So, it has been about a full year since I began at DGS. I am very thankful for the experience I have had so far, and I look forward to continuing work here.
It's been fun to go through various shifts in my work throughout the year. Summer registration is pretty cut-and-dried and doesn't involve too many in-depth conversations, but it gave me a chance to prepare for the semester portion of the internship. I know I've said this before, but without the knowledge I gained during summer, I would not have been able to engage with students on a deeper level during the semester. My summer experience allowed me to have a base of knowledge so that I didn't have to worry so much about the "nuts and bolts" during the semester.
Fall semester was great for getting my feet wet in developmental advising. I worked about three hours a day and was able to connect more deeply with many of the students I had met during the summer. I also engaged in other activities such as Majors and Minors Fair, Fifth Story Gallery, and facilitating a workshop for student athletes.
My new full-time position has given me the time to work with many more students (my roster went from about 75 to almost 300). I've also gained many additional responsibilities that I did not have during the fall semester, including:
- Facilitating a program for students on academic probation
- Presenting at the campus conference for academic advisors (a coworker and I led a discussion about resources that help new advisors last week)
- Working a calling campaign to reach out to high school seniors who have been admitted to DGS as James Scholars (honors program)
- Co-facilitated a section of GS 101 (university orientation course); I lectured one day, and will be teaching my own section in the fall
- Serving on a petition committee, which means that I read student petitions to withdraw from courses after the deadline and contribute to the committee decision to approve or deny the request
- I have just been appointed co-chair of the Professional Development committee for the campus academic advising association; we'll be planning next year's campus conference (the same one where I presented last week)
I hope this provides a good summary of my transitions between summer full time to semester part time to semester full time! I'm glad I've had the chance to stay here this long because I feel like I've truly gotten a taste of how different our work is depending on the time of year and point in the semester. This whole experience has been a great opportunity, and I look forward to continuing in this career after I graduate this weekend.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
NACADA Regional Conference
Today I returned from the last day of the NACADA Region 5 Annual Conference in Bloomington-Normal. I'm very glad I had the opportunity to go! I attended many sessions, including a great one about advisees' parents by our own Julian Parrott :)
A recurring theme of the conference seemed to be the "Millennial" generation and their expectations (which always became generalized and somewhat stereotypical in conversation, although I realize there is truth behind those notions). In one session, a heated discussion began about whether advisors should meet Millennials' expectations for short, tweet-like communication only. One audience member said that he began communicating with his students in 140 characters or less, always, because "they don't read any further than that." This prompted some responses about how this strategy may not be helping "them" develop as critically-thinking students and future members of the workforce. Someone said that it's ok to meet students at their expectations with things like short messages, but then we need to help "bring them up" to a higher level by setting higher expectations for them and demonstrating what they need to do to meet them.
Same goes for email advising. Some advisors have started advising primarily via email because "students don't like to come in, but they like email." The form of email advising from this segment was through electronic worksheets for course programs with highlights on courses that the student still needs. This raised a lot of questions about how advisors can engage in true developmental advising this way (can't really). The argument was that "students today" like black-and-white ideas so they use these worksheets, but others argued that advising, major/career/interest exploration, and even course selection are not usually black and white and it might be dangerous to try to make it so.
One of my favorite sessions was about a program that an instructor created for students on last-chance academic probation. It takes the form of an "intentionally difficult" 2-credit course with required study sessions each week. The presentation was very fascinating and was partially based on the idea that even students who struggle greatly will rise to the instructor's high expectations. In this case, the instructor is there to provide additional support as students struggle through the course and through the semester. I saw the course sort of like training wheels, where the instructor helps students work through their academic difficulties as they get a handle on how to deal with challenging college courses. When the course is over (training wheels removed), they know how much effort and what kinds of strategies are required to succeed in future courses as a result of this program.
Lots of great ideas floated around this conference, and I'm so glad I had the chance to attend! I'm looking forward to sharing more of what I learned with my other advising colleagues.
Also, it's registration time for our students again. We'll be holding Express Advising this week to accommodate everyone; you know the drill.
