NATIONAL CONFERENCE NEWS

Advising Administration Commission Meeting and Events…..

 

The Advising Administration Commission Meeting

Friday, October 3, 2003

3:15-4:15 p.m.

Press Club

 

The Commission Fair—Be There or Be Square

Friday, October 3, 2003

 7:30 a.m.

Lone Star Ballroom

 

 

The Commission Roundtables

Friday, October 3, 2003

6:00 p.m.

Lone Star Ballroom

 

Commission-Sponsored Sessions…..

 

The Advising Administration Commission is pleased to sponsor the following concurrent sessions at the 2004 National Conference in Dallas:

 

Creating Effective Advising Portfolios

Concurrent 45  Friday, 10:00–11:00 a.m.

State Room 4

The current economic climate is causing all institutions to examine carefully the value gained from expenditures on programs and on people who work in these programs.  Advising is not exempt from this scrutiny. Calls for accountability often result in the gathering of numbers or statistics, but numbers can not tell the whole story. Increasingly portfolios are being used to provide a richer picture of the impact

of an advising program or an individual advisor. This session will present recent best practices in the creation  of advising portfolios including tips on how to organize the portfolio, what to include in it, and how the portfolio may be evaluated. It will share an example of a portfolio and a scoring rubric. A bibliography will also be provided.

*This session is co-sponsored by the Faculty Advisors and Advising Administration Commissions.

Faye N. Vowell, Phillip Farren, Roland Shook -- Western New Mexico University

 

Building Stronger Networks Across Advising Units

Concurrent 94  Friday, 2:00-3:00 p.m.

City View 7

How do you bring greater coherence to advising at a large decentralized university? How do you foster a sense of community, collaboration, and common purpose across traditional boundaries of department, school, and college? One measure we took last year to address these questions was to organize the first university-wide Academic Advising Conference ever held on our campus, on the theme of  “Teaching Through Academic Advising: Sharing Effective Practices.” Our presentation will address both the goals and

conceptual framework of our conference, and also some practical issues of implementation. This program will be of interest both to administrators and advisors, from large and small institutions alike, and will provide ample opportunity to discuss how to improve communication and establish strong networks among advisors and advising units scattered across your campus.

Philip J. Gorman, Louise Freymann, Chalmers Knight -- University of Michigan

 

Is Knowing How You’re Doing Merely Gossip?

Concurrent 228  Sunday, 8:00–9:00 a.m.

City View 6

If your answer to this question is “yes” then come to this session. Learn how advisor assessment can  provide some concrete answers. Come hear how one four-year public institution launched a professional staff advisor assessment program in the fall 2002 by surveying 1600 students who met with advisors by

appointment or walk-in basis over a four-week timeframe. Review the survey and see its two main purposes for data collection. View the analyses and hear the purpose of a follow-up strategy. This session will demonstrate the basics of an assessment program—instrument design, methodology, data collection,

analysis, reporting, and follow-up strategy. Examples of the actual survey instrument, data collection, and reporting will be used to demonstrate the basics. The presenter offers a “how to” approach to advisor assessment.

Linda C. Chalmers -- University of Texas-San Antonio

 

 

Creating a University Advising Council

Concurrent 244 Sunday, 8:00–9:00 a.m.

City View 8

In “Creating a University Advising Council,” the Academic Advising Council at the University of Central Florida presents an overview of the development of the advising council and the established services provided by the group. Through samples of publications and Web-based information, this program explores how collaboration has built a network within the university to assure the delivery of information, excellent advising, and advocacy and support services. Topics include the advising handbook and web site, creation of an advising statement, the Advisor Enhancement Program, effects on university policy, networking and collaboration opportunities, and implementation of faculty training.

Mark Allen A. Poisel, Charlene A. Stinard, Tina M. Smilie -- University of Central Florida

 

Basic Steps in Developing a Student Advisee Satisfaction Instrument

Concurrent 250  Sunday, 8:00–9:00 a.m.

Seminar Theater

Assessment of services is used to evaluate instructors, customer satisfaction, patron opinions, and marketing strategies, so why not assess your advising services? Systematic evaluation is important to determine whether the goals of the program and the needs of the students are being met, and also plays a major role in budget requests and program evaluations. This session will consider the basic steps in

developing that always popular method of assessment, the student satisfaction survey. Included will be a discussion of the importance of assessment and evaluation in academic advising, outlining of important aspects to consider when developing an assessment tool or methodology, and some basic strategies for assessing advising services. Whether for budget purposes, internal assessment, or accreditation purposes,

attendees will be familiarized with the basic processes involved in developing and administering an assessment procedure for their respective academic advising programs.

