BEST PRACTICES ACADEMIC ADVISING IN THE COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Submitted by Margy Goodwin,
Assistant Dean for College of Health and Human Services
Where to Begin
What better place than with Precollege academic advising sessions, where we begin to guide our students into the “unknown” and first quarter of enrollment. A faculty advisor from each of the four schools that offer freshman entry programs meets with each new student to review academic information and assist with course schedule preparation. These faculty members contribute so much to this important experience by sharing their knowledge of the program areas, as well as providing academic advice and course-selection assistance. Having personal interaction with and guidance of caring faculty and experienced advisors right off the bat is invaluable. Our exploratory students meet with a student services professional to review general graduation requirements, career and major exploration information, and discuss course selection. We also provide to each student at the academic information sessions of Precollege the name of his or her faculty advisor and that person’s office location, office telephone number, and e-mail address.
One of our schools, Nursing, offers an upper division baccalaureate degree program that is delivered online and enrolls primarily non-traditional students. The students are registered nurses; have already completed associate degree or diploma programs and most are employed, and many are full-time and not living in the Athens area. Obviously, academic advising must be approached differently in this situation. These students receive their first advising as prospective students. The School of Nursing provides an unofficial advising review of transcripts of previously completed coursework upon request. The school also schedules monthly academic information sessions at major health organizations and quarterly sessions at feeder schools (for example community colleges that confer associate degrees in nursing). Please contact Dr. Kathy Rose-Grippa, Interim Director, School of Nursing, at 593-4494 for additional program information.
When students are officially admitted to the nursing program, they are required to attend an orientation session that includes a careful review of the DARS report and academic requirements as well as course scheduling advice. Eight of these sessions are held in various locations in the month before each quarter begins. One of these sessions is also held in the beginning of each quarter. Because these sessions are conducted by two faculty advisors, students benefit from the personal interaction that is such an important facet of the academic experience.
What Happens Next?
Students admitted to the School of Nursing are each assigned a faculty advisor. Some of the faculty members are located on OHIO’s regional campuses, which allows advisor assignments to be made based on geographical location of the student. The students also are given a toll-free number to call for advising assistance if they are unable to consult with the advisor who has been assigned.
Students who are exploring the major program offerings in the College are assigned for academic advising to either the associate dean, assistant dean for student services, or coordinator of recruitment and retention. These students are required to meet with their advisor each quarter to discuss academic matters, major exploration strategies, and career interests.
Every student in the School of Health Sciences is assigned a faculty advisor in his or her program area. For the last three years, the student organization Future Health Care Administrators has worked with health services administration faculty to conduct an advising session each quarter in conjunction with a regular meeting. All faculty members advising in this major participate in that meeting.
A faculty advisor is also assigned to every student in the College’s other three schools. In the School of Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences, students are welcome to sign up for an individual time to see their advisor, especially during the three-week advising period every quarter. During these three-week advising periods, all faculty members have appointment sign-up schedules posted by their office doors. In addition, each HSLS major is required to attend a group advising meeting each quarter. In one evening, there is a meeting for freshmen, followed by a meeting for sophomores, and then juniors and seniors. Each meeting is about 30-45 minutes long. At these meetings, general information is shared (for example, class cancellations or additions) and preregistration DARS reports are distributed. Each student has the opportunity to meet with his or her faculty advisor at that meeting.
The School of Human and Consumer Sciences offers a joint degree program in early childhood with the College of Education. In this program, all early childhood faculty members in both colleges meet with majors who attend a group advising session. Individual advising appointments are also available to students who attend the group session and are required of students who do not. All students in the other programs in this School must attend either a group advising session, if scheduled, or meet individually with their advisor each quarter.
Advising arrangements vary in the School of Recreation and Sport Sciences. The Athletic Training program is selective admission with no more than sixteen students admitted each year. Faculty members work closely with pre-majors as they are required to completed specific major courses each fall, winter and spring quarter that are taught by the undergraduate program coordinator and first-year student advisor. All pre-athletic training majors are assigned to the same faculty member for advising, and the program coordinator advises all students admitted to the program.
General advising meetings are held each quarter for recreation studies majors and physical education majors. All advisors attend these meetings, and each student works with his or her advisor individually during the session. If a student does not attend this session, he or she must schedule an appointment with the advisor for another time.
With only six faculty (two of whom are new hires) to advise 436 exercise physiology majors and five faculty (one who is school director and two new hires) to advise nearly 400 sport management majors, group advising sessions are used each quarter in the sport sciences programs. All of the faculty are in attendance at the meetings, and the faculty also arrange individual advising appointments during the advising period. If a student in either of these majors does not attend the group advising session, he or she must schedule an appointment with his/her advisor to obtain preregistration materials.
What’s New?
In fall 2006, the School of Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences put in place a new advising evaluation system. Students interviewed other students about expectations of advisors and the advising process. The information from those interviews was used to develop an advisor evaluation form. The School also offers on its Web site a list of frequently-asked advising questions and answers for which questions and answers are continually added. The School also uses its “HSLS Academic Advising Manual”, which was created by the undergraduate program coordinator. The manual, which is updated every spring quarter, serves as a handy reference for HSLS advisors and includes information that is both general and major-specific.
Summary
You can see that academic advising at the College of Health and Human Services, with its varied programs and nearly 3,000 undergraduate majors, takes different approaches. The one element common to all is that students receive the guidance needed to successfully navigate the academic process and reach their goals.
Questions about academic advising in the College of Health and Human Services can be directed to goodwinm@ohio.edu.
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