with SGA. Theo will speak to the rep and then he will contact Michelle to see when the best time to talk to them would be. •
Computer labs in Stipes Hall will be upgraded this summer. Chris has spoken to Dennis Devolder, and he has promised that 2 of the 4 labs would be available for each SOAR date. Morgan Hall would be an option, but that might create additional problems in using labs in two different buildings. •
Michelle met yesterday with Tara and Gretchen from Disability Support Resources. They are hoping to develop a round table discussion with advisors to talk about advising strategies that could be helpful for students with disabilities. Tara will develop some helpful ideas for Michelle to e‐mail to advisors, since it might be hard to get anything done before fall semester The meeting adjourned at 11:40 AM. Respectfully submitted Debbie Carithers