2015 Fall Conference Schedule
Looking to the Future: The Importance of the Academic Adviser in Higher Education
#PSUadvconf15
Friday, September 11, 2015
7:30 - noon
8:00 - 9:45
8:00 - 1:00pm
If Winterfell were an academic advising center, the motto would be “change is coming.” Whether we wish for it or not, each year students bring new ideals, learning styles, and ways to absorb information. The newest generation of students, known as Gen 2020 or Generation Z, will be knocking on our advising doors before we know it. How will we accommodate them? This poster depicts how advisers have handled change in generational shifts up to this point and strategies to use with students in the future.
Meghan Erwin, M.Ed., Ed.D. (in progress), Educational Adviser, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
This presentation will introduce participants to the First-Year Experience (FYE) Advising Model at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Our FYE program is designed to meet the needs of at-risk students admitted through the Department of Developmental Studies. This poster provides an overview of the FYE program and advising model, highlights changes over the past three years, and examines how these changes have impacted student persistence.
Craig Robertson, Ph.D., Director, Department of Interdisciplinary and Professional Studies, University of North Alabama
Amy Crews, Ph.D., Director, University Advising Services, University of North Alabama
Kerry Gatlin, Ph.D., Professor, College of Business, University of North Alabama
This poster reflects a study that examined student perceptions of interactional justice in the academic advising relationship. As a dimension of organizational justice, interactional justice refers to the fairness of interpersonal treatment one receives and includes two components: interpersonal justice (being treated with dignity, courtesy, and respect by authority figures) and informational justice (receiving relevant information from authority figures). An academic adviser rated high on this dimension is described as one who, regardless of style/approach, makes information available and clear; offers adequate explanations and justifications; and is kind, understanding, patient, respectful, and concerned for the rights and well-being of the student.
Steven Viveiros, M.S., Ph.D. candidate, Dean of Advising and Academic Success, Wheaton College
Our student population is looking for meaning in their educational experiences. In helping them discern this meaning, we are creating a consistency with the student, which is essential in developing a trusting relationship. Students may have only one constant relationship in their college career—their academic adviser, whose role involves building intentional individualized relationships with students focused on developing trust. How do we create this consistent, meaningful relationship? In this poster session, we will present best practices in enhancing the academic adviser’s role as a constant factor in the student’s educational experience.
Considering the significant role most parents play in the academic success of their students, how and to what extent are higher education professionals expected to communicate with parents about their students. What about FERPA? Using research from Dr. Beth Moriarty’s dissertation on “Relationship of Helicopter Parenting on Autonomy Development in First-year College Students,” this poster presentation will define the role of parental involvement, examine strategies to address parents, and review the new role of parents in the educational process.
8:30 - 8:45
Vice President and Dean for Undergraduate Education
Penn State
8:45 - 9:45
Marc Lowenstein, Ph.D.
9:45 - 10:15
10:15 - 11:45
Drew Puroway, M.S., Academic Counselor, University of St. Thomas
Ashley Dorsey, M.A., Academic Adviser, College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State University Park
Academic advisers often fill multiple roles on campuses, and these additional layers of responsibility can feel daunting. One especially important aspect of our advising responsibilities involves advocating for our advisees, regardless of background, as well as helping them understand the meaning and purpose of higher education. This session will give participants an understanding of theories related to social justice in education and the opportunity to apply those theories to two case studies. Social justice work does not have to be daunting and is something from which all of our students can benefit.
Emily C. Artello, Ed.M., Academic Adviser, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
As we look to the future of the academic advising profession, programmatic assessment is an avenue that allows us to address where we are, where we want to go, and how we want to shape the academic adviser’s role within higher education. Over the last year, the Academic and Career Planning Center at Penn State Behrend piloted such an assessment. During this interactive workshop, participants will learn about our research process and pilot study, begin to assess their own advising programs, and brainstorm ideas for developing best practices for moving forward.
Alexandria (Sandy) Kile, M.A., Instructor, Communication Arts and Sciences, Penn State Lehigh Valley
Eileen M. Grodziak, M.Ed., Instructional Design Specialist, Penn State Lehigh Valley
Today’s students communicate through technology. Everywhere they go, they text, tweet, message, and snapchat to express themselves and to connect with various social networks. Nevertheless, students often struggle to articulate their strengths, goals, and interests with professionalism and confidence in face-to-face conversations. During this workshop, participants will learn about a new online practice tool that incorporates appreciative advising techniques with interpersonal communication practice. This tool offers advisers a concrete way to engage a student’s rational process and behavioral awareness as they support students’ academic and professional goals.
Terry K. Musser, Ph.D., Associate Director, Enrollment and Operations, Division of Undergraduate Studies, Penn State University Park
This workshop provides an interactive way of reframing research and contrasting the reductionist with a holistic perspective called “systems thinking.” Exercises will provide creative ways of understanding how to view our world systemically, and activities such as concept mapping will help to explain advising systems. Presenters will offer research case studies to highlight how to use systemic inquiry to gain a better understanding of the ripple effects of systemic change. Participants will use tools and principles to begin a systemic analysis of their own advising system. This workshop will be especially useful to those interested in advising research, redesigning and improving advising systems, and/or advising assessment.
