Faculty Advisor Training

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Faculty Advisor Training
"Good advising may be the single most
underestimated characteristic of a successful
college experience." Light, R.J. (2001) Making
the most of college. Cambridge, MA Harvard
University Press.
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Why Advisor Training?

• Consistency in advising information given to
  students and faculty

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Planning Committee

• SSARPG Committee
• Renee Butler, ENGR
• Fred Hartfield, CSEJennifer Louten, ASSimin
  Nasseri, ETMPeter Pittman, ACCJon Lindsay,
  ATTICPhyllis N. Weatherly, CCCtr
• Dawn Ramsey, Faculty Growth and Development

• 2011 Advising Fellows
• Peter Pittman, ACCPhil Patterson, ASGreg
  Conrey, ETMLance Crimm, ENGR
• SSARPG Teaching FellowBecky Rutherfoord, CSE

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What is Academic Advising?

• Academic advising is a systematic
  student-centered developmental process consisting
  of active communication and information exchange.
  In this process the students and advisors develop
  a collaborative relationship resulting in a
  successful academic experience. The students are
  empowered to clarify life/career goals consistent
  with their interests, values, skills and
  abilities. Together the students and their
  faculty advisors develop an educational plan and
  identify the necessary services and contacts to
  assist students in achieving their maximum
  educational potential. In this process the
  faculty advisors are facilitators who provide
  guidance, referrals, and ongoing evaluation of
  the student's progress.

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Advisor Training Outcomes
Full-time FacultyUpon completion of the 4-hour
Faculty Advisor Training participants will be
able to1.  Understand expectations for faculty
concerning advising.2.  Identify available SPSU
services for student referral.3.  Use the
Advising website and the Advisory Resources
available to faculty.4.  Explain the
requirements for majors in degrees offered in
their department.5.  Explain basic Core
curriculum requirements and access available
resources (materials and Core experts) for Core
questions.6.  Assist their advisees in
developing an academic plan.7.  Inform advisees
to career options and resources in their
discipline.8.  Understand the SPSU admissions
process for various student groups
(undergraduate, graduate, online, transfer,
etc.).9.  Understand the SPSU registration
process, policies and procedures.
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Board of Regents

• BoR Policy Manual 3.9 Academic Advisement
• Each institution shall establish training
  sessions associated with academic advising such
  that faculty advisors are aware of the rules and
  regulations associated with the core curriculum,
  academic transfer, student status, and grading
  policies.

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Presidents Charge to SPSU

• Graduation Report to the Regents TaskforceMay 4,
  2010
• Strategic Plan for 2010-2013
• Goal 1. To increase the number of graduates who
  are well prepared for work and for life.
• Objective Increase the success (including
  retention rates and graduation rates) of enrolled
  students.
• Key indicators
• Develop and implement an early-warning system.
• Provide additional training for academic
  advisors.
• Fully implement and assess the Universitys
  Quality Enhancement Plan by 2012.
• Develop and implement departmental plans to match
  the Universitys goals for retention and
  graduation rates.

The objective and key indicators above are linked
to USG Strategic Plan
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Strategic Plan

• The new strategic plan includes the Universitys
  specific goals for improving retention rates (to
  84 by 2013) and
• six-year graduation rate (to 40 by Fall 2013,
  for the cohort that entered in 2007).

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Deans Council

• Enhancement of advising at SPSU is an important
  part of our Retention, Progression and Graduation
  Plan (RPG) and our Quality Enhancement Plan
  (QEP). Both call for strong faculty advising
  and a strong advising safety net. All full time
  faculty have advising as a part of their
  responsibility. Also, advising will be a
  significant part of the faculty evaluation
  process. PP 308.0 Academic Advising
  identifies that academic advising is designed to
  help students with a variety of tasks, such as
  the following         Interpreting University
  System and institutional requirements
          Clarifying career goals
          Developing suitable educational plans
          Selecting appropriate courses and other
  educational experiences, such as co-op
          Seeking assistance from institutional
  and community support services such as the Career
  and the Counseling Center, when appropriate
          Finding a way out of academic
  difficulty or probation         Monitoring
  progress toward academic goals        Understand
  ing thesis and project guidelines (for graduate
  students)
• The training offered through the SSARPG Committee
  is designed to support our
• faculty and provide the required training
  identified in PP 308.0.

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Who Advises SPSU students?

• Full-time Faculty
• Academic Advisors (professional)
• Part-time Faculty

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Advising vs. Counseling

• Counseling
• Professionally trained
• Provide therapy for personal growth
• Teach coping skills and stress management
• Offer career assessments
• Facilitate college adjustments
• Provide crisis counseling

• Advising
• Assist with academic requirements and academic
  planning
• Mentoring
• Recommend appropriate classes, and interpret test
  scores
• Refer to campus resources including counseling

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Retention, Progression, Graduation (RPG)

• Six-year graduation rates
• Fall 2002 Cohort (2008) 29.76
• Fall 2001 Cohort (2007) 24
• Freshman retention rates
• Fall 2007 cohort 78.59
• Fall 2006 cohort 75.94

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One
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Legal Issues in Advising

• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
  1974

• Potential Liability Issues
• The importance of accurate record keeping
• Disclaimer Forms?
• ADA/504

