A&S Departments Share Advising Goals for 2014-15

College of Arts & Sciences departments are all involved in efforts to improve advising for undergraduate students in an effort to help students graduate in four years, prepare for productive careers and citizenship, and find opportunities to explore a variety of interests while they are in college.

The college conducted a survey of undergraduate students last spring, and the results are helping to guide department efforts.

The following are the 2014-15 advising goals by department.

African American Studies

• Increase majors/minors. Develop new approaches to targeting prospective students.
• Continue to provide individualized attention to students (mentoring, taking them to professional conferences). These efforts have led to an increase in majors and minors.
• Revive the African American Studies club.
• Promote alum and high performing students on our web page.
• Provide information regarding career and graduate study opportunities for our students.

Anthropology

• Continue to provide each student with an individualized advising experience that enables the student to conceptualize, plan and accomplish academic goals.
• Continue to create an Anthfest for majors and minors in the fall term, allowing students to meet other students, meet the faculty, learn about the year’s courses and events, and learn about the special features of the Anthropology program.
• Continue to offer and expand workshops offered to majors on career planning, resume writing and other professional activities.
• Continue to work with advisees to increase their awareness and take advantage of the special features of the program that provide experience working on applied projects, teaching in course labs, and participating in faculty-led research.
• Expand communication with advisees concerning the value of participating in theme courses.
• Continue to work with students to explain the value of participating in internship programs and discuss the internship programs linked with the anthropology program.
• Continue to advise skilled students to compete for research awards and national awards and refer them to relevant offices on campus.
• Increase the availability of materials concerning career trajectories used for faculty during advising. The program now has handouts on career and job opportunities that list a number of useful websites such as the American Anthropological Association Student website. This can be expanded.
• Expand the content of weekly email messages to undergraduate majors and minors to include more information about events and opportunities related to Anthropology faculty in addition to those received about student paper competitions, internship opportunities, field school advertisements, study abroad advertisements, graduate school information and job opportunities.
• Continue to expand the network of Ohio University Anthropology alumni who can offer mentorship and career opportunities to graduating seniors. Expand ways of using the Anthropology and Sociology newsletter and the Sociology-Anthropology Facebook page for this purpose.
• Increase the visibility of Ohio University student and faculty activities by showcasing particular events on the Sociology-Anthropology Facebook Page.
• Continue to work with Anthropology student groups to plan activities such as guest speakers and the student-sponsored Anthropology Symposium focused on student research.
• Continue to work on and increase student participation in the spring department awards ceremony. Continue to choose an outstanding Anthropology senior and a distinguished alum who offer a short talk at this ceremony.

Biological Sciences

• Increase the awareness of career opportunities and preparation for the job search (Student Advising Survey Question 3.9). The department had some success in this area and plans to continue improving. The Career and Leadership Development Center worked closely with the department last spring semester, creating a presentation to highlight the career services offered to students and demonstrated useful online searches and support (Bobcat Career Link). The addition of the Arts & Sciences CLDC Assistant Director Jessie Carter will be a great help in making students more aware of career information. This semester, Carter visited the Biological Sciences Department and discussed how to expand upon last year’s efforts. A presentation is planned for early spring.
• The second goal set for academic advising improvement was in response to question 3.6- addressing the perception of adviser knowledge of academic requirements, prerequisites, etc. The department has seen an increase in survey results in this area as well, but considers it to be of utmost importance and continues to work toward improvement. The checklists used to outline major track requirements were improved by adding prerequisites for each course, providing a handy worksheet for advising meetings. The department also tried to make advising more of a focus of faculty meetings. However, time limitations and scheduling issues prevented this from being very effective. Therefore, the department is implementing other ways to get academic information out to students and faculty advisers. This should not only impact survey question 3.6 but also 3.14 and 3.15. Efforts toward this goal include:

Group preplanning and advising sessions: Three sessions were held in the week prior to preregistration advising. Each included a presentation illustrating the next steps in the coursework, with various options depending on what courses are being taken this term. All students completed a tentative spring schedule worksheet and were instructed to contact their academic adviser with that schedule information. Several faculty advisers were on hand to answer questions following the presentation. The sessions were fairly well attended, with approximately 123 students participating. The department may make this a mandatory session for freshmen in future semesters. They look forward to this being one of the duties coordinated by the new A&S Academic adviser for Biological Sciences.

