Academic Advising Center Central Washington University 2008-2009 Department Report Mission The mission of the Academic Advising Center (AAC) is to coordinate and support an advising program that helps students develop and realize meaningful and responsible educational goals. By providing information and counsel, advisors support students’ personal, academic, and professional growth and empower students to make effective decisions regarding educational opportunities. Vision The vision of the Academic Advising Center is to develop an effective and innovative academic advising program that has regional and national recognition for excellence. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Provide consistent, accurate, and timely information and referrals to students so that they may make informed academic, personal, and professional decisions. Cultivate beneficial connections with CWU centers, colleges, and departments and foster positive relationships with faculty advisors to support a cohesive advising system. Offer culturally relevant academic advising services to promote diversity within the campus community. Empower students to be self reliant by instructing them on academic planning and the use of CWU publications, technologies, and other resources. Increase the visibility and accessibility of the Academic Advising Center through Advisor participation in CWU events, activities, meetings, and programs that contribute to student success and development. Create an environment that encourages and rewards the professional development efforts of Academic Advising Center staff. Develop an ongoing assessment program to support advancements in services provided by the Academic Advising Center at CWU. Retention This year CWU statistics on retention showed an increase of 1.5% over last years retention rate from fall to winter quarter. This is the first time in four years that CWU’s first to second quarter retention rate went up! This is also the first year that AAC has advised all the freshmen at least once each quarter until they are sophomore standing. It is possible that AAC’s new mission of advising all freshmen has significantly impacted the retention rate, however we are also well aware of the many factors that may have played a role. Note: Student contact numbers were gathered from AAC sign in sheets. The above numbers do not include phone, e-mail contacts or the Westside Centers. Student Contacts It is important to understand how many student contacts AAC had this year because we are a student centered department. AAC had a total of 9078 CONTACTS. The graph below represents a comparison of student contacts from the 2007/08 school year to our current 2008/09 school year. Student Contacts Westside Centers, Des Moines and Lynnwood The Lynwood and Des Moines Center’s Academic Advisors had 1579 student appointments and 4356 student contacts through e-mail and telephone during the later part of the 2008/2009 school year. It is important to note that the above data is only for a portion of the school year due to professional staff starting later in the fall and lack of being asked to track student contacts until after fall quarter. AAC Goal Attainment Report, 2008-2009 GOAL 1. Provide consistent, accurate, and timely information and referrals to students so that they may make informed academic, personal, and professional decisions. 2. Cultivate beneficial connections with CWU centers, colleges, and departments and foster positive relationships with faculty advisors to support a cohesive advising system. 3. Offer culturally relevant academic advising services to promote diversity within the campus community. 4. Empower students to be self reliant by instructing them on academic planning and the use of CWU publications, technologies, and other resources. 5. Increase the visibility and accessibility of the Academic Advising Center through Advisor participation in CWU events, activities, meetings, and programs that contribute to student success and development 6. Create an environment that encourages and rewards the professional development efforts of Academic Advising Center staff. 7. Develop an ongoing assessment program to support advancements in services provided by the Academic Advising Center at CWU. GOAL COMPLETED NOTES YES See Student Survey results question 4 & 5. ONGOING See page 3. ONGOING See Student Survey results based on Ethnicity YES See Student Survey results question 6. YES See page 5. YES See page 6. ONGOING To be updated during AAC’s Annual Staff Meeting, Summer 2009. Assessment Goal 1. Provide consistent, accurate, and timely information and referrals to students so that they may make informed academic, personal, and professional decisions. Goal 4. Empower students to be self reliant by instructing them on academic planning and the use of CWU publications, technologies, and other resources. The results from the AAC Student Survey indicated an overwhelming positive response from freshmen concerning their academic advising experience. When asked, “How would you rate your experience with your advisor?” the vast majority stated agree to strongly agree (91.1%). Although, we know the scale was inappropriate for this question we believe you can assume that students were giving AAC a very high rating. The majority (94.6 – 84.5%) of students who returned the AAC Student Survey also reported agreement to strong agreement with the following statements (see table below): o o o o My advisor is knowledgeable of general education requirements (94.6%). My advisor helped me to learn more about academic policies and procedures (84.5%). My advisor helped me to become more self-reliant in making decisions at CWU (87.2%). My advisor listened to my concerns (86%). AAC Student Survey Report, 2008-2009 The Student Survey (see appendix) was sent via e-mail to all freshmen that were advised by the CWU Academic Advising Center during the 2008/09 school year. The survey was distributed spring quarter of 2009. 148 volunteer responses were received (33.8% male and 66.2% female). The students who participated in this survey identified as Native American (2.1%), Pacific Islander (2.9%) Asian-American (5%), HispanicAmerican (10%), European-American (55.7%), and Other (27.1%). 140 120 Strongly Agree 100 Agree 80 Neutral 60 Disagree 40 Strongly Disagree 20 No Opinion 0 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 4: My advisor is knowledgeable of general education requirements. Question 5: My advisor helped me to learn more about academic policies and procedures. Question 6: My advisor helped me to become more self-reliant in making decisions at CWU. Question 7: My advisor listened to my concerns. Question 8: My advisor was accessible by appointment if the appointment was made 1-3 business days in advance. Goal 2: Cultivate beneficial connections with CWU centers, colleges, and departments and foster positive relationships with faculty advisors to support a cohesive advising system. o o o o o o Advisors attended at least one department meeting for each college that they were assigned. The Director of Advising organized and led four campus wide advisor meetings, which included extensive presentations from various academic departments about their programs. We had a table at the Majors fair that served a variety of students and allowed advisors to meet and discuss major requirements with various