Rich Robbins -- West Virginia University

 

Assessment of Advising Units:  An Exploration of Essential Issues

Concurrent 291 Sunday, 10:30–11:30 a.m.

Austin Ballroom 1

Our objectives are to identify the concept, specify the purposes, and illustrate basic tools and techniques of assessment. The presentation is geared toward advising administrators and advisors with interests in assessment. Assessment, as exemplified in this presentation, is the ongoing process and evaluation through systematic collection, synthesis, and analysis of data to appraise the effectiveness of an advising unit at various levels. Assessment is vital to improve advising. Assessment results are valuable for comparing information, obtaining resources, training, and satisfying accreditation standards. Various methodologies

are used in assessment, including qualitative and quantitative techniques (e.g. focus groups, questionnaires, and analysis of existing data) with their strengths and weaknesses. This session will inspire and generate the utilization of advising assessment in academic units.

Marc A. Rhorer, Kelly A. Mitchell -- Florida Atlantic University

 

 

 

Congratulations…..

 

Congratulations go to the following 2003 NACADA Award Recipients in the Academic Advising Administrator category:

 

2003 Winners

Wilbur Groat, Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA

Peter Hagen, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, NJ

Debra Heiber, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI

Albert Matheny, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Nancy Walburn, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

Lawrence Wit, Auburn University, Auburn, AL

 

2003 Certificates of Merit

Kathleen D’Alessio, Landmark College, Putney, VT

Megan Seaholm, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

Carol Van Der Karr, State University of New York-Cortland, Cortland, NY

 

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

What We’re Doing…..

 

Alan H. Welch, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana was promoted to Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Students in the School of Science.  Academic advising continues to be part of his responsibility in this expanded role.

 

William Hendey, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, became Acting Director of Academic Counseling and Advising as of July 1, 2003.  Prior to his promotion, Bill had served as Assistant Director in the same unit.

 

Alice Reinarz, Chair of the Advising Administration Commission recently moved from the University of Michigan back to her home state of Texas to become the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies at Texas A&M.

 

Congratulations to all on these significant acknowledgements of your administrative talent!

 

BEST PRACTICES

Submitted by    Dr. Elizabeth Teagan, Director

Advising Center at Texas Tech (ACTT)

TTU McNair Scholars Program

Texas Tech University

 

ACTT Web Scheduling Program

Advising Center at Texas Tech

 

Academic advising programs are experiencing increasing numbers of students, decreasing resources, and institutional momentum towards providing services through technology.  Now more than ever, advisors and administrators must consider incorporating essential elements of retention and advising models into technology-based advising services.

 

The Advising Center at Texas Tech University (ACTT) has designed and implemented a web-based scheduling model.  ACTT Web Scheduling is designed

·          to incorporate elements of decision-making skills and critical thinking typically associated with academic advising into the scheduling process

·          for students to submit course selections for review and approval by advisors

·          to work with undecided students on major exploration and course selection in the first two years 

 

A major aspect of sound advising is communicating, and approximately 55% of all communication is conducted by body and facial language.  However, the amalgam of communication styles and technology-based advising that is represented by ACTT Web Scheduling is rapidly defining academic advising services for many advising programs.  ACTT Web Scheduling software program is setting a standard for the new style of communicating by email.

 

In addition to the obvious advantages of the web-based scheduling system, ACTT found that:

·          students are empowered by crafting their own schedule versus being told what to take

·          students do the research and registration before they “show up for the appointment”

·          students can submit schedules 24/7

·          students communicate with advisors via email which has led to more interaction by email as well as in person

·          students that have a simple schedule situation take less advisor time which leaves more advisor time for complicated scheduling situations

·          advisors can respond more quickly by email

·          it takes several emails for the typical first year student thereby creating a need for interaction between advisors and students

 

ACTT Web Scheduling has also brought about a shift in the relationship between scheduling and advising.  After a year of using the program, both advisors and students learned unique lessons and developed strategies for adjusting to this new model.  By providing an electronic venue for communication, Web Scheduling supported interaction instead of a “check-off process”. 

 

Web Scheduling changed the advising culture for students, advisors, and ACTT as a whole.  The acknowledged changes in the advising culture are numerous.  Among the cultural changes are a more heightened awareness of the registration cycle and the benefits of discussing course selections with an advisor, as well as opening new channels for the questions behind the question.

 

Integrating technology with student services has become a central component in evaluating program success.  Web Scheduling is just one step ACTT has made in this new realm of academic advising.  For more information on ACTT and its efforts towards integrating advising services and technology, visit www.actt.ttu.edu, call (806)742-2189, or e-mail elizabeth.teagan@ttu.edu.

 

We look forward to seeing you in Dallas and wish you every professional success during this academic year.