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Ethical Issues in Advising

• Limits of your expertise
• Acknowledge what you dont know
• Making referrals
• Continuous learning
• Avoid dual relationships
• Response time to advisees

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Two
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Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)

• Connection between QEP and Advising
• Source of Mandatory Academic Planning
• Advisors to assist student with mandatory two-
  year academic plan
• http//www.spsu.edu/qep/

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National Academic Advising
Association Statement of Core Values
Academic advising is integral to fulfilling the
teaching and learning mission of higher
education. Academic advising has three
components curriculum (what advising deals
with), pedagogy (how advising does what it does),
and student learning outcomes (the result of
academic advising).
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for Advising
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Characteristics of Good Advisors

• Knowledgeable
• Student-centered
• No-nonsense
• Professional
• Available/responsive
• Experienced 
• Assertive--expect student to participate and
  perform

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Three
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Admissions at SPSU

• Admit Types
• Freshman (FTFT - First time, full-time transfer
  with lt30 credit hrs)
• Transfers
• Transients
• International
• Graduate
• Others

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Catalogs as Contracts

• Initial catalog
• Future catalog
• Graduation catalog
• Degree Audit
• Catalog can be found on Registration page

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Initial Registration Process

• Admitted to SPSU
• Attend Undergrad or Grad Orientation
• Get advised
• Prepare schedule
• Register in BANNER

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Registration for Current Students

• Prepare or review 2-year Academic Plan
• Consult major curriculum requirements
• Review Schedule of Classes
• Meet with advisor as required
• Finalize course selection (Banner notes or
  advising sheets)
• Student self registers in Banner

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Registration Topics

• Prerequisites
• Link Errors
• Transfer Credit
• Incompletes
• Withdrawals (Drop/Add)
• Deadline, after deadline, faculty
• initiated (new process)
• HOLDS
• Overrides
• Dos and Donts

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Registration Topics (contd)

• College Level Examination Program (CLEP)
• Credit by Examination Departmental Discretion
  50 per test (NO credit for work experience)
• Advanced Placement
• AP website http//www.spsu.edu/home/prospective/ap
  ply/ap.html
• Academic Standing
• Probation (term cumulative)
• Suspension
• Deferred Suspension
• Petitioning for Reinstatement
• Appeals Procedure

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BANNER

• SPSUs official student records system
• In BANNER you can
• Obtain class lists
• Enter students grades
• Update information
• Others?
• Faculty view vs. student view

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Day One is Done!

• Homework Scenarios
• Tony
• Bill
• Amy

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Degree RequirementsThe USG Core Curriculum

• I. General Education Requirements
• Area A. Essential Skills
• Area B. Institutional Options
• Area C. Humanities
• Area D. Science, Math and Technology
• Area E. Social Sciences
• Area F. Courses Related to the Program of Study
• Requirements dependent upon major

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Degree Requirements (contd)

• Major Course Requirements
• Supporting Courses
• Elective Courses

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Majors and Minors

• Declaring a Major
• Declaring a Minor
• Sequencing
• Double Major

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Curriculum Sheets
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Repeat Courses

• Students may take a course repeatedly
• ONLY THE LAST ATTEMPT is calculated into the
  institutional GPA
• ALL grades remain on the transcript
• Financial Aid counts all attempts

Academic Renewal

• Effective after an absence of 5 years or longer
• Student must not have attended any other
  institution during that 5 year period
• Details found Registrars Office section of
  catalog

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Recommended Class Load
What responsibilities in addition to college
does the student have?

• If you are working
• 40 hours per week 1-6 credit hrs
• 30 hours per week 6-9 credit hrs
• 20 hours per week 9-12 credit hrs
• Less than 20 hours per week 12 -15 credit hrs
• Not working 12 -18 credit hrs

12 credit hours is full-time for
undergraduates Graduates varies by program
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Key Financial Aid Issues

• ALL credit hour attempts are counted
• Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Fs, Ws
  and Is
• Completion Rate 67
• Send students to Financial Aid Office

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Faculty Resources

• SPSU Catalog
• registrar.spsu.edu
• Faculty Advising Website
• advising.spsu.edu
• Web Reports
• reports.spsu.edu
• Connect.spsu.edu
• New Faculty Handbook
• Campus Map
• Student Handbook

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Four, Five Six
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Delivering Bad News

• Bad News is any information which adversely
  alters ones expectation for the future.  We
  essentially alter their dreams.
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• Summarize and Strategize
• See a Career Counselor
• Suggest they research several majors and report
  back to you
• Dont deliver via email!
• Alternate Career Paths- have some in your office
• Denial to Architecture Program "I will never
  have a career as an Architect or Denial to
  Graduate School re-strategize/different routes

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Seven
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• 10 Questions to Ask an Advisee
• The Advising Appointment
• Basic Topics for Advising Sessions
• Making Effective Referrals
• Common Student Issues by Month

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Students Academic Plan

• Beginning fall 2011,
• following students first
• registration, students
• will be required to come
• up with a two-year plan
• and meet with their
• advisor

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Final Wrap-Up

• Faculty advising is a requirement by the BOR and
  an integral part of the SPSU faculty annual
  evaluation process
• Training evaluation
• This completes Advisor Training Part 1!
• Upcoming! Part 2 and 3 leading to a Master
  Advisor certificate