No MoreNo More ““Nobody Told Me!Nobody Told Me!””

Ruby Singh Stephanie Smith Director of Student Services Director of Academic AdvisingCollege of Science & Technology College of Liberal Arts

Kristen diNovi Academic AdvisorDivision of University Studies

Using Technology to Create a Using Technology to Create a Student-Centered Advising Student-Centered Advising SystemSystem

Temple UniversityTemple University

Public research university in Philadelphia, PA with more than 34,000 students

8 campuses and sites in Pennsylvania, international campuses in Rome, Tokyo, and London

Urban setting; diverse student population

SystemsSystems

Administrative registration system: ISIS (mainframe) / OWLink (web-based)

Student information and registration system: OWLnet (web-based)

Advising support system:Academic Advising Database (Microsoft Access)

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Advising Climate in Advising Climate in Fall 2004Fall 2004

Decentralized advising located within the

schools & colleges Increasing enrollment

o up 85% since the mid 1990so 25% in the last 5 years

“Millennial kids” 1

o Sense of entitlement; Hand-holding expected o Strong dependency on parentso Technology-savvy

1“Letting Up and Letting Go,” Cynthia Sarver (2003), Academic Advising Today - Quarterly Newsletter: 26 (2).

Advising ChallengesAdvising Challenges

Advising the increasing student population with no increase in advising staff

Student response: “Nobody Told Me!”

No written record of advising sessions that students could access

ResultResult