UC San Diego’s Virtual Advising System
Submitter’s Information
Project Team Members
Jonathan Whitman
Director of Technology,
Provost IT Services Group
UC San Diego
Council of Provosts, Project Sponsor
Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Undergraduate
Education, Project Sponsor
Jonathan Whitman, Program Manager
Ryan Rose, Project Team Member
Patty Marin, Project Team Member
Virtual Advising Steering Committee,
Project Team Member
858-534-6946
jwhitman@ucsd.edu
Summary
The Provost IT Services Group (PITSG) is responsible for supporting the administrative technology infrastructure for the
Six Undergraduate Colleges at UC San Diego. Support includes server operations, helpdesk support, and applications
development for approximately 70 applications in support of administration and student business operations. PITSG’s
flagship application is UC San Diego’s Virtual Advising System. The Virtual Advising System is a multi-faceted holistic tool
serving academic advising needs across the campus. Created to secure, record, and streamline advising records and
transactional advising processes, the system is the culmination of 11 years of development and enhancement. This state
of the art system allows UC San Diego’s 23,000 undergraduate students to interact with academic counselors through
the Virtual Advising Center (commonly referred to as “The VAC” around campus) and provides counselors with all of the
student information they need to provide accurate and holistic academic advising.
Project Description
Background
In 2003 UC San Diego’s academic advising record keeping was a conglomeration of paper files kept in separate offices
across the campus in both the academic departments and the undergraduate colleges. These student files contained
printed emails, advisors’ notes of advising sessions, student academic petitions, confidentiality agreements, and many
other items relevant to students’ academic records. The files were created and maintained for every student at UC San
Diego. Recognizing that e-mail was neither a secure nor preferred method when communicating confidential and
FERPA-protected information with students, UC San Diego’s Undergraduate Colleges set out to create a system of record
that would contain every contact a student had with campus academic advising offices. These contact records would
start from the time a student entered UCSD with first quarter enrollment advising and follow them throughout their
academic career until graduation.
Current Usage
In its current iteration, the system provides counselors with a single application where they can find all academic
information related to a student. Students can also view their own contact record to review notes of an advising session
and ask questions through the system to advisors. Since the system is secured by campus authentication systems there
is surety that information is protected and private, and that communication is maintained only between authorized staff
and the student.
The Virtual Advising System is made up of a suite of applications including:
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Virtual Advising Center – The student interface into the system where students can get general advising
information, ask a question to an academic counselor, see their academic notices (for academic
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probation/disqualification), file for graduation, and manage their communications preferences (e.g. students can
set up text notifications when their contact record is updated). Instant chat allows a student to real-time chat
Contact System – the staff interface into the system where advising staff can view all contacts that a student has
had with any advising office on campus (sharing of contact notes can be restricted by the advisor entering
them), view special flags attached to a student (e.g., Students of Concern, Athletes, Veterans, etc.), view all
academic information (e.g., grades, courses, GPA, phone, address, etc.), and other information such as
admission, graduation, academic probation/dismissal, enrollment times, class schedule, degree audit. Scanned
paper documents can be uploaded into the system and made viewable to the student (e.g., student petitions,
confidentiality forms, degree checks, etc.). Counselors can verify students have read their responses by
checking the date/time stamp feature in the system.
Appointment System – This system allows an intake advisor to schedule appointments between students and
academic advisors. Using enterprise calendaring through Outlook the intake advisor can view available
appointment times and schedule the appointment. SMS Text Messaging is used to help remind the student of
the appointment and the system tracks how many times a student has missed an appointment (without proper
cancellation).
Sign-in System – In advising office lobbies there is a kiosk computer that will allow a student to sign-in notifying
a counselor (who may be sitting down the hall in their office) that students are waiting to be seen. The
counselor accesses the staff-side of the application seeing who and how many students are waiting. Special
codes are denoted on the staff side of the sign-in list indicating graduating students, students of concern,
international students, and students on academic probations. By noting these attributes, specialists within the
advising office can see the student they are best suited to serve and better prepare for the advising session. The
sign-in system is tied in with the appointment system and will know when a student with an appointment for a
specific counselor has signed in and note the appointment on the sign-in list. There is an option to note when a
student left (e.g. after waiting for walk-in advising) without being seen. Tracking students leaving after signingin assists with resource management during peak advising periods.