A recurring theme of the conference seemed to be the "Millennial" generation and their expectations (which always became generalized and somewhat stereotypical in conversation, although I realize there is truth behind those notions). In one session, a heated discussion began about whether advisors should meet Millennials' expectations for short, tweet-like communication only. One audience member said that he began communicating with his students in 140 characters or less, always, because "they don't read any further than that." This prompted some responses about how this strategy may not be helping "them" develop as critically-thinking students and future members of the workforce. Someone said that it's ok to meet students at their expectations with things like short messages, but then we need to help "bring them up" to a higher level by setting higher expectations for them and demonstrating what they need to do to meet them.
Same goes for email advising. Some advisors have started advising primarily via email because "students don't like to come in, but they like email." The form of email advising from this segment was through electronic worksheets for course programs with highlights on courses that the student still needs. This raised a lot of questions about how advisors can engage in true developmental advising this way (can't really). The argument was that "students today" like black-and-white ideas so they use these worksheets, but others argued that advising, major/career/interest exploration, and even course selection are not usually black and white and it might be dangerous to try to make it so.
One of my favorite sessions was about a program that an instructor created for students on last-chance academic probation. It takes the form of an "intentionally difficult" 2-credit course with required study sessions each week. The presentation was very fascinating and was partially based on the idea that even students who struggle greatly will rise to the instructor's high expectations. In this case, the instructor is there to provide additional support as students struggle through the course and through the semester. I saw the course sort of like training wheels, where the instructor helps students work through their academic difficulties as they get a handle on how to deal with challenging college courses. When the course is over (training wheels removed), they know how much effort and what kinds of strategies are required to succeed in future courses as a result of this program.
Lots of great ideas floated around this conference, and I'm so glad I had the chance to attend! I'm looking forward to sharing more of what I learned with my other advising colleagues.
Also, it's registration time for our students again. We'll be holding Express Advising this week to accommodate everyone; you know the drill.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Settling In
Recently I was thinking about the Renn and Hodges (2007) article about student affairs professionals' first year on the job (EOL 583) and how their article might relate to my experience. I revisited the article, looking for information about the three phases of the first year in a higher ed/student affairs/academic affairs job: Orientation, Transition, and Settling In. Although I've only been in the full-time position since January, I have been with this office since May of last year and at this point I identify with the settling-in phase for the most part.
The chart on page 374 of the article illustrates the phases and their components really well. It shows how relationships, "fit," and "competencies" evolve (generally) through each of the phases. Under Settling In - Relationships, one point is that "Relationships with students solidify." This is definitely true for me. Of course, some students never come in, but I have built a great rapport with many others. I even got a thank you note last week after one of my students was accepted to his major!
Under Fit for Settling In, one point is "Environmental awareness improves, but not always happy with institutional culture." This is true for me as well. I'm making connections all over campus and learning about how different units interact. I'm also getting a better feel for how others perceive campus interactions (sometimes good, sometimes not-so-good). Right now I still don't know enough to really have my own judgments about the workings of most other departments, but I enjoy hearing about others' experiences working with different units (what works and what doesn't work in terms of communication, etc.).
Finally, under Settling In - Competencies, Renn and Hodges list "More aware of abilities and needs for training." This rings true for me too. In fact, the other "new guy" and I have been reflecting together on our training/beginning experiences as advisors in DGS and are going to present information about new advisors' experiences and resources at the campus advising conference in May.
I'm glad I went back to this article as I emerge from my first full year at DGS. I can personally relate to it more easily now than when I read it last Fall, because now I can use it as a reflection piece in addition to a research piece.
The chart on page 374 of the article illustrates the phases and their components really well. It shows how relationships, "fit," and "competencies" evolve (generally) through each of the phases. Under Settling In - Relationships, one point is that "Relationships with students solidify." This is definitely true for me. Of course, some students never come in, but I have built a great rapport with many others. I even got a thank you note last week after one of my students was accepted to his major!
Under Fit for Settling In, one point is "Environmental awareness improves, but not always happy with institutional culture." This is true for me as well. I'm making connections all over campus and learning about how different units interact. I'm also getting a better feel for how others perceive campus interactions (sometimes good, sometimes not-so-good). Right now I still don't know enough to really have my own judgments about the workings of most other departments, but I enjoy hearing about others' experiences working with different units (what works and what doesn't work in terms of communication, etc.).
