"Student's Road to Success: The Advising Journey to Oz"
February 17-19, 2010
Embassy Suites Convention Center & Spa
San Marcos, TX
2010 business meeting minutes | |
"But I don't understand, what am I supposed to do now?" Covering the basics on delivering bad newsPresenters: Kathleen Harris; Texas State University - San Marcos Being an advisor is incredibly rewarding, however this career also comes with its negative aspects. For instance, delivering bad news about a student‟s academic status which is hard for the student to handle isn't always easy for us to do. Even these less than rewarding times can have a positive resolution. When we have to tell a student they didn't get accepted into a major or they are on academic probation or suspension, we can be at a loss for words. This is why it‟s important to cover all the issues that could affect the student academically and even financially. In this presentation you will learn how a department at Texas State University helps their students get back on track. How do you prepare the student and yourself for bad news? How do you help the student? What happens when their hard work doesn't pay off? These questions and more will be answered to help us become a support system for students. |
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If I only had a clue: Helping undecided students with major and career exploration Presenters: Michael Kinsey & Karl Swanson, St. Edward's University Working with first year students who are undecided in their major and exploring their options is a challenge for academic advisors and career counselors. These students can be indecisive and are also a higher retention risk than students who have selected a major. In order to meet the needs of these students, the offices of Career Planning and Academic Planning & Support have created a First-Year Seminar for academic explorers (FYSM AEP). The FYSM AEP is a one-credit-hour elective course, co-taught by academic counselors, career counselors and staff members. The class provides information, guidance and resources to help undecided students explore their interests in a variety of degree and career options. Course evaluations and event assessments show that students appreciate the course and find it very helpful in moving them in the direction of selecting a major. They find the exposure to campus opportunities, information and resources very useful. The purpose of this presentation is to introduce advisors to the FYSM AEP class and its contents, exercises, and strategies for helping undecided students. The presentation also encourages collaboration between advising and career planning offices, as we have found this connection invaluable to students. |
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From going nuts to getting it done: How to handle too many students in too many majors while maintaining quality advisingPresenters: Lori Eggleston & Kathy Jackson, St. Edwards University The New College program at St. Edward‟s University is geared toward working adults. Each advisor in our office has roughly 300 students in any of 50+ majors. If advising too many students in too many different majors is making you nuts, come join us for an exchange of ideas, processes, and tools. While we can‟t reduce your work load, we will provide examples of forms and avenues that have helped us maintain our sanity without shortchanging our students and their needs. |
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From fear to fun: How advisors can help fearful lions and students to overcome math anxiety Presenters: Verena Edwards, Austin Community College Many of our students suffer from various levels of math anxiety. This condition has negative consequences for students‟ math testing ability and their academic success. The worst result is that it severely limits their choices of degree programs. The first part of my presentation will compare definitions of math anxiety and examine its symptoms, causes, correlations, and distribution. The second part will focus on three ways to combat math anxiety: I will discuss recommendations for advising sessions that address students‟ negative image of math and their negative math experience, helping them to relearn a more positive view of math. Student success workshops given by advisors will allow participating students to share their feelings with each other, to realize that math anxiety is a learned issue, and to discuss solutions to the problem of math anxiety. Finally, we will look at workshops that bring together empathetic math instructors with advisors and students. The goal is to teach students the most positive approaches towards achieving success in the math classroom. In all, the goal of this TEXAAN workshop is to show how math anxiety can be identified, treated, and replaced with a much more positive and effective approach to math. |
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Lions, tigers, and bears - Oh my! Understanding our different personality types to help students succeed Presenters: David von Miller, Laela Wilson, & Ashley Ransom, Texas State University: San Marcos Every person has different preferences for sensing, processing information, and decision making. Advisors interact with a wide variety of people, all of whom receive and process information in a variety of ways. Understanding personality type greatly enhances our understanding of self and others and can greatly enhance our communication, listening, and advising skills.In this interactive presentation, we will discuss the history of personality type assessment, personality type indicators, including the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Keirsey Temperament Sorter, and how we can use this knowledge to better understand and assist the students we advise and the people we work with. |
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Paving the road to veteran's academic success: Examining the Mongomery G.I. Bill and the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill benefits Presenters: Ashley Hulme & Sheryl Gage, Texas State University When advising, how do you interact with a student whose life experiences and real world knowledge have taken them far beyond the classroom walls? When facing the challenges of advising veterans, advisors need to reconsider their approach when relating to these adult students. As well as being students, veterans balance many of the same roles as we do: employee, family member, commuter... During this interactive presentation, veterans will be in attendance to share their academic experiences with us. Information on academic benefits will be presented, and we will strategize on methods advisors can use to meet students‟ expectations. By understanding the educational obstacles that veterans encounter returning to school, advisors will be better prepared to support these students in achieving academic success. |
