January 19, 2012 - UAAC Meeting Minutes
Present: Janet Muncey (Admissions); Sandra McCarthy (Anthropology; Health, Society, and Policy); Nevon Bruschke (Art and Art History); Jessica Taylor (Atmospheric Sciences); Jess Taverna, Jason Barkemeyer, Anna Adams, Kari Dockendorff, Christine Daoust (Business); Pat Reilly (Career Services); Richard Ernst (Chemistry); Hilda Bravo (Communication); Merilee Anderson, Janet Goff, Candace Krukiel, Erik Hjorten (Continuing Education); Lori McDonald (Dean of Students’ Office); Arlene Arenaz (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Dianne Leonard (Engineering); Josh Larson, Rachel Bonnett, Danielle Marble (Exercise and Sport Science); Liz Leckie (Fine Arts); Judy Martinez (Geology and Geophysics); Shari Lindsey (Health); Karleton Munn (History); Andrew Kahrs (Housing and Residential Education); Taunya Dressler (Humanities); Alison Vasquez (International Studies); Kelly MacArthur (Mathematics); Debra Mascaro, Mark Mun (Mechanical Engineering); Mary Ann Dresher (Music); Trisha Jensen (Orientation); Lynn Higgs (Physics and Astronomy); Michael Bard (Registrar’s Office); Gina Shipley (Social and Behavioral Science); Tricia Sugiyama (Student Equity and Diversity); Kelsey Nicholson, Sharon Beck (Student Recruitment); Maria Baldwin (Student Support Services); Jill Hinckley (Teacher Education); Lyndi Duff (Undergraduate Studies); Jency Brown, David Eisen, Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski, Richelle Warr, Becki Broadbent, Terese Pratt, Shelley Nicholson, Steve Hadley, Marilyn Hoffman, Tammy Mabey, Jeff Dalby (Academic Advising Center). Total: 54
UCAL Project – Ed Barbanell
A prototype of the unified calendar (which has been discussed at several meetings over the past couple of years) was presented. The calendar uses SharePoint; issues with its use in Outlook are currently being worked out. It will serve as a tool to combine and communicate important dates from several campus constituencies (academic, advising, Admissions, Curriculum, Registrar’s Office, etc.).
Admissions – Janet Muncey
- Reminder: Admissions Office is closed every Wednesday from 8am to 12noon, for file processing. Currently, it’s taking about two weeks to process freshman admission files.
Registrar’s Office – Michael Bard
- Spring 2012 enrollment is currently at 30,861 (up 2.6% from last year)
- Important deadlines:
- January 18 (yesterday) – last day to drop (semester-length and first-half )
- January 12 -- last day to add, elect CR/NC, audit
- February 3 -- last day to withdraw from first-half courses
- February 1 – application deadline for Summer 2012 graduation
Jency Brown noted that Academic Advising Center continues to see students who say that their election of CR/NC, for one or more courses, was not intentional (they must do a petition to reverse it). Advisors who see such an election on a student’s record (for current or recent courses) should verify it with the student.
Students who elected CR/NC were sent an e-mail message about it in Fall Semester, and last week as well (for Spring Semester). There is a pop-up notification during the registration process. It was asked if the CR/NC election might possibly be able to be reflected in DARS.
Financial Aid – no report
Curriculum Administration – Lyndi Duff
- January 25 is the deadline for submission of curriculum forms, as well as for changes to program pages and DARS.
- The list of dormant courses was sent out some months ago to associate deans. If no justification for keeping the course is submitted to Curriculum Administration by February 1, the course will be inactivated.
DARS/GPS – Richelle Warr
- Next DARS training is the afternoon of February 15.
- Existing DARS reports on file will be deleted, probably on February 3 (remember to print them or convert them to PDF files if they’ll be needed beyond that date).
- GPS: 302 road maps have been published; 89% have been used by students. Nearly 5,000 plans have been created; 4,408 students are currently using GPS.
- With an eye to eliminating as many unnecessary reports as possible (to avoid duplication and student confusion), one idea is to eliminate the premajor DARS options. Those present felt that eliminating at least those (premajors) that are identical to the major DARS, would be fine.
Advisor Education and Development – no report
Orientation – Trisha Jensen
- Online orientation is still open for current students.
- The new director begins February 8; she will be introduced at a future UAAC meeting.
Transfer Student Issues – Terese Pratt
- University of Phoenix: students can obtain associate’s degrees from there; an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science from Phoenix does clear certain University requirements (Intellectual Exploration and Writing). However, if a transfer from there does not have an associate’s degree, each individual course is looked at; and often there is little that will count toward a University requirement.