Finally, under Settling In - Competencies, Renn and Hodges list "More aware of abilities and needs for training." This rings true for me too. In fact, the other "new guy" and I have been reflecting together on our training/beginning experiences as advisors in DGS and are going to present information about new advisors' experiences and resources at the campus advising conference in May.
I'm glad I went back to this article as I emerge from my first full year at DGS. I can personally relate to it more easily now than when I read it last Fall, because now I can use it as a reflection piece in addition to a research piece.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Continuing Education (for me)
After a nice spring break during which my main contact with students consisted mainly of a few leisurely emails, we are back in full swing. For me, each day has been booked with students and full of adventure. I'm continuing to learn a lot as I go.
I mentioned in a previous post that I enjoy the visits from other departments during our staff meetings. Now that I am in new territory (helping sophomores plan advanced courses and declare majors), let me add new emphasis on just how helpful those meetings have been for me. Last semester, as you know, I worked almost exclusively with first-year students so my baseline in course-planning has been primarily in intro and/or exploratory courses. All of a sudden I have found that I need to know MUCH more in order to help older students, and it gets complicated. For example, there are 2 different biology majors (integrative biology and molecular/cellular biology), and each of those bio majors get tweaked in different ways if the student wants to go to medical school. On top of that, the department has changed a couple of courses such as anatomy/physiology, and there are separate anat/phys courses for IB vs MCB. On top of THAT, different pre-health fields (pre-med, physician assistant, physical therapy, nursing) require different anatomy/phys courses which might vary from the ones required for the actual biology major. Sorry if that's confusing (it is)...I just learned all this in the past week, and that's just for two majors! :)
I honestly love this challenge, and it's making me feel more confident with each student I meet because I'm building my knowledge base every day.
This type of experience also continues to solidify my preference for general advising as opposed to departmental advising. I love that I have the chance to talk about something completely different every half hour.
One surprising thing from this semester so far: I'm surprised by how many students want to take summer courses, mostly at other colleges for transfer credit. Many of them want to do this to get their gen eds "out of the way," a phrase that makes me cringe...those classes are actually really valuable and can enrich the overall college experience! (Remember my article about the courses that everyone should take!). I was surprised because I didn't really know many students who took summer courses when I was in college, and those who did were usually athletes who were on campus anyway. I did just once, and again that was because I was already working on campus and didn't have to otherwise go out of my way to do it. There again though, these were not for transfer, they were on-campus courses. Just an observation. Summer online courses through UIUC also seem very popular.
So this was kind of a hodgepodge of a post, but within the theme of how my experience continues to evolve during this first year on the job. Never a dull moment, and I wouldn't have it any other way!
I mentioned in a previous post that I enjoy the visits from other departments during our staff meetings. Now that I am in new territory (helping sophomores plan advanced courses and declare majors), let me add new emphasis on just how helpful those meetings have been for me. Last semester, as you know, I worked almost exclusively with first-year students so my baseline in course-planning has been primarily in intro and/or exploratory courses. All of a sudden I have found that I need to know MUCH more in order to help older students, and it gets complicated. For example, there are 2 different biology majors (integrative biology and molecular/cellular biology), and each of those bio majors get tweaked in different ways if the student wants to go to medical school. On top of that, the department has changed a couple of courses such as anatomy/physiology, and there are separate anat/phys courses for IB vs MCB. On top of THAT, different pre-health fields (pre-med, physician assistant, physical therapy, nursing) require different anatomy/phys courses which might vary from the ones required for the actual biology major. Sorry if that's confusing (it is)...I just learned all this in the past week, and that's just for two majors! :)
I honestly love this challenge, and it's making me feel more confident with each student I meet because I'm building my knowledge base every day.
This type of experience also continues to solidify my preference for general advising as opposed to departmental advising. I love that I have the chance to talk about something completely different every half hour.