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There's no place like home: Integrating advisors & first-year seminars in learning communitiesPresenters: Curt Hirsch & Katy Oliviera, St. Edwards University Embedding first-year seminar courses within learning communities has been demonstrated to improve learning outcomes (e.g. more learning, higher retention, greater satisfaction with the college experience). Two St. Edward‟s University academic counselors review the rationale, content, and outcomes of first-year seminars they are facilitating with their first-year student advisees-- approximately 20 members each in two residential communities--in social justice and global understanding, respectively. Students are co-enrolled in a unique section of general education courses where they have the opportunity to apply the strategic learning practices introduced in the seminar. The presenters outline their experience with recombining first- year seminars, learning communities, advisor-teachers, and the general education course, into a dynamic and coherent educational experience. They invite their audience to assess the potential for such an integration at their own institution and the productive inter-departmental partnerships-residence life, advising, faculty, student activities-- critical to the success of such a project. |
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"I hate working with you!": Conflict resolution for your advising center Presenters: Claudia Trevino, Ashley Borniger, & Ashley Ransom, Texas State University: San Marcos Do you constantly deal with problematic colleagues, impatient students, upset parents, or demanding supervisors? Are harsh words, silent treatments, flaring tempers or passive aggression infecting your advising center? Conflict can range from minor disagreements to major events that can break down the office dynamics. In this interactive session, we will discuss the causes of conflict and how it affects the atmosphere in an advising center. Participants will also have the opportunity to identify their conflict management style and learn how „The Four Agreements‟ can improve their skills at resolving conflict. |
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Building a foundation: New student orientationPresenters: Alysse Grubbs, Natalie Grijalva & Cinthia Jimenez, University of Texas –El Paso At the University of Texas at El Paso, the Academic Advising Center works closely with the New Student Orientation Department to provide a solid foundation to assist and advise all incoming students. The mandatory, three-and-a-half-day orientation sessions take place mainly during the summer months where we present valuable information about the campus, academic policies and program/major information. The student populations advised include General Studies (undecided), Pre-Nursing, Pre-Education, Liberal Arts, Success Through Academic Readiness Today (START program), PIE (an international program) and UT Austin Coordinated Admission Program (UTCAP). The Academic Advising Center advises these students on the Core Curriculum, program information for specific majors and how to decide what courses to fulfill these areas. In addition, we provide advising about placement exams and Texas Success Initiative (TSI) and offer math workshops with the opportunity to retake Math Accuplacer to place in a higher math course. Orientation sessions are critical to the success of incoming students. We offer information sessions about policies and academic status, career opportunities and potential majors by offering a major fair. Ultimately, our sessions give students insight to what they should be thinking about for their future at our university. |
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The Tools to OzPresenters: Barbara Smith, University of Texas-San Antonio Are there things all advisors, regardless of their advising experience, college or title, need to know? How does an institution ensure that when advising is decentralized across the university and at multiple campuses they have this information? This session will cover how an institution has established a global new advisor training program, for all new advisors. This session will focus on the key aspects of the new advising training program, that provides new advisors with a better understanding of the university, its expectations and connections across the university. We will discuss how to involve individuals from key offices across the university in the training program, not just the academic advising community. The participants of this session will walk away with a better understanding of how to begin a new advisor training program, sample topics and potential partners to develop or enhance a new advisor training program on their campus. | |
Proactively paving the road to our student's successPresenters: Christine Pike & Joya Konieczny, Texas State University-San Marcos Dorothy‟s journey to Oz was an eventful one with much needed help from the people she met along the way. How different might her journey have looked, however, if those guiding her could have warded off some of her challenges ahead of time, preparing her for those otherwise „surprise‟ attacks? This presentation explores some of the ways through which advisors in the McCoy College of Business Administration, with an average advising load of 600 students per advisor, have found ways to be proactive in reaching out to the 3200 undergraduate business majors USING RESOURCES ALREADY AVAILABLE AT MOST ADVISORS‟ FINGERTIPS! Find out how you too can utilize your staff and resources to better reach your student body and guide them along the road to success. | |
Service to others: A central part of educationPresenter: Lettie Raab, Prarie View A&M University This presentation focuses on how a service-learning emphasis enhanced the education and development of students in a summer “bridge-to-college” program. In 2006 ACCESS (The Academy for Collegiate Excellence and Student Success) began emphasizing service learning/civic engagement as part of its pedagogy. The students participated in reading/writing assignments centering around current social problems and attended workshops on the nature/process of service learning. The students participated in service-learning projects during the summer. Over the last four years the students have participated in capstone projects in New Orleans, Brownsville, Glendora, MS, and San Antonio. The ACCESS program has performed nearly 13,000 hours of service during this time-frame. The students were involved in a variety of activities from working on a school damaged by Katrina to assisting at an Audubon refuge, from providing a day of activities for a Boys and Girls Club to landscaping a home for developmentally challenged young adults. During their many activities the students provided valuable service while receiving valuable information about serious issues in our society and having the opportunity to interact with some exceptional professionals and citizens. ACCESS promotes the concept that a good college affirms that service to others is a central part of education. (Carnegie Foundation) | |
Advisor as the wizard | Advisor as the wizard: Utilizing the bear maximum tenantsPresenters: Fidel Fernandez & Michael Balog, Texas A&M University Like the wizard in The Wizard of Oz, advisors often provide individuals with wise counsel. Like the wizard, we often provide those individuals with what they already possess. We provide affirmation, validation, and confirmation. We affirm their existence, validate their issues, and confirm they are on the correct path. To make the transactions robust, as advisors, we bring formidable tools to bear when interacting with our students. We have therefore distilled five tenants as the pillars of what we call the Bear Maximum, and symbolize this paradigm by a bear claw. These tenants also function as a launching point to begin the discussion of advising best practices.