University departments are not obligated to use these transfer courses to fill major requirements.
Housing and Residential Education – Andrew Kahrs for Scott Jensen
- The housing application for 2012-13 will be available through Campus Information Systems as of February 1 (this includes application for the new Honors residential community). Students should apply early.
Mandatory Advising Program – Terese Pratt for Martina Stewart
- New freshmen will receive an e-mail message on March 5, informing them of the mandatory advising requirement; the advising hold will also be active then. Advisors will see these students from March 5 through April 10; remember to remove the student’s hold and mark the advisor meeting panel. Early registration begins April 11.
- 2nd year: an e-mail will be sent January 23 to those who haven’t yet met with advisor. On February 17 another message will go out; the final message will be sent on March 2 (and a hold placed that day).
- Undeclared / 60-hour: an e-mail will be sent on February 6 to students who are undeclared, with 60 or more credit hours (hold placed at that time).
Major Expo – Steve Hadley
- The next Expo is slated for September; departments should begin to think about their displays.
New and Continuing Business
UAOA Conference and 60 Credit-hour Undeclared Hold: Steve Hadley reminds advisors that if they declare a student into a departmental major, they should remove the undeclared hold. If the student is still undeclared, they will need to either meet with a Academic Advising Center advisor (for major exploration) or be enrolled in the UC 1050 course.
The Utah Advising and Orientation Association (UAOA) meeting is coming up in May; registration is now open. Proposals are due February 10.
Red, White, and U: Sharon Beck announced that the next “Connecting U” event will be held on January 21 (there are now over 800 student and family member participants). Another event will be held in March; it will have a new name “Red, White, and U Day.” This will be more of a celebration for admitted students; only those students and their parent or guardian will be invited. It’s hoped to include college tours (many departments have already been contacted); more information will be coming on March 3.
“Connecting U” day will still continue, although its form may change. Thanks go to all advisors for the appointments they’re doing for U Night, Honors Day, and other recruitment events.
News from Career Services: Pat Reilly brought some brochures about spring Career Services workshops. There are currently many opportunities for students to get help with their job search (student jobs, internships, and career jobs). The Career Fair will be held on February 7; a summer jobs and internships fair will follow on February 9. January 30 will see the start of workshops to aid students in navigating the Career Fair, preparing for the job search, and résumé writing, among others.
A second-half Spring 2012 course (ED PS 3860-2), specifically for juniors and seniors, will focus on perfecting the job search.
Advising Professional Development Survey: Taunya Dressler announced the she and three College of Humanities colleagues are working on a proposal, for the UAOA meeting, dealing with professional development for advisors. They will shortly be sending out, over the UAAC listserv, a very general survey to help them learn about advising practices throughout the campus. The survey will take about five minutes to complete and should reach advisors early next week.
March UAAC Meeting Date / Perlman Award: Although next month’s scheduled UAAC meeting is during Spring Break (March 15), past experience has indicated that this shouldn’t be a problem for most attendees.
The deadline for nominations for the Perlman Award (for Excellence in Student Counseling) is February 24. Information on the award can be found at http://www.alumni.utah.edu/awards/.
Data Moment: Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski distributed and discussed information on First-Time First-Year Student Retention Rates and Graduation Rates, looking at the years 2001-2010 (the information, from December 2011, comes from the Office of Budget and Institutional Analysis). There will likely be a lot of conversation about University graduation and retention rates, in the coming year (we do now have a new group of peer institutions, due to the University’s entry into the Pac-12 Conference). The official six-year graduation rate is currently pegged at approximately 57%.
NACADA Webinar: Marilyn Hoffman distributed information about a NACADA Web Panel event, Advising International Students from China, on February 2. Bring your own lunch; desserts and drinks provided. RSVP by tomorrow (January 20), or January 23 at the latest.
Advising Tip of the Month: Jency Brown and Jason Barkemeyer talked about the College Level Examination Program (CLEP). The CLEP was originally implemented as a way for older, nontraditional students to get college credit for knowledge gained through life experience, but is sometimes taken by traditional students as well. At the University, it can be used only to satisfy General Education requirements (and only certain ones of the many CLEP exams are accepted). CLEP can’t be used to waive prerequisites, major or minor courses (without departmental approval). If a student has already fulfilled a General Education area, they cannot take CLEP and get the credit for that area.
NEXT UAAC MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012, 2:00PM, SILL CENTER