Conduct a workshop for academic advisers- A meeting to go over the check sheets and curricula requirements, review DARS, ask questions, discuss best practices, and a demonstration of Notes in the Faculty Advising Center. Again, scheduling to meet the needs of faculty was a challenge, but it was well received by those in attendance, and the department will continue this effort.

• Efforts to improve faculty knowledge of requirements, and advising in general, will include:

An email to all Biological Sciences advisers prior to preregistration. including updates and reminders of campus resources (Academic Advising Center hours, A&S Student Affairs, Irvine BARR services, etc.).

Adviser workshop to discuss changes happening in medical school preparations (MCAT) and major tracks.

Training sessions for new advisers.

Email to students prior to preregistration advising with tips for preparing for advising (expectations of advising, scheduling advising meetings, creating tentative schedules and questions for advisers).

Chemistry & Biochemistry

• The undergraduate coordinator emails all students each term about the upcoming advising season. The individual advisers also email the students. However, each term there is a small percentage of students who have issues with setting up appointments with advisers. (The adviser may be out of town for a portion of the advising period; the student does not set up an appointment during the advising period, etc.) The department plans to continue to improve communications to students to ensure that students meet with their adviser during the three-week advising period prior to their registration time.
• Create a short check sheet for faculty that includes available resources for students.
• Discuss best practices at faculty meetings and/or hold workshops for faculty focused on advising.
• Assign first-year students to a specific set of faculty to help students adjust to Ohio University.
• Continue to assign students labeled “at risk” to a specific set of faculty.

Classics & World Religions

• Allow ample time for advising meetings.
• Encourage students to make advising appointments rather than wait for them to wander in at the last minute.
• Help students understand their humanities major in the context of life and career rather than job training.
• Advertise Classics & World Religions courses more widely through the themes programs.

Economics

• Provide each student a truly individual experience to be of most help in accomplishing his or her academic goals. To do this, the department has begun a major shift in the way it offers advising. Each faculty member, tenured, tenure-track and visiting, is assigned advisees. The faculty have been trained by Economics faculty members and the assistant dean.
• The department will require students to communicate directly with their adviser to ensure their understanding of where they stand and where they are going academically before the advising hold is lifted. They feel this will be much more effective than a DARS-fest or having one or two advisers advising more than a hundred students.
• To make sure the non-native English speaking students also have the best possible advising experience, these students are being assigned to a special international adviser, Tetyana Dovbnya, who will turn them over to the Economics faculty when they have reached a point in their careers where they can communicate effectively with the faculty advisers.

English

• The department wants to be certain that all English majors receive quality advising. To this end, it plans to create and distribute an internal English Department survey assessing current advising practices and areas of concern amongst its advising faculty in spring 2015. This, along with the college advising survey results from students, will enable us to determine further needed actions towards achieving the goal.

Environmental & Plant Biology

• Undergraduate Advising Coordinator will make contact with every Plant Biology major and minor to confirm that each student is receiving sufficient advising, as well as time to discuss career paths or other academic issues as needed; Undergraduate Advising Coordinator will fill the gap where a student needs assistance. (in process)
• All first-year Plant Biology majors and minors will have completed a four-year plan and are on track with courses. (in process)
• Conduct workshops on career paths for students with Plant Biology degrees. Develop workshop for those students interested in graduate school. (held previously, not yet implemented this year)
• Conduct an analysis of all remaining transitional Q2S (quarter to semester) students to see that they have met or will meet graduation requirements by spring 2015. (nearly done)

Geography

• Promote new major (Globalization and Development) through various media, including emails to students and class announcements.
• Offer more advising options by increasing the number of office hours (from 4 to 6 per week) of the Undergraduate Chair.
• Mentoring newest faculty member on advising matters.

