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.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Assortment of items
This week's events have made my transition to full-time DGS status solid. The week was jam-packed, and each event helped connect me to campus in a way that I had not yet experienced.
On Tuesday, I attended my first IlliAAC meeting. IlliAAC is the academic advisors' association of UIUC. Before now, I have heard many names of other advisors outside of DGS, particularly departmental advisors, and I have even spoken with some of them on the phone. But this meeting gave me my first opportunity to put some faces with those names. The Career Center presented at the meeting as well, which was very helpful because it gave advisors and career counselors a chance to talk about how they can help each other when providing major/career guidance to students.
Yesterday, the advisors of DGS and LAS met all morning to discuss topics relating to major transfer processes in LAS (in other words, issues that come up when students start to declare LAS majors from DGS). This was a great conversation because a lot of issues came up that revealed previous frustrations and miscommunications and got both LAS and DGS advisors on the same page. Hopefully, as we discussed in the meeting, that conversation will help us to work together more effectively and reduce the number of times that students are sent back and forth between different advisors on campus.
Also this week, I helped with the second annual calling campaign, in which a few of us called students who have been admitted to DGS for Fall 2011 as James Scholars. I participated 2 of the 3 nights. Basically we called to ask if students had any questions about DGS to help them as they make their decision about which college to attend. I mostly reached answering machines, but I did talk to a few students and a couple of parents, who thought it was nice that we called :) (I guess not everyone thought it was nice though - another advisor got someone who was very put off that he would call...can't win 'em all).
In between all this were the usual student appointments, so it has been a very busy and successful week!
On Tuesday, I attended my first IlliAAC meeting. IlliAAC is the academic advisors' association of UIUC. Before now, I have heard many names of other advisors outside of DGS, particularly departmental advisors, and I have even spoken with some of them on the phone. But this meeting gave me my first opportunity to put some faces with those names. The Career Center presented at the meeting as well, which was very helpful because it gave advisors and career counselors a chance to talk about how they can help each other when providing major/career guidance to students.
Yesterday, the advisors of DGS and LAS met all morning to discuss topics relating to major transfer processes in LAS (in other words, issues that come up when students start to declare LAS majors from DGS). This was a great conversation because a lot of issues came up that revealed previous frustrations and miscommunications and got both LAS and DGS advisors on the same page. Hopefully, as we discussed in the meeting, that conversation will help us to work together more effectively and reduce the number of times that students are sent back and forth between different advisors on campus.
Also this week, I helped with the second annual calling campaign, in which a few of us called students who have been admitted to DGS for Fall 2011 as James Scholars. I participated 2 of the 3 nights. Basically we called to ask if students had any questions about DGS to help them as they make their decision about which college to attend. I mostly reached answering machines, but I did talk to a few students and a couple of parents, who thought it was nice that we called :) (I guess not everyone thought it was nice though - another advisor got someone who was very put off that he would call...can't win 'em all).
In between all this were the usual student appointments, so it has been a very busy and successful week!
Friday, February 11, 2011
A great week
As I mentioned at the beginning of this semester, I was initially pretty nervous about beginning work with students on academic probation. I then wrote about how I was becoming more comfortable and confident with the program I facilitate with my probation students. This week, however, has been my best yet for probation meetings. I am actually very excited about how this week has gone!
A handful of students on probation came in this week for their second PASS probation program meeting with me (most of them still have to come, but I was impressed with the number of students who have been in this week). We had a few breakthroughs this week as several of my students talked about (and demonstrated) the progress they've made and the initiative they've taken. I was (am) very excited about their effort and changed attitudes, and I really hope that they keep working with the program to move to good standing.
On the other hand, there are still a few students who have not yet met with me despite the multiple emails explaining the consequences if they don't come discuss the terms of probation with me. Only time will tell at this point whether they will come to do the paperwork, but for now I am thrilled with the students who have been following the program and finding it helpful.
A handful of students on probation came in this week for their second PASS probation program meeting with me (most of them still have to come, but I was impressed with the number of students who have been in this week). We had a few breakthroughs this week as several of my students talked about (and demonstrated) the progress they've made and the initiative they've taken. I was (am) very excited about their effort and changed attitudes, and I really hope that they keep working with the program to move to good standing.
On the other hand, there are still a few students who have not yet met with me despite the multiple emails explaining the consequences if they don't come discuss the terms of probation with me. Only time will tell at this point whether they will come to do the paperwork, but for now I am thrilled with the students who have been following the program and finding it helpful.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Snow week
This week has been much slower at DGS than the previous few weeks. Not only did I have fewer student appointments, but many of the students who did have appointments with me did not make it to our meeting. Our office was also closed on Wednesday when classes were canceled, so this week has been an interesting change of pace.
Many of my appointments this week have consisted of students wanting to add or switch classes. Of course, the deadline to make these changes was Monday so I have had to remind most students about that. In some cases they can fill out paperwork to add a class after the deadline, but then we have to talk about whether they would be too far behind in coursework now that we are at the end of the 3rd week of the semester. These conversations are always challenging.
Most of us have finished up our first round of meetings with students on probation so there has been a lot of discussion among coworkers about the logistics of those meetings (what are the deadlines, what is the difference between these advising agreements, when do you add or remove a hold on a student's account). It's interesting to hear everyone's take on the sequence of probation meetings - each advisor has a slightly different approach to facilitating the designated meetings. Another topic of discussion has been about what to do when some students on probation never come to the required meetings despite the series of stern emails. I have been told that several students usually come in for fall registration because they can't register due to the hold on their account. I'm sure we will talk more about how to handle those situations when they come closer.
I mentioned this a long time ago, but my biggest source of nervousness is still parent phone calls! I haven't had any yet, but with such an expanded roster this year I'm sure it will happen. So far what has helped me prepare for this is reading other advisors' notes from when a parent called and talking with them about how they addressed the conversation.
Like I said, this was a slower week. Perhaps next week will pick up and I will have more specific items to reflect on.
Many of my appointments this week have consisted of students wanting to add or switch classes. Of course, the deadline to make these changes was Monday so I have had to remind most students about that. In some cases they can fill out paperwork to add a class after the deadline, but then we have to talk about whether they would be too far behind in coursework now that we are at the end of the 3rd week of the semester. These conversations are always challenging.
Most of us have finished up our first round of meetings with students on probation so there has been a lot of discussion among coworkers about the logistics of those meetings (what are the deadlines, what is the difference between these advising agreements, when do you add or remove a hold on a student's account). It's interesting to hear everyone's take on the sequence of probation meetings - each advisor has a slightly different approach to facilitating the designated meetings. Another topic of discussion has been about what to do when some students on probation never come to the required meetings despite the series of stern emails. I have been told that several students usually come in for fall registration because they can't register due to the hold on their account. I'm sure we will talk more about how to handle those situations when they come closer.
I mentioned this a long time ago, but my biggest source of nervousness is still parent phone calls! I haven't had any yet, but with such an expanded roster this year I'm sure it will happen. So far what has helped me prepare for this is reading other advisors' notes from when a parent called and talking with them about how they addressed the conversation.
Like I said, this was a slower week. Perhaps next week will pick up and I will have more specific items to reflect on.
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