departments on campus. Attend the Summer Orientations at the branch campuses. Had a table at the New Faculty Orientation. AAC currently has an advisor at the Des Moines and Lynnwood Centers. This has given us more visibility and the ability to be connected to those areas. Goal 3: Offer culturally relevant academic advising services to promote diversity within the campus community. The Academic Advising Center has four advisors who focus on “diverse” student groups in addition to their regular advising caseload. Advisors specialize in non-traditional student advising, advising students with disabilities, multi-cultural advising, and advising students on scholarships from the College Success Foundation. (The majority of the College Success Foundation scholarship students are students of color.) Additionally, two academic advisors volunteer as student organization advisors for GALA (CWU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Ally organization) and one advisor is a member of the President’s Diversity Council. In addition to working with diverse students during individual advising sessions and including themes of diversity in UNIV 101 and 102 courses, advisors attended and participated in many university wide meetings and events that promote diversity within the campus community, including but not limited to: o Non-Traditional Student Welcome Carnival o Bias Response Meetings o Able Meetings (Student Group) o Center For Disability Meetings and Open Houses o Co-Advisor Of GALA o The Diversity Summit o Equity And Services Council Meetings o Center For Disability Services Open Houses o The Black Student Union Graduation Ceremony o CWU Black Student Recruitment Event At Eisenhower High School o The College Assistance Migrant Program End Of The Year Celebration End of the Year Celebration for “Students for the Dream.” Advisors have also taken advantage of professional development opportunities in areas of diversity. Trainings and workshops included topics such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in College Students, Multi-Cultural Advising (NACADA), Transgender Advising (NACADA), and Safe Space training. Advisors not only focus on providing culturally relevant advising to individuals, they consistently support the efforts of other offices and organizations working to promote diversity within the campus community. Furthermore, the Student Survey data indicates that the majority of minorities rate their experiences with their advisor(s) as high (strongly agree or agree). Goal 4: Empower students to be self reliant by instructing them on academic planning and the use of CWU publications, technologies, and other resources. Refer to page 3 and the AAC Student Survey. Goal 5: Increase the visibility and accessibility of the Academic Advising Center through Advisor participation in CWU events, activities, meetings, and programs that contribute to student success and development. Throughout the year advisors and the director of advising attended various CWU events, activities, meetings and programs to increase the visibility and accessibility of the AAC, including but not limited to the following: o Center for Disability Support Meetings o Non-Traditional Student Welcome Carnival o Co-Advisor GALA (student group) o Diversity Council o ASCWU-BOD Meetings o Academic Recovery Program o Presentation to Kittitas High School o One-Book-One-Campus Committee o Presentation to CWU Centers on Academic Success o First Year Experience Committee o Diversity Summit o University Centers Orientations o Collaborative workshops with the Empowerment Center o University Center Interdivisional Committee o Lynnwood Center Open House o ABLE Meetings (student group) o Admissions Appeals Committee o University Retention Committee o Table at Majors Fair o Equity and Services Council o Orientations o Degree Checkout Meetings o General Education Committee o Various Search Committees o Academic Advising Committee o Summer Session Committee o Commencement o Des Moines Center Open House o Admissions Perspective Student Open House o Admissions Accepted Student Open House Running Start, 2008-2009 Prepared by Laura Katunich, Running Start Coordinator 2008-2009 Academic Year Total Quarter Credits Full-Time Equivalent 1030 22.888 Ellensburg High School, Ellensburg Homeschool, Kittitas High School, Thorp High School and Easton High School all participated in the Running Start Program. There was a total of 37 participants from these various schools last year. AAC’s advisor for Running Start students, Laura Katunich, completed the following during the 2008-2009 academic year: o A Report of Running Start Enrollment was completed every month for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. o Running Start Orientation for new students was held on Monday, July 21, 2008. o Quarterly individual advising appointments were required for all Running Start Students. All students met with an advisor (Laura Katunich or Dawn McReynolds) at least three times during the academic year. Students also met with advisors when facing difficulty in classes, scheduling conflicts, and other academic challenges. o Quarterly transcripts were sent to high schools. o Running Start Advisors attended fall statewide Running Start meeting on October 17, 2008 at Eastern Washington University. o Running Start Advisors held a meeting with all area high school counselors to discuss proposed admissions suggestions and changes. o Revision of CWU Running Start Admissions procedures and promotional materials was completed. o Running Start Coordinator attended Parent Night at Ellensburg High School on March 12, 2009. o Running Start Information Session was held on April 11, 2009 for prospective students. o 2009/2010 Running Start applications are being processed. As of June 29, 2009, 30 new students have been admitted to the Running start program. 24 students will be continuing, for a total of 54 students currently eligible for the next academic year. We are waiting to receive test scores for an additional 24 applicants. Application numbers indicate significant growth in the CWU Running Start program for the next academic year. Goal 6: Create an environment that encourages and rewards the professional development efforts of Academic Advising Center staff. Each AAC staff member attended at least one professional conference during the 2008-09 school year. These conferences included the regional conference for the National Academic Advising Association, The Teaching Academic Survival Skills Conference, and The Washington Association of Registrars and Admissions Officers Annual Conference. Goal 7: Develop an ongoing assessment program to support advancements in services provided by the Academic Advising Center at CWU. We are currently planning a staff retreat to realign our Mission, Vision, Goals, Objectives and Assessment (MVGOA) to match our new duties of advising all incoming and current freshmen and teaching the majority of all UNIV 101 classes. Along with realigning our MVGOA AAC will also be updating the current Student Survey to reflect our updated MVGOA that will be administered to current freshmen advisees to assess services and advisors. AAC will also be creating a student survey for non-assigned advisees to assess our Centers. Lastly, there will be a University wide survey tool to assess student’s Pre-major advising experience starting 2009-2010.