Geological Sciences

• Geological Sciences received student survey results of 4.5 or higher in all areas except for 3.13 (4.11) (My adviser encourages me to talk about my experiences at Ohio University.) and 3.14 (4.0) (My adviser is knowledgeable about other offices and services on campus.).
• To further improve student advising, the department will make the following information available to students during the next advising meeting in spring semester, 2015. In addition, it will provide students with the contact information of the advisers in the Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Student Affairs Office for further assistance in general questions.
• The department will refer students to the My Planner component in their student portal.
• It will refer students to Bobcat Careerlink.
• It will refer students to support services information.
• It will encourage faculty to document their advising meetings on the Faculty Advising Center.

History

• Provide updated contact information for student support offices such as the Dean of Students, Counseling Service, Allen Student Advising Center, and Tutoring Services to all advisers and students in hard copy and on our department website.
• Hold a training meeting with all advisers (and other interested faculty) that covers FERPA and best procedures for dealing with students in crisis.
• Continue to mentor and assess new faculty advisers as they take on this important service.
• Promote internship opportunities to students more effectively. To this end, the department plans on adding an “internship workshop” to the annual career and opportunities event the department holds each fall. The department anticipates adding a spring event on internships to better prepare students for summer internship opportunities.
• Expand Pre-Law advising. The number of majors in this area has doubled since spring 2012, and one dedicated pre-law adviser is no longer able to meet the needs of this growing area of the major. The department will add a second dedicated pre-law adviser and continue to coordinate its advising efforts with the Center for Law, Justice & Culture.
• Create and implement an Advising Survey for History majors that will allow students to identify areas where the department can provide more assistance.
• Continue to require freshmen, transfer, and probationary students to meet with their adviser and strongly encourage one-on-one advising with all other advisees.

Linguistics

1. Continue to make use of the notes page in the Faculty Advising Center, making sure to complete notes for each student at the end of the advising session. It is a very useful tool and one that will facilitate the advising experience for students. The department would like to be able to generate a document that collects all the advising notes together so that it can analyze it for trends in the data as a whole.
2. Continue improving dissemination of information about Global Opportunities, including making students aware of the new spring break study away opportunities—especially a proposed service learning course in Washington, D.C.
3. Continue to stress the possibility of a B.A. or B.S. in specialized studies to appropriate students.
4. Continue disseminating information about themes, especially to freshmen and sophomores. Interdisciplinary courses like CAS 2400 and CAS 1410, which allow student to choose between Humanities, Social Sciences, or Humanities distribution areas, have been especially popular.
5. Create a better flier for use in advising session with visiting high school students and at the Majors Fair. These fliers would be based on the information on the Linguistics website.
6. Continue work with Linguistics Society of Ohio University to make talks about careers in linguistics an ongoing feature and make better efforts to encourage all undergrads to participate in Linguistics Society of Ohio University and its talks.

Mathematics

• Attend to more “whole student” advising.
• Involve more faculty and more types of faculty in advising.
• Strengthen freshmen advising by engaging expertise in first-year advising and retention and student affairs in the process.
• Better train advisers.
• Make more internship opportunities available to students.

Modern Languages

• In order to help faculty convey that they are more knowledgeable about college and university degree requirements, these requirements will be added to the Departmental Advising Guide (created as a means of achieving last year’s goals).
• Provide Group II faculty who currently offer informal advice to students with detailed advising resources. They will be issued the Departmental Advising Guide (completed Fall 2014).
• Work toward enabling Group II faculty, with an interest in more formal advising (i.e., become an “official” undergraduate major adviser) to potentially take on that role. Group II faculty with an interest in advising will be identified. A departmental undergraduate advising workshop will be held for those faculty, and will also be open to any Group I faculty who are interested in attending (Spring 2015).

Philosophy

• Open a Twitter account with majors (and maybe minors) to have a dialogue about activities in the department and things philosophical. The department plans to use this connection to talk about and provide information concerning advising. This will begin with the spring semester.
• Pay close attention to advising responsibilities to insure that advisers do a good job for undergraduates.

