"All Aboard the Advising Express: Laying the Tracks to Student Success"
February 23-25, 2011
College Station, TX
View a slide show of the 2011 conference in pictures!February 23-25, 2011
College Station, TX
"Thank you" letter from the Brazos Valley Food Bank.
Nine years of partnership - The Blinn Transfer Enrollment to A&M (TEAM) ProgramPresenters: Kriss Boyd & Russ Graves; Texas A&M University and Michael Yeater; Blinn CollegeRecruiting and preparing community college students for transfer to a four-year institution has become increasingly important given state and national agendas to produce more college graduates by 2020. Colleges and universities around the country are searching for models and initiatives that can be used to strengthen the transfer process and advance many more community college students toward the bachelor’s degree. This session will describe features unique to the partnership between Blinn College and Texas A&M, and also identify elements that can apply to other situations. Participants will leave with advice about how to support students, engage faculty, and create effective two- and four-year institutional partnerships that support the critical student transition from a community college to four-year institution. |
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You Didn't Get Your Degree In _______?Joel Sweeney & Brooke Heithoff; Texas State University - San MarcosYou've just been hired to advise science and engineering students, however you received your degree in English literature. You never took calculus, and you have no idea what an "Industrial Engineer" is (or does). How will you be successful? This session will detail strategies to help you quickly become familiar with majors, professions, and degree plans. Soon, it, will appear like you've been advising those majors forever! |
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Students & Technology - Connected or Isolated?Diana Howard; University of Texas at San AntonioToday's students have totally embraced technology in every area of their lives. Cell phones and computers provide instant messaging, texting, facebook, blogging,email, twitter etc. Does real communication actually occur using these tools, or do students use them as a means of controlling who they talk to and then choose when they are willing to talk. Can meaningful relationships function and grow when they depend on the life of a battery or access to Wi-Fi?This session will examine the dynamics of technology based relationships, and whether they provide a true feeling of connectedness with friends and family or if the process creates feelings of vulnerability and a fear of being "deleted", "blocked" or "unfriended". |
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Toward Career Exploration and Academic Planning in a First-Year Seminar CourseNico SchulerUndergraduate students’ goals change frequently, and students change majors several times. Thus, career exploration as well as mentoring should complement the guidance by academic advisors. First-Year Seminars can be helpful in this endeavor. The presenter will share experiences from teaching a first-year seminar that emphasizes career exploration, academic advising, and mentoring (in addition to other, usual topics for such courses). The course outline will be presented along with details on the class sessions and assignments that relate to career exploration, academic advising, and mentoring. Student work and assessment data will be presented to show an increase in knowledge about careers, in awareness of personal interests, abilities, and values, in matching those to possible careers / majors, and in developing an academic plan. |
Connecting the Tracks: Transfer Outreach from the University to Community CollegeHarry Bowers & Becky Swindal; Texas State University: San MarcosSharing the strategies learned in the implementation of Texas State’s academic advisors outreach initiatives 2008 – 2010. The primary goal was to increase the communication flow between the university and community college advisors/counselors to address the historical lack of communication and collaboration in the dissemination of accurate and timely information to staff & students. A secondary goal was to increase the smooth transition of transfer students to Texas State to ensure transfer courses fulfill degree requirements and increase the persistence and graduation rates of transfer students. Topics to be discussed: 1. Create an academic advisor transfer outreach team 2. Coordinate advisors forums on community college campuses 3. Securing funding for our endeavours 4. Providing academic advising for potential transfer students |
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Graduate School: Laying New Track in Your EducationDustin Thompson & Kathleen Harris; Texas State University - San MarcosWhen the excitement of graduation approaches graduating students are often asked the dreaded question “What’s next?” As the job market becomes more competitive, careers and employers require more education and levels of expertise. Therefore graduate school may be the best option for some of your aspiring graduates. When this is the case it is important that academic advisers be well versed in the process of applying to a graduate program and letting students know what to expect. This presentation is designed to help you answer the many questions of those changing stations from undergraduate to graduate school. Is graduate school helpful for my career? How do I apply? How does graduate school differ from my undergraduate experience? These questions and more will be answered for you and your students. This presentation is based on personal experience, institutional resources, and research. Minimal experience in this subject matter is needed. | |
When there’s a switch in the track: Understanding why pre-mass communication majors leave the programHarry Bowers; Texas State University - San MarcosA quantitative study was completed with students who left the third largest program on a campus of over 32,000 students to see why students left the program before gaining full admission to the major. The findings proved the hypothesis of the faculty and staff was far from accurate. Come see why it's important to understand the reasons students leave programs before you develop/refine retention strategies. The presentation will cover:
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It's Not What You Say But How You Say It: Nonverbal Communication in Academic AdvisingTia KofahlCommunication skills are central to effective academic advising, particularly when working with students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Studies show that communication effectiveness is overwhelming based on nonverbal cues, and these cues tend to vary across cultures. This fun and interactive presentation will introduce the characteristics, types and potential pitfalls of nonverbal communication. Attendees will also participate in experiential exercises designed to help them develop awareness and strategies for communicating with students from diverse cultural backgrounds. | |
