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Undergraduate Academic Advising Council Meeting Minutes
April 4, 2014
9:00-10:30 a.m., SAB 203
Members Present: Paul Anderson, Jane Bentley-Gadow, April Chatham-Carpenter, Jonathan
Cox (for Linda Corbin), Stacia Eggers, Blake Findley, Mike Licari, Inez Murtha, Jean Neibauer,
Michele Peck, Rao Posinasetti, Alan Schmitz, Kristin Woods
Members Absent: Gayle Rhineberger-Dunn
1. Welcome to Paul Anderson, the new VP-elect for NISG. He is a sophomore Public
Administration major and is actively involved on campus already. He will be taking
Blake Findley’s place on the committee.
2. NSSE Data subgroup: Analysis of data
We did have a presentation at our last meeting on the data. The subgroup consisted of
Jon, Inez, Dave, and Michelle. Jon went over a handout from the group that summarizes
the findings of this sub-group.
Some questions that we need to answer are listed below.
What benchmarks do we want to reach for? Do we have recommendations for
how often students meet with their advisors?
How can we get more students to take NSSE? This needs to be collectively
supported across campus to communicate about taking NSSE. How can we
provide consistent messaging to departments about the data we do have?
How can we improve the communication between advisor and advisee?
How can we promote the importance of meeting with an advisor?
We need consistent messaging about academic advising across UNI, for purposes of
persistence and retention. We need to adapt this messaging to the changing profile of our
students, to have effective messaging. Advisors, for example, need to have accurate
knowledge of our student profile, as well.
We need to continue working with other resources, which are helpful to our students. For
example, Jon asked the Dean of Students office to help with administering the College
Student Inventory to those with ACT scores lower than 22.
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Kristin mentioned the work on “pathways” into majors and encouraged us to look into
this, along with the Retention Council.
Michele agreed with the need for having a central message for advisors and for students.
Blake talked about why students may talk to their friends about their academic plan, since
family or friends was listed as their primary source of advice about this. Paul said a lot of
students go to their academic plan, and then talk to their friends about which classes they
should take, so they may have answered this way because of that. He doesn’t think
students think about their 4 year plan.
Mike said we need to find a way to better reach students. Jon said we need to be more
intentional and incorporate best practices on this as we move forward.
Jean said advisor development feeds into this.
Blake said we need to make advising something that students want to do. We need to
encourage more of the relational aspects of advising. Paul said we need to change the
image of what an advisor is – more than just selecting classes. April suggested that NISG
work on this with Jean and Kristin, and then come back to the Advising Council with
recommendations. Blake said they could pull out some quotes from the letters of
recommendation for the Above & Beyond Advising award to use in the messaging. Inez
said we could help prepare questions for students to ask their advisors. They need to be
“armed” with how to approach their advisors. This might could be put on the First-Year
website, for example. But students and parents aren’t told about this website. There
could be messaging for both parents & students on here. Deedee’s checklist ought to be
there – things you need to do for your student handout – include advisor suggestions.
Could this information be put on the university’s home page – a to-do list for students –
right before school starts or at certain times? This information could also be
disseminated in first-year only classes during the coming year. Perhaps a time-table –
initial transitions – could also be given to students and parents. The P.A.S.S. blog might
be another place to provide some messaging.
Jane noted that students may only leave orientation remembering 10% of what they hear
at orientation.
Jane said the College of Education contacts each of the students that come in for
orientation, and ask them to come back for 1 of 3 days of advising. (This is the
“sequential advising model.”) They meet with them again in October and break them
into groups of 8, and meet with them again in January & February. The group model
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allows them to disseminate general information, and then they meet with them
individually. They email and call the students. Now the students are coming in a lot
more. There is balance they try to achieve, in having the students rely on them and also
fostering independence over time.
Jane noted that there is a different kind of advising needed for very structured programs.
3. Advisor development initiative (Jean)
Jean handed out an advisor development. There are four cornerstones for development.
In addition, there are some optional activities in which advisors can participate.
She has asked Dave to ask the First-Year Council to co-sponsor an in-service for
freshman advisors, who have been selected, and then to honor them for their service.
Mike said the recognition component is critical, not just to first-year advisors. Should the
Advising Council consider developing suggestions for such incentives?