Canned Responses – each college and department has the ability to create custom messages that can be
selected from a pull-down menu to answer those questions which are commonly asked by various students and
require the same answer. The advisor has the ability to add a personalized note to the canned response
allowing them to customize each response to an individual student. Having instant answers to commonly asked
questions saves counselors time and provides for a more accurate and consistent response to students.
Satisfaction Survey – Students are randomly asked (no more than once every six months) to take a survey
regarding their satisfaction with their advising experience. Survey results are provided to advising deans for
outcomes assessment.
Reporting System – Contacts are tracked through the database and reports can be generated to assist with
resource management, resource justification, and monitor student service levels.
Campus Participants
The following organizations are actively using the UCSD Virtual Advising System:
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Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Education
The Six Undergraduate Colleges at UCSD (Provost Office, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs)
o Revelle College
o Earl Warren College
o John Muir College
o Eleanor Roosevelt College
o Thurgood Marshall College
o Sixth College
Major academic departments
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Anthropology
Bioengineering
Biology
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Colleges Business Office
Chemical Engineering Program
Critical Gender Studies Program
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Chemistry and Biochemistry
Cognitive Science
Communication
Computer Science & Engineering
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Economics
Environmental Systems Program
Ethnic Studies
Family and Preventive Medicine
Human Development Program
History
International Studies Program
Japanese Studies Program
Latin American Studies Program
Linguistics
Literature
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Mathematics
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Music
Nano-Engineering
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science
Psychology
Program for the Study of Religion
Rady School of Management (Graduate and
Undergraduate Programs)
Structural Engineering
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Sociology
Teacher Education Program
Theatre and Dance
Third World Studies Program
Urban Studies & Planning Program
Visual Arts
Athletics
Programs Abroad Office
Office for Students with Disabilities
Registrar’s Office
Technologies and Processes Used
The following are key technologies and processes upon which the Virtual Advising System is built:
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Redhat Enterprise Linux (LAMP stack configuration)
PHP:Hypertext Preprocessor
MySQL
Apache
SOAP/WSDL (used for real-time data calls to Student Information System)
DB2 (used to populate shadow student data system)
Shibboleth (Campus Authentication/SSO System)
Success Factors
Success Factors
Student Advising Contacts available to all sectors of campus with proper access
authority regardless of major department or college affiliation.
Electronic document filing removing the need for paper filing system in advising
offices supporting green initiative.
Best practices for advising developed, documented, and implemented with
campus-wide collaboration.
The Six Undergraduate Colleges developed the Virtual Advising System for
internal use but due to its success it was adopted campus-wide.
Maintains record and continuity of student contact notes limiting liability of the
university when student claims they were misadvised. Contact record has been
used as part of legal proceedings between students and the university.
Provides counselors with ONE system containing all necessary student
information to provide holistic advising services.
29,000 contacts created in first year of release in 2003. More than 200,000
contacts created in 2013.
Institutional Value
With over 1.5 million contact records since its inception the Virtual Advising System represents a secure and verifiable
method of communication with students and other organizations across the campus. The ability to scan and upload the
various paper documents that the university relies upon to conduct business has meant that there is no longer any need
to keep rooms full of paper files which cost the university in time and resources. Counselors are able to advise more
students in less time using the Virtual Advising System. This then gives counselors more time to spend face to face with
the students who really need it. Since the system uses campus authentication and records when students view their
messages there is no longer the need to worry about messages being caught in “spam” or the student saying the
message was never received. Before the Virtual Advising system, multiple applications and screens had to be accessed
by an advisor in order to find bits and pieces of academic information on an individual student, slowing down the
advising session and creating a disjointed view of the student for the counselor. Providing all of a student’s information
in one place allows counselors to concentrate on the advising session rather than looking up information in multiple
places.