One surprising thing from this semester so far: I'm surprised by how many students want to take summer courses, mostly at other colleges for transfer credit. Many of them want to do this to get their gen eds "out of the way," a phrase that makes me cringe...those classes are actually really valuable and can enrich the overall college experience! (Remember my article about the courses that everyone should take!). I was surprised because I didn't really know many students who took summer courses when I was in college, and those who did were usually athletes who were on campus anyway. I did just once, and again that was because I was already working on campus and didn't have to otherwise go out of my way to do it. There again though, these were not for transfer, they were on-campus courses. Just an observation. Summer online courses through UIUC also seem very popular.
So this was kind of a hodgepodge of a post, but within the theme of how my experience continues to evolve during this first year on the job. Never a dull moment, and I wouldn't have it any other way!
Monday, March 14, 2011
The deadlines
Hello, I'm writing last Friday's blog today because Friday was a full day of Express Advising and my schedule was a little different. I think I've mentioned Express Advising in past posts, but basically it is walk-in advising for quick questions during "high traffic periods." Friday was a high traffic day because it was the deadline for dropping a class, electing credit/no credit, AND completing grade replacement forms.
Grade replacement is a new policy this semester, so it was another item that I have learned about since starting the full time position. If a student took a course previously and received a C- or lower, he or she can take the same course again to replace the old grade, provided he/she earns a higher grade this time around. Students can only do this for up to 10 credit hours during their time here, and only UIUC courses apply (so if a student did poorly in calc I here, he/she can't take it at another college over the summer to replace the UIUC grade).
I think I had more students come in to complete grade replacement forms on Friday than to drop a class or elect credit/no credit for a class. I was a little surprised by this, perhaps partly because I have not used these forms before since it's a new policy. So far it seems pretty popular. Since it's so new, I haven't heard anything data-wise about how many people are using the policy, but it will be interesting in the future to see how students use it and if any complications come out of the policy. If anything groundbreaking surfaces this semester, I'll let you know!
Grade replacement is a new policy this semester, so it was another item that I have learned about since starting the full time position. If a student took a course previously and received a C- or lower, he or she can take the same course again to replace the old grade, provided he/she earns a higher grade this time around. Students can only do this for up to 10 credit hours during their time here, and only UIUC courses apply (so if a student did poorly in calc I here, he/she can't take it at another college over the summer to replace the UIUC grade).
I think I had more students come in to complete grade replacement forms on Friday than to drop a class or elect credit/no credit for a class. I was a little surprised by this, perhaps partly because I have not used these forms before since it's a new policy. So far it seems pretty popular. Since it's so new, I haven't heard anything data-wise about how many people are using the policy, but it will be interesting in the future to see how students use it and if any complications come out of the policy. If anything groundbreaking surfaces this semester, I'll let you know!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Getting to know the departments
Last semester, when I worked almost exclusively in the afternoons, I missed most of the presentations from other departments because they frequently take place during Friday morning staff meetings. Being able to hear these presentations has been a great bonus to my new full-time role.
For example, today we had advisors and directors from each major in the College of Applied Health Sciences present at our staff meeting. This was very informative and it was great to hear about the specifics of applying to each major. Up to this point, I have explained the procedures and requirements of the majors by relying on information that was available online. While this is still good information, now I feel more equipped with different "nuts and bolts" that I didn't have before. Plus, it was great to actually meet the advisors who lead the informational meetings for students interested in applying to their majors.
A few weeks ago, representatives from Crop Sciences came to our meeting. That was great because I've never had a student mention an interest in crop science. I found out that there are many different concentrations within the major, and that students don't have to work in agriculture with the degree. I was surprised to hear that sometimes students graduate with a crop sciences degree and then go on to medical or dental school. In that sense, this major is an interesting way to get involved in applied biology that can translate to many other fields. This particular meeting struck me with something new to help students think outside the box.
I'm very glad that I can attend these meetings and presentations now because I feel much more thoroughly informed! I can now explain more details to students and I know who can help them to answer further questions.
For example, today we had advisors and directors from each major in the College of Applied Health Sciences present at our staff meeting. This was very informative and it was great to hear about the specifics of applying to each major. Up to this point, I have explained the procedures and requirements of the majors by relying on information that was available online. While this is still good information, now I feel more equipped with different "nuts and bolts" that I didn't have before. Plus, it was great to actually meet the advisors who lead the informational meetings for students interested in applying to their majors.