They are continuing to develop an eLearning site, that is part of an advisor handbook. It
is still in process of being developed.
Deedee Heistad is planning a Liberal Arts Core advising handbook that will be on line.
This will help with consistent messaging in advising for the LAC.
4. Summer & Fall simultaneous registration: Issues
The Advising Network talked about this at this week’s meeting. They talked about both
the positives and the issues.
Ultimately, we need to develop a survey to ask students about their experiences, even if
in a pilot format, yet this semester.
The big issues were as follows. There were concerns about freshman – it put a lot of
pressure on them, and some had to register on the Saturday right before Spring Break.
The posting of classes came out right before registration started. There was a short length
of time from winter break and when registration started. Saturdays were hard for the
students, without resources available. Midterm grades aren’t yet posted by the time they
register.
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Positives included the following. We ended early so there is more time for problemsolving now with students. We had preparation time for the March early bird orientation
sessions. Having the summer and fall together was a positive.
Should we shift freshman registration a little later (after Spring Break), and then shift the
transfer orientation to a little later, since numbers were small for early orientation
sessions? Or should we do for 2 ½ weeks after Spring Break? This would help with
financial issues and folks who can’t register for financial issues until after break. But if
we do summer/fall registration together, we will need to have some registration before
Spring Break.
The original impetus for moving it earlier was related to summer registration being at the
same time. And summer registration numbers are up quite a bit for this summer.
Decisions on faculty summer contracts have to happen by April 1, according to the
contract.
Approximately 85% of those who enrolled in summer schedule by spring break were
juniors & seniors.
Jane asked several representative students who work in her office to provide their opinion
of the compressed registration. April shared that the Cornerstone students struggled with
the registration being early. Stacia said her students were panicking as well. Stacia said
she now has only 2 students who aren’t registered, and it’s been wonderful to have it be
early. She, however, noted the Saturdays were hard.
From Jane’s sample, there were anxious at the time, but looking back, they are glad now
that it is done.
We need a more thorough review of this after we have student input, as well as
department heads, advisors, and secretaries. Jane suggested that we could anecdotally
poll our students. Mike suggested we use the Network to gather this information. We
could put a couple of questions on the end-of-semester SALG for Cornerstone students.
Stacia & Jean could ask their advisees. Jon could have the PRP ask these questions.
Michele will put this up on Qualtrics and send the link to all students. We will review the
results of this quick survey and provide recommendations based on the results. For that
purpose we will have another meeting on Friday, April 25 at 9:00 a.m.
a. Registration for the Fall/Summer went well for me. SA A N D SD
b. Which of the following benefits did you experience as a result of registering before
spring break (check all that apply)?
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(1) Being able to complete registration before major projects are due in classes in
April
(2) Having the option to register for fall and summer at the same time
(3) Feeling of being prepared so you could focus on having fun on spring break
(4) Having more time to meet with my advisor after Spring Break to talk about a
newly declared major – there is more flexibility to set up these appointments now
that registration is over
(5) Getting to look at the details of the Fall schedule in order to make choices about
classes I was struggling in this spring (adding or dropping a spring class)
(6) Other (please specify) ________________
c. Which of the following challenges did you experience as a result of registering before
spring break (check all that apply)?
(1) Midterm exams and projects were due at the same time as I was having to make
decisions about registration
(2) Not realizing my midterm grades before making decisions for what classes to
take in summer or fall
(3) Experiencing issues in getting help on weekend registration dates (particularly the
last Saturday right before spring break)
(4) Not enough time in current classes to know what I want to take next in that area
(5) Did not have enough time to meet with my advisor after the schedule of classes
was published
(6) Other (please specify) _____________
d. Open-ended question: If you wish, tell us about your experiences in registering
beyond what is listed above.
5. Upcoming events:
Monday, April 21: Advising development workshop from 1-4 p.m.
Friday, April 25: Advising Council meeting (at 9:00 a.m.)
Possible agenda items for upcoming meetings:
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Compressed registration recommendations
Incentives for advising (inc. recognition) – recommendations to Provost
Messsaging about advising for students (subcommittee – Paul, Jean, & Kristin)
Continued discussion of Advising Network changes & related agenda items