All Aboard the Train to Success! Next Stop…OPPORTUNITIES!Bethany Mellum, Karen Ripley, & Kate McNeely; Texas State University - San MarcosAre your students getting involved on campus? Are they aware of opportunities available to them? At the McCoy College of Business Administration we offer several opportunities for students to get involved. Internships, study-abroad, and leadership in student organizations are just a few ways students can develop the skills and knowledge needed in the workforce today. In this session, we will illustrate how to research involvement opportunities available on campus and provide techniques to help advisors relay this information to students. Participants of this session will understand the importance of being proactive through discovering, discussing, and promoting these opportunities in order to keep students on the track to success! | |
Silver Medals: Helping Students Adjust to a Second-Choice MajorPatrick Morton & Ashley Ransom; Texas State University - San MarcosNo advisor relishes the task of telling a student that, for whatever reason, they will not be allowed into or continue in a given major; these moments, while distressing for both the student and the advisor, can be an opportunity to reassess and reestablish the student onto a rewarding academic and career path. Utilizing the tenets of appreciative advising, an advisor can turn a reality check into a future of positive possibilities. In this interactive presentation, we will briefly discuss the appreciative advising theory and how we can incorporate these phases into our advising sessions to assist our students transition from the disappointment of a dream deferred to discovering and pursuing new academic goals. The presenters will discuss techniques for delivering unfortunate news as well as provide examples and activities to improve attendees’ familiarity with the topic. | |
Creating a culture of transfer | Creating a Culture of Transfer: One Community College's Challenges and SuccessesMaryJane McReynolds & Raja Farris, Austin Community CollegeThe Austin Community College District (ACC) is working with internal and external stakeholders to improve the transfer rate of its students and develop a culture of transfer that is embedded institution-wide. This involves a holistic, data-driven focus on understanding the transfer student population, and how ACC and its university partners can better support these students in pursuit of their educational goals. Many institutional characteristics are involved in the transfer process, including: • articulation agreements • transfer enrollment • tracking academic progress data • transfer activities • working proactively with university partners This presentation will highlight key practices that promote transfer and the development of transfer culture, and discuss future initiatives and goals. |
| | Timetables & Ticketing: A Survey of Online Appointment andCecelia Hawkins & Jaclyn Upshaw; Texas A&M University |
Student A'FaresFidel Fernandez & Mike Balog; Texas A&M UniversityAdvisors and students operate within complex social relationships in a tightly coupled social environment. The philosophical advising approach usually drives the type of advising relationship. Several advising models used to describe advising relationships will be explored, including intrusive, prescriptive, and developmental. From a deliverable standpoint, what term is used to label the student who receives the specific type of advising? Is the student a customer, “always right?” Or, is the student a client who receives services, (e.g., financial, legal, medical)? The presenters will suggest that a third option worth exploring is called situational advising where the student seeking advice determines the approach. Working with parents also will be addressed. A brief introduction followed by several case studies will be used to explore this fascinating dimension of advising. This is an interactive session and participants will need to step aboard ready to participate. |
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Retention Benefits of College PreparationLeona Hazlewood; Texas State University - San MarcosFirst year retention of college students is important in establishing students’ success throughout their college career. Traditional students experience many changes after their senior year in high school; new environment, new social networks. Many changes can be overwhelming and detrimental to an otherwise outstanding student’s academic performance. At Texas State there are programs designed to help ease students into the college environment. This tends to occur during the summer prior to the traditional “first” fall semester. These programs give students an introduction to the college experience by giving them a more structured atmosphere with a light course load. It allows them to form social bonds with similar peers, which can often have a great impact on a student’s success. This study will examine retention rates and probation indices of students participating in these programs verses students that enter into college traditionally, the first fall after high school graduation. |
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Dual Dilemma: Advising in a Dual Credit WorldSherrice King; Texas A&M UniversityExceptional high school students have been able to receive college credit via AP, IB, or concurrent enrollment for years. It is relatively common to see first-year students who already have 3-9 credit hours. However, within the last 2-5 years you may have noticed an increase in the number of first-year students in your program who are coming in with credits in excess of a full semester up to 60 hours of college credit or more.
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Laying the Tracks for a Smooth TransferBarbara Smith & Suzanne Stokes; University of Texas at San AntonioHave you ever wondered how you can make a transfer student’s transition to your institution easier? What tools can you provide to make the transition smoother? At this session, the critical tools and resources will be identified. This session will focus on an institutions decision to provide these resources to perspective students. We will cover the components necessary to begin developing articulation agreements, which then leads to the development of tools for students to utilize while at a community college. Focus will include discussing the key points to consider when deciding which institutions to develop an articulation agreement with, as well as clearly defining the expectations and responsibilities of both institutions. A timeline and recommended resources will be shared, as well as sample resources such as transfer plans. |
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The Ins and Outs of the Ups and Downs: Advising Issues and Strategies for Students with DisabilitiesPatricia Moran; Blinn CollegeStudents with disabilities present unique issues in advising; often these issues require a more directive, slower paced advising style. Factors impacting the advising process for students with disabilities include:
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Who are YOU on the Advising Express?Terri Burge & Linda Windle; Texas A&M UniversityAdvisors interact daily with students and parents, and in that interaction, need to understand how their credibility is being expressed. Academic advising is a continuous process of clarification and evaluation. Do you know what "messages" you are sending? This session explores the subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways we present ourselves. Participants will be encouraged to evaluate and develop an awareness of how they express themselves in different contexts. Ideas for building and maintaining professional work and social competencies will be discussed. |
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Ethics for AdvisorsDr. David Parrott; Texas A&M University |
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