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December 20, 2012 - UAAC Meeting Notes

UAAC MEETING NOTES

December 20, 2012

 Present: Kelsey Nicholson (Admissions); Nevon Bruschke (Art / Art History); Tivra Marks, Erik Weierholt (Athletics); Dave Gard, Amy Dursteler (Biology – student representative); Nicole Rintamaki, Jess Taverna (Business); Kathy Leslie (Career Services); Tracey Farnsworth (Chemical Engineering); Hilda Bravo (Communication); Janet Goff (Continuing Education); Jill Wilson (Economics); Maria Baldwin (Educational Opportunity Programs); Arlene Arenaz (Electrical and Computer Engineering); Erica Orians (English Language Program – student representative); Rachel Bonnett (Exercise and Sport Science); Jenny Stout, Bobbi Davis (Family and Consumer Studies); Shari Lindsey (Health); Taunya Dressler (Humanities); Brandon Patterson (International Center); Alison Vásquez (International Studies); Lisa Hutton (Languages and Literature); Bonnie Ogden, Mark Mun (Mechanical Engineering); Mary Ann Dresher (Music); Mark Pontious (Orientation); Betsy Cook (Parks, Recreation, and Tourism); Dallin Cowles, Emily Johnson, Michael Santarosa (Registrar’s Office); Kristen Lindsay (Teacher Educationi); Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski, David Eisen, Terese Pratt, Shelley Nicholson, Martina Stewart, John Nilsson, Marilyn Hoffman, Natalie Brown, Steve Hadley, Jennifer Wozab (Academic Advising Center); Lena May-Fraser, Kira Jones (Academic Advising Center / Fine Arts); Angela Gardiner (Academic Advising Center / Mathematics). Total: 46

Special Presentation

Jeanne Farr, from the Department of Educational Psychology, presented information on the online Positive Psychology courses and the associated undergraduate certificate program. Courses are open to anyone interested, with no prerequisites. Information can be found at http://ed-psych.utah.edu/positive-psych; or by contacting Ms. Farr at j.farr@msn.com or (801) 581-7148.

Welcome New Members

The four student members of UAAC are Amy Dursteler (present today), Erica Orians (present today), Daniel Shackelford, and Michael Scutt.

Admissions

Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski reminded the group that the University now has an admissions deferment policy, effective Fall 2013. Information is available at http://admissions.utah.edu/deferment/

Registrar’s Office – Dallin Cowles and Emily Johnson

  • As of this morning, enrollment is 27,110 (up 2%).
  • Important dates/deadlines:
  • December 26 – Fall 2012 grades are due; grades should be available on the following day
  • January 7 – Spring 2013 classes begin
  • January 16 – deadline to drop (delete) Spring 2013 courses (semester-length or first-half)
  • January 22 – deadline to add, elect CR/NC, or audit Spring 2013 courses; tuition due.
    • The University’s commencement ceremonies will be held in the evening on Thursday, May 2. All college convocations (including those that were formerly held on Thursday evening) will now be held on Friday, with the exception of Law, Medicine, and graduate students in Social and Behavioral Science.
    • Fall 2012 graduation candidates: for graduate students, there are 571 being evaluated; approximately 250 have been awarded. For undergraduates, there are 1,326 to review; about 175 have been awarded. Degrees are being awarded on an ongoing basis (as students are cleared); awarded students’ diplomas have already been mailed. The deadline for exceptions to be entered is December 28.

Financial Aid –no report

Curriculum Administration – Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski for Lyndi Duff

  • January 25 is the deadline for submission of curriculum changes for Summer and Fall 2013, as well as any catalogue changes.
  • The University is moving forward with the transition to a virtual catalogue; it appears that it will be available Fall 2014 at the earliest.

DARS/GPS – Shelley Nicholson

  • On the DARS reports, there has been a wording change from “Undergraduate Semester Degree Program” to “Major”. The minor has been moved to position 2, while graduate programs have been moved to position 4.
  • The group was asked for feedback on the recent change to the “in progress” course and requirement designations in DARS; those present indicated that this has been a positive change for them.
  • Courses from other institutions that have separate grades for lectures and labs: these courses are now being recognized as “connected” by DARS.
  • As noted earlier, the deadline for DARS exceptions is December 28.
  • The next DARS training is scheduled for January 23.
  • DARS updates and curriculum changes need to be submitted by January 25.
  • DARS reports will be purged on February 1.
  • GPS: an e-mail was sent to students on November 21; since that time, over 150 new students have used the system (as of December 14). There have now been a total of 6,194 unique students using GPS, and 6,864 plans have been created.