A few weeks ago, representatives from Crop Sciences came to our meeting. That was great because I've never had a student mention an interest in crop science. I found out that there are many different concentrations within the major, and that students don't have to work in agriculture with the degree. I was surprised to hear that sometimes students graduate with a crop sciences degree and then go on to medical or dental school. In that sense, this major is an interesting way to get involved in applied biology that can translate to many other fields. This particular meeting struck me with something new to help students think outside the box.
I'm very glad that I can attend these meetings and presentations now because I feel much more thoroughly informed! I can now explain more details to students and I know who can help them to answer further questions.
Friday, February 25, 2011
As deadlines approach
I didn't have any "extra" activities like I did last week (campus meetings, calling campaign). But I have been keeping very busy meeting with students who are anxious about the THE March 11 deadline. March 11 is the last day to drop a course, elect credit/no credit for a course, and apply for grade replacement.
This time of the semester is especially busy because students are receiving their first big grades of the semester - which correlates with a rush to find out if dropping a class would be all right. This usually involves an in-depth discussion about the student's long-term plans in terms of major. For example, today I met with a student who was thinking about dropping chemistry (which she is actually retaking) but wants to go to medical school. If she drops, she will be a year behind in her requisite courses. These scenarios can be very tough for students as they try to make the best decision for both their current schedule and future plans.
Something that makes course-dropping even more complicated is that fact that our university offers some second-eight-weeks courses. They fill up super-quickly and complicate discussions about how many credit hours you'll have if you drop a course. For some students, this is a great option. For others, it would add extra undue stress. For still others, it would be a great option but they wait too long to do it and the classes fill up, leaving them with too few credit hours which can affect things like insurance coverage and international student status. I have mixed feelings about the second-eight-weeks courses because I think that too many students lean on that option, but in some cases they are good because they can save a student from a bad academic situation if something unfortunate happens.
And as I mentioned in class, I've also been meeting with many of my probation students as they trickle in for their second PASS meetings (Program for Academic Support and Success). This is very challenging and I won't re-hash the details here since I discussed this yesterday in class, but I am glad that the program seems to be helping at least some students significantly so far.
One final item that came up this week is that the other new advisor and I might be presenting at the campus academic advisors' conference in May about the experiences and learning curve of new advisors. We're going to talk about this next week so I'll keep you posted. This came up at the staff meeting today and Julian thought this might be a good way to inform advisors who have been here for many years about what is required/desired to get started in advising on this campus today and about what has been helpful to us.
This time of the semester is especially busy because students are receiving their first big grades of the semester - which correlates with a rush to find out if dropping a class would be all right. This usually involves an in-depth discussion about the student's long-term plans in terms of major. For example, today I met with a student who was thinking about dropping chemistry (which she is actually retaking) but wants to go to medical school. If she drops, she will be a year behind in her requisite courses. These scenarios can be very tough for students as they try to make the best decision for both their current schedule and future plans.
Something that makes course-dropping even more complicated is that fact that our university offers some second-eight-weeks courses. They fill up super-quickly and complicate discussions about how many credit hours you'll have if you drop a course. For some students, this is a great option. For others, it would add extra undue stress. For still others, it would be a great option but they wait too long to do it and the classes fill up, leaving them with too few credit hours which can affect things like insurance coverage and international student status. I have mixed feelings about the second-eight-weeks courses because I think that too many students lean on that option, but in some cases they are good because they can save a student from a bad academic situation if something unfortunate happens.
And as I mentioned in class, I've also been meeting with many of my probation students as they trickle in for their second PASS meetings (Program for Academic Support and Success). This is very challenging and I won't re-hash the details here since I discussed this yesterday in class, but I am glad that the program seems to be helping at least some students significantly so far.
One final item that came up this week is that the other new advisor and I might be presenting at the campus academic advisors' conference in May about the experiences and learning curve of new advisors. We're going to talk about this next week so I'll keep you posted. This came up at the staff meeting today and Julian thought this might be a good way to inform advisors who have been here for many years about what is required/desired to get started in advising on this campus today and about what has been helpful to us.
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