Strengthening the Faculty-Adviser-Student Relationship: New Materials and Technologies

Keywords: 

Penn State Specific Faculty and Peer Advising/Mentoring Technology and Social Media

Abstract: 

At a decentralized institution, where information is continuously updated, misunderstanding between faculty, students, and professional academic advisers can emerge. When students are pursuing a degree in a language, commonly a second major, they are often assigned an academic advisor outside the academic home of languages. Therefore, the details of obtaining a degree can be hard to come by for students and advisers, leaving more questions than answers.

The Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese at Penn State University has developed a set of materials that provide multiple points of access for students, empower faculty to answer students’ initial questions, and encourage faculty to support academic advisers. In this presentation, we describe digital flowcharts, an FAQ list, and a web-based app that make the academic unit more responsible for providing information to academic advisers in a shared space.

Date: 

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 - 3:00pm to 4:00pm

Location: 

Room 208

Presenter(s): 

Joseph Bauman, PhD

Title: 
Teaching Professor of Spanish, Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese
Institution: 
Penn State

Lauren Halberstadt, PhD

Title: 
Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese
Institution: 
Penn State