Tenant 2. Competence: Staying sharp, & accurate - The only constant is change: policy, rules, & personnel Tenant 3. Client Service and defining roles: are students customers or clients - Is the customer always right? Tenant 4. Priority and self-preservation or how accessible is enough? Appointments, walk-ins, email, cell, Facebook, Twitter Tenant 5. Being a Servant Leader in an environment where the 80/20 rule is king: In a sea of constituents, who‟s the captain of the ship? |
| Wonderful Wizards of College |
The wonderful wizards of collegePresenters: Vince Hernandez, Justin Smith, & Erin Townsend, Texas A&M University When advising today‟s college students, advisors can sometimes feel as if they are the Wizard of Oz. Students follow the yellow brick road that leads them into our offices in the hope that we can solve all of their problems. After all, we‟re advisors. In the eyes of students, we are supposed to know everything. Within this presentation we will look to answer this key question: How can we as advisors not only use our brains, our hearts and our courage to aid our students, but also how can we help our students to use their brains, to use their hearts and to find the courage they need in order to succeed throughout their college years and later in life as professionals. |
When you're not in Kansas anymore |
When you're not in Kansas anymore: Creating a probation program that worksPresenters: Naomi Craven & Kimberley Rolf, University of Texas – San Antonio Academic probation is in many ways similar to Dorothy‟s predicament in Oz: students are unsure of how they got there, and even more uncertain about how to get back. Both research and experience suggest that the best way for advisors to play the good witch is through an intrusive, developmental approach, in which the advisor and student examine why a student has fallen onto probation, and then develop an action plan. However, advising centers have faced an upheaval of their own including budget cuts that mean programs have to become even more cost-effective than a pair of ruby red slippers. In this presentation, we will discuss the resources that UTSA College of Sciences (CoS) advisors have used to help students develop an effective action plan. These range from traditional tools, such as on-campus tutoring services, to collaborative efforts, including a study hall developed in partnership with CoS departments, to less traditional means! , like the Blackboard class that CoS advisors have developed. Through the utilization of these resources, CoS advisors have developed a probation program that simultaneously helps itsstudents follow the yellow brick road to graduation, and avoids the advising center budget ending up somewhere over the rainbow. |
Making Assessment a "No Brainer"Presenter: Shelly Peacock Bond, Texas A&M University For the past twenty-five years, assessment has been a trend in higher education. Accrediting agencies and states are more and more insisting that all areas assess the quality and delivery of their programs. That means advising too! Assessment is easy and beneficial, if there is a format and purpose for the activity. This interactive presentation based on the Nichols and Nichols‟s Five Column Model of Assessment will give advising professionals a road map of why they do assessment, where to start, and how to revise their assessment plan using both direct and indirect measures. Interactive activities and resources to help professionals begin or revise their assessment plans, as well as a reading list will be provided. |
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Advising Students for Success with CLEP: Because, Because, Because… of the Wonderful Things We DoPresenters: Pamela Kerouac, College Board Participants are encouraged to attend this session to learn more about the College Level Examination Program and the opportunities available for students. As more and more students seek an unobstructed pathway down the yellow brick road toward completion, CLEP offers students a way to save money and time by earning course credit through qualifying exam scores. Included in this session are tips designed to help advisors identify potential candidates for CLEP and key information about how to prepare for the exams. Advisors working with adults and veterans should attend this session to learn how CLEP supports nontraditional students‟ academic momentum, engagement, persistence, and completion. Promising practices, creative ideas, and strategies to overcome transfer barriers will be the focus of discussion and dialogue. The intent of this session is to provide advisors with the take-away courage, heart, and brains to complement the range of their advising strategies. |
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Basics of case Blog responses 1 Bog responses 2 Blog responses 3 | Can advisors in Kansas know the laws of Oz?Presenters: Catherine Maclaughlin, University of Texas-Austin Recently a former Texas A & M student sued Texas A& M (including several deans, the provost, and her advisor) claiming that her civil rights had been violated when she relied on allegedly wrongful advice given to her by her Texas A & M advisor. The student apparently did not tell her advisor at the time that she was planning on transferring to UT- Austin which, of course, did NOT exclude the grades in the calculation of her GPA. Currently the lawsuit is pending in Federal Court in the Southern District of Texas. Texas A & M has made a motion to dismiss, which -if not granted- may result in a jury trial in Houston before a judge. I would like to discuss the following: (1.) our routine advising practices and what we normally tell our students (2.) our view of the university‟s polices, i.e. what the catalog states, (3.) what we view to be the scope of our job, (4.) ethical and legal considerations which we may be making, and (5.) our personal feelings and reactions to this suit. |