Physics & Astronomy

• Advisers will continue to provide assistance to students in navigating the process of fulfilling graduation requirements. This includes advice on selection of courses at advising sessions, help with additional questions arising from advising (e.g. what to do if a course if full) and procedures from transferring to a different major or adding other majors or minors should the need arise.
• Course planning for the full four years of a student’s time at Ohio University will be done (under most circumstances) in the second semester following enrollment. This Degree Completion Plan will be updated and passed on as part of any change in the student’s adviser.
• Advising Notes on the Faculty Advising Center will be used to maintain better communication among advisers about what was discussed with the student at advising sessions and any changes to requirements that were agreed to.
• At advising sessions, advisers will explicitly discuss careers (discussing opportunities for internships and directing students to the Career & Leadership Development Center as appropriate) and explain the connection between careers and research internships.
• Advisers will invite their advisees to talk about their extracurricular interests and other activities beyond the classroom. This will help to get a better understanding of what the students’ career goals are and how the department can help meet them. It can also bring to the department’s attention academic issues that might benefit from assistance.

Political Science

• Recruitment and retention—increase the number of majors and minors.
• Student engagement—emphasize outreach to students through Twitter and Facebook to include them in department news, events, and research.
• Advising—launch pilot advising program of three designated department advisers. Assess effectiveness with year-end survey.

Psychology

• Monitor student complaints concerning advising. The department would like to see if there are certain issues that are prominent in the department and then try to address them. It has notified faculty advisers that it will be inquiring about complaints.
• The department plans to continue its social media efforts regarding events in the department.

Sociology

• Build better advising related resources for faculty

Distribute My Ohio experience 2014-15 handbook to all faculty. (This was completed during fall as a result of learning about this book at the A&S advising meeting).

Establish collaboratively editable faculty advising information sheet. The department is editing this to make a body of notes to help Sociology faculty with commonly encountered advising issues.

• Increase collaborative advising potential within the community.

Develop more community interaction events for the cohorts at Ohio University.

Ted Welser will be using his capstone course to develop events for enhancing community interaction within cohorts.

• Facilitate the improvement of existing “View from the Capstone” resources, and develop new resources in the context of Welser’s capstone course.
• Integrate more cohort relevant information and resources onto existing web pages, starting with Welser’s advising page, and later integrating those materials into the new departmental page once that exists.
• Provide support for students, alums, and faculty to increase their success at Ohio University and beyond. Facilitate building capacity for connecting, creating, and collaborating, online or otherwise.

Develop a longer lasting culture of greater collaboration and interaction between students, faculty, and alums related to career development and digital skills.

Integrate capstone students into “Get Smarts” (an online learning community), use peer driven sampling to reach a larger population of students.

Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies

• Maintain a current working knowledge of the course catalog in order to better suit each student’s interest.
• Maintain communication with majors and certificate students via the Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies listserv.
• Encourage students to complement their interdisciplinary WGSS major with a minor in other fields and/or double majors that are consistent with their educational and professional interests.
• Maintain knowledge of services intended to assist students with special needs and direct them to the appropriate resources.
• Monitor students’ academic progress throughout their undergraduate careers to ensure they are fulfilling all of the requirements needed.
• Stress the availability of faculty for follow-up and continued conversations on a student’s course of study, collecting information on these conversations in the Notes feature in the Faculty Advising Center.
• Build academic community through notable events throughout the year to enhance education outside of the traditional classroom space (speakers, film screenings, art installations, discussion groups).
• Build information and social interactions to increase knowledge of student’s interests (both academically and professionally) in order to better serve the students in the advising process. (Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies holds a spring and fall gathering for all current and future students that brings students together with affiliated and core faculty to speak in a less formal academic setting.)
• Maintain information on Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies graduates’ careers and post-graduate pursuits on the program website.
• Create opportunities throughout the year for Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies students to consider their career options after graduation (WGSS and the Women’s Center co-sponsored a workshop this past October with UNC professor, Michelle Berge), during her visit to Ohio University). Professor Berger worked with WGSS majors on career and internship options for graduates with Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies degrees.