Hi! I'm back to my blog this week, but just barely! As I mentioned at our meeting last night, things have been pretty wild over here in the advising office. Midterms, deadline to drop a course or sign up for credit/no credit, and spring course listings to plan for next semester...quite a lot going on!
As busy as the past couple of weeks have been (and will continue to be for another couple), I have been able to reflect a little bit on what has been happening. I seem to learn the most when things get busy over here. Before last week, I didn't know about many items/procedures/factoids, such as:
- how to fill out and approve a credit/no credit request
- when a student needs to retake a credit/no credit course
- how to approve concurrent enrollment (e.g., a student wants to take a course at Parkland while taking U of I courses at the same time...many things to consider such as travel, tuition, and credit hour requirements)
- that some 2nd 8 weeks courses require an application and may delay things for a student
- etc!!!
Had to learn fast!
But, this is good - I feel much more confident now than I did even one week ago (although I still ask a lot of questions!).
Other challenges have also arisen during this time - I have had some somewhat difficult conversations with students regarding grades and academic progress. Some students are very stressed about realizing that they really need to have a "backup plan" in case they are not accepted to their desired major. Some students realize that they need to drop a course even though it is required for their intended major, which creates some additional stress about future plans.
I have talked through many options with students during the past few weeks. Some leave my office very relieved ("ohmygosh thankyousomuch!!! I hope you get paid enough for this!"). Others leave as stressed as they came in. It's difficult when none of the possible options are appealing to a student, but I have to be confident that I gave them all of the information that they need to make the best decision for themselves.
Right now I'm wrapping up a busy afternoon of Express Advising. Challenging, yes, since many students are at a loss for what to do about failing a course and the deadline to drop is an hour away. But it is very fulfilling at the same time because most students seem to appreciate at least having the opportunity to talk through their thoughts and get on track to making some good decisions. And I enjoy all of those conversations.
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