Students hired to assist advising centers can serve many functions—helping with new student orientation, performing office work-study tasks, serving as peer advisers, and more. Students also represent an innovative means by which advisers can more effectively communicate with advisees. The prospect of working with and/or training students to be part of an advising center, however, can be intimidating. This workshop is intended for advisers who are considering creating a student staff or seeking new ways of promoting and training their current staff. Attendees will walk away with best practices and a practical plan for implementing or improving a student staff in their department.
Noon - 1:00
1:15 - 2:15
Join Dr. Marc Lowenstein, our keynote speaker, for an informal discussion on envisioning the future of academic advising.
Paul Frisch, M.A., Instructor of History and Faculty Adviser-in-Residence, Penn State Worthington Scranton
There is an increased focus on the role of academic advising in retention— specifically on providing effective advising, which requires development programs grounded in theory and best practices. This session will present the theory on adviser development and relate it to the process of creating a facultyadvising development series. Challenges and considerations will be addressed, including faculty buy-in and collaboration. Participants will gain resources, tools, and action steps to help create an adviser development program.
Central Pennsylvania, as a rural region of the North, has a strained history and culture around race relations. Academic advisers, while engaging and guiding students, must understand them as individuals and as a population. This understanding comes from learning the history of our campuses and higher education and the layered cultural characteristics students bring to college. This presentation pulls data from several months of ethnographic research conducted in central Pennsylvania with families of color and applies lessons from that fieldwork to help academic advisers do more to make our students feel welcome and be successful.
When was the last time you picked up your advising mirror? Do you take time to reflect on your practice; how you present yourself to others; the outcomes of your work? Does your practice match the ideals of your advising philosophy? This presentation is designed to remind advisers of the importance and benefits of reflective practices. It will provide various methods to incorporate self-reflection into an adviser’s busy schedule and will offer time for advisers to analyze their current level of self-reflection. Participants will leave with a plan to increase the implementation of self-reflection methods in their work with students.
Dina Maslennikova, M.Ed., Academic Adviser, Center for Academic Advising and Professional Development, Temple University
Students on academic warning or probation notice often require a significantly higher proportion of advising time than the general student population does. Despite best efforts and expert advising, these students too often do not succeed in their long-term academic goals. Looking for new approaches to break this negative cycle, the College of Liberal Arts Advising Center at Temple University implemented “Back on Track,” a Blackboard program that requires students on probation or warning (with a GPA below 2.0) to conduct a self-analysis of contributing academic risk factors prior to course registration. Now in its fourth iteration, statistical and qualitative analysis of the program has shown favorable results.
2:15 - 2:30
2:30 - 3:30
Stacy Jones, M.S., R.D.N., Community Health Educator & Clinical Dietitian, Health Promotion & Wellness, Penn State University Park
Mary Anne Knapp, M.S.W., Clinical Social Worker/Senior Staff Therapist, Coordinator of Outreach, Penn State University Park
Joan V. Miller, M.Ed., Academic Adviser, Division of Undergraduate Studies, Penn State University Park
Do you struggle to find appropriate words about mental health during advising sessions with students? What resources on campus serve students with specific mental health issues? This session will highlight the relationship between mental health and academic advising concerns, describe characteristics of our students’ mental health disorders, provide information to help facilitate conversations with students about their mental health, and reframe common misconceptions about campus resources that support students. It is our hope that following this panel discussion, advisers will more confidently and resourcefully be able to observe, communicate, and refer students with mental health issues.
Elisa Van Cise, M.B.A., Veteran Counselor/ VA Certifying Official, Office of Veterans Programs, Penn State University Park
Since 2008, the veteran population at Penn State has tripled in size, requiring the University to take a closer look at the needs of these students and how to best accommodate them. Staff representing the Penn State Office of Veterans Programs will share why colleges and universities are seeing this increase in population, address the range of concerns and challenges that members of this population commonly face when returning to school, and suggest how we can best address these concerns to ensure the success of student veterans.
Advising professionals’ decision-making strategies are as diverse as the very students they serve. This session will address ethical decision making as a variable of advising competency and will include a guided-reflection process to jump-start the discussion on how one’s life experiences set the stage for ethical decision making. Specific decision-making challenges and case scenarios along with a ten-step model to consider will be discussed.
Kristie Kalvin, Academic Adviser, Penn State University Park
International undergraduate students are a growing population on many college and university campuses across the country. While these students are recruited in increasingly greater numbers, campus resources typically focus on getting students to campus and helping them navigate the immigration requirements to study in the United States. Unfortunately, there are fewer resources available to international students to support their academic success once they are here, and the resources that do exist are often underutilized. This session will discuss growing trends surrounding international students in higher education and ways for academic advising offices to take a more proactive role and better facilitate international students’ academic success.
Kate Miffitt, M.A., Director of Digital Pedagogy and Scholarship, College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State University Park
Kyle Peck, Ph.D., Professor of Education, Co-Director of Center for Online Innovation in Learning, Penn State University Park
In this session participants will learn about Penn State’s digital badging movement, hear how the College of the Liberal Arts initiated a digital badging program across its college, and consider why some on campus support and some resist digital badging. A point of discussion will include whether academic advisers should promote the development and adoption of this process as a creative, more flexible, and influential way to recognize undergraduate students' individual accomplishments. If so, how can the advising community help?