Undergraduate Academic Advising Council Meeting Minutes
January 30, 2015
9:00-10:30 a.m. Purple Pen Room – Maucker Union
Members Present: Paul Andersen, Jane Bentley-Gadow, April Chatham-Carpenter, Linda Corbin, Dawn
Del Carlo, Gayle Rhineberger-Dunn, Kristin Woods.
Guests: Raquel Zuniga
Members Absent: Stacia Greve, Inez Murtha, Jean Neibauer, Michele Peck, Rao Posinasetti, Alan Schmitz
No changes to the minutes of the October 31, 2014 meeting.
1.
Withdraw Process for Students
Currently, students cannot drop courses online; they must go to the Registrar’s Office to do this.
Discussion followed. If student was allowed to drop a class online, is there a way to block it if the
student would fall below 12 hours. Can there be an Advisory Statement added related to potential
implications with Financial Aid, for example? April will check with Michele Peck on this possibility.
Should there be a different plan for freshmen students than for upper classmen? Discussion
ensued saying that most would support having the online drop be available for all students, as
along as we can provide a warning statement for them, related to the implications for financial aid
and timely completion of coursework towards graduation. Kristin, Paul, Michele, and April will
draft a possible “warning statement” to be added to the SIS system and share it with the Advising
Network and Advising Council for discussion.
Can more second 8-weeks elective classes be available for students who drop below 12 hours?
April will talk to the Academic Affairs Council (Deans) on the need for these type of courses.
2.
Student Request Issues:
Departments and Colleges handle these in different ways. The registrar office often asks that
signatures should be followed in the order they are listed. However, if the Department Head
and/or Dean has signed, there is no need to send student back to the Advisor for a signature.
Discussion followed.
We will talk about the types of student requests and needed signatures at the next Advising Council
meeting (in March), revisiting the need for signatures for the various requests. If there are changes
we recommend, then we can get feedback from the Advising Network (at their April meeting)
before recommending these changes to the Provost.
3.
Pathway for At-Risk Students:
There is a sub-group of the Retention Council looking at this issue. They are determining how to
define “students-at-risk.” They are talking about what paths those who are determined to be atrisk should take (e.g., 12 hours in the Fall and 15 in the Spring). There may be different protocols
needed for the different at-risk categories.
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Also, there are at-risk transfer students who need to be considered, as well as students who are readmitted after being suspended. We need data on who is successful here, and what other factors
(e.g., amount of time working for pay) might make a difference.
In terms of registration, there will need to be some sort of indicator on the student’s registration
form, to help advisors determine which protocol to follow.
If they are only registered for 12 hours, there is not much wiggle room now for other courses for
them to add their second 8 weeks. Perhaps a second type of Strategies course could be offered the
2nd 8 weeks, or the Beyond Google course offered then.
Whatever protocol is developed, we need to make sure there is enough major classes included in
their 1st and 2nd semester, so that they aren’t behind in their major.
Perhaps this group could present their findings & initial recommendations to the Advising Network
and Advising Council meetings in April, for feedback.
Possible agenda items for future meetings:
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Student request form – procedures & signatures
Advising plans for at-risk students (continued discussion on conditional pathways)
Enrollment Management – push to increase enrollment –
Can advising areas manage more students?
Will UNI integrity be maintained?
Are there enough major classes?
Salary Inequity between advisors across campus
Advisor Development – advising resources for today’s students
Jane’s last year to co-chair Advising Network – suggestions to recommend for replacement
Extended Orientation – role of advisors in future
Next meeting – FRIDAY, March 6 – 9:00 am in the PURPLE PEN ROOM of Maucker Union (bring a snack
to share)
April meeting – April 24