Advisor Education and Development

  • A listing of January and February programs was distributed. Upcoming:
  • Advising Basics, January 15
  • PeopleSoft for Advisors, January 30
  • UAAC Roundtables, January 31 (RevolUtion) and February 27 (Advising as Teaching)

Orientation – Mark Pontious

  • It was previously announced that there would be no regularly offered online orientation option. However, there turned out to be a significant number of students who hadn’t yet been oriented for Spring Semester (about 700, with only 200 seats being available for the last orientation program), and these students are now being directed to the online orientation. They may still attend the January 4 program as a supplement (which, though closed, they will not be turned away from); however they do need to indicate, when they sign up for the online option, that they will be attending on January 4. Students who do the online orientation will still need to meet with an advisor for registration clearance. Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski noted that Academic Advising Center can meet with students and clear their registration (so that they can move forward); but it will be made clear to them that Academic Advising Center cannot advise on majors or minors.

Transfer Student Issues – Terese Pratt

  • Thanks to everyone who attended the Recent Transfer Coordinating Council meeting; materials were sent out to the listserv after the meeting. There will be another meeting in spring; please let Terese know of any topics or information that you’d like to be covered (tpratt@uc.utah.edu).

Mandatory Advising Program – Martina Stewart

  • An advisor roundtable, “Advising as Teaching,” will take place on February 27.
  • This morning, a final reminder e-mail was sent to first-year students who still have registration holds; only 256 (out of more than 3,300) remain
  • February 4: undeclared students with 60 or more credit hours (and at least two prior terms of enrollment) will receive an e-mail.
  • March 4: an e-mail will be sent to those students who haven’t yet met with an advisor for their second-year advising
  • March 6: first-semester students who began in Spring 2013 will receive an e-mail

New and Continuing Business

Subcommittees / Task Force: Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski distributed a list of tentative membership for each of the three subcommittees that were previously discussed (Awards; Marketing and PR; and Advisor Position). Also, a form was distributed for those interested in serving on the Graduation Application Task Force.

It is aimed to disperse, across University colleges, the membership of the subcommittees and task force.

Student Success and Empowerment Initiative: Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski and Amy Bergerson, interim director and faculty member in Educational Leadership and Policy, presented the Initiative to the group. The Initiative is focused on connecting (primarily new) students with a range of University opportunities (e.g., MUSE, Capstone) and services – not only to increase awareness of them, but also how to fully utilize them. It empowers students to identify direction, engage with high-impact activities/services, and accomplish goals. The Initiative staff is focused on student development, learning theory, and advising research.

Initiative Goals:

  • Promote student success through identifying short- and long-term goals that include degree completion.
  • Identify high-impact educational experiences that result in a degree that is unique to the student.
  • Introduce planning tools that foster action.
  • Encourage utilization of campus and community services that enhance and empower students to achieve excellence.
  • Engage students in the “4-year Plan.”
  • Center practice around appropriate learning outcomes from AAC&U – LEAP.

Student success advocates will be working throughout the campus (Union, Library, Heritage Center, on campus shuttles, etc.).   Social media will be utilized to inform students where and how to connect with advocates.

The role of the student success advocates – as contrasted with that of the academic advisor – was clarified. UAAC participants may be contacted as part of the intense training that advocates will undergo.

Imagine U: The University is moving in a new direction as far as institutional branding. Much information can be found at http://umc.utah.edu/imagine-u, on the University’s Marketing and Communications website (this includes logos and graphics). This information will be helpful to departmental advisors (and other staff) as they develop recruiting and marketing efforts.

A television commercial about Imagine U will be broadcast on January 1, at 10:07am, on local news channels.

Advising Tip of the Month: Catalog Year – a student’s catalog year is determined by when s/he declares the major. This determines the particular set of requirements that a student must complete for the major or minor. A student may not select a set of requirements that was in effect more than four years prior to the catalog year in effect at the time of graduation.  (This has obvious and important implications for DARS reports.) Department advisors can do exceptions, or waivers, in certain situations (for example, the student has taken an official leave of absence). A readmission “removes” the student’s declaration.

 

NEXT REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING WILL BE ON

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, IN THE SILL CENTER LARGE CONFERENCE ROOM

Last Updated: 8/21/23