The system allows students to connect with advisors in a way that is recordable, retrievable, and accountable on both
sides. These records have saved the university from law suits by showing counselors did inform students of academic
policies and regulations when students have claimed otherwise. The system has also given students the ability to
interact in the digital medium in which they feel most comfortable. In the instances where meaningful face to face
contact is wanted, counselors now have an avenue to invite students in to come and see them with instructions on how
to prepare and make the most out of their advising session.
The system has been used to demonstrate and collaborate with other UC Campuses including UC Davis and UC
Riverside providing opportunities to share feature sets and implementation processes.
The greatest value of the system is in the collaboration that now occurs across the campus advising
infrastructure. Advisors no longer work in silos and can instead share information with each other about
what and how they advise students. Best practices for advising can be approached from a common
perspective and advisors can learn from each other in ways that were not possible in isolated
organizational and paper systems. The student in turn receives holistic advising that takes into account
all of the information an advisor needs in one place. The system allows for assessment surveys which
continually refine the art of advising students. This system and all who use it contribute to UCSD’s
vision of being a student-centered, research-focused, service-oriented public university.
Customer Satisfaction Responses
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I find VAC advising a very convenient way of contacting with my college adviser. I will
definitely recommend it to other students.
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The VAC is an excellent resource that I have used multiple times, and the response I get is
always helpful.
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The VAC is a really great tool. They always got back to me quickly and it saved me a trip to
the advising offices for a quick question that normally just required a yes or no answer.
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I love the VAC option. It helps save me a lot of time since I usually ask questions that only
need a quick response. Definitely keep that! The advisers who responded to my needs have
been fantastic! Thanks!
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VAC is awesome for us lazy folks.
- UCSD Students
”
“
The Virtual Advising Center has allowed our staff to continue to serve a much larger population of
students without increases in our staffing. Students are able to ask quick questions and receive a
response usually within 48 business hours. It has meant students rely on staff for appropriate
answers rather than asking friends late at night. They submit a question and know they will receive a
timely response. We have far less students coming in having made a mistake in taking the wrong
class or dropping etc because “my friend told me”.
”
It has been enormously helpful in working with our brand new students as they enroll remotely. We
are able to work with them to answer their questions as they are enrolling and have that information
maintained as a part of the student record. I cannot imagine how we could do this process without
our Virtual Advising Center.
Having just returned from the UC Academic Advising Conference, I was shocked that other campuses
have not built such a system, especially where it is shared across departments. This allows students
to have a more seamless experience regardless of whether they are talking with their college or their
major department. Information can be delivered in a more “one stop shop” with the ability for all to
have a trail of their record. It has allowed academic departments and colleges to collaborate in
assisting a student throughout their time at UC San Diego.
- Dean of Advising – Eleanor Roosevelt College
“
I LOVE the VAC. How can I count the ways?
VAC allows counselors
 to respond to questions with confidential information in a secure and timely manner.
 to ask students to come in and have an in person advising session
 to send students a message, as soon as I find the need
 to send batch messages
 to see a snapshot of the student record, with some in depth windows
 to partner with departments, seeing their VAC notices and allowing for referrals in both
directions
VAC allows students
 to pose their questions when they are most active and when most advisors are deep in much
needed sleep.
 To see their own VAC history from orientation to graduation
VAC provides
 a way to answer repetitive questions in a uniform manner, while allowing personalization
 an easy record keeping system for all VAC correspondence and documents that we choose to
scan and attach
VAC reduces
 long waiting lines on ‘Walk In’ Advising for many quick questions.
 the need for paper files and huge file rooms
”
- Assistant Dean of Advising – Earl Warren College
“
I think of the Virtual Advising Center as “One Stop Shopping” for both staff and students. Having
access to a student’s UCSD and transfer courses with the ability to refresh degree audits when
answering questions makes a tremendous difference. This allows us to take care of the student’s
immediate needs while bringing up other issues before they arise. We often receive compliment from
students for our timely responses.
”
The ability to attach forms, handouts for students is the icing on the cake. I rarely print but I often
include URL addresses or attach documents making it convenient for students.
- Academic Counselor – Undergraduate College
References
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Presentation: http://prezi.com/l_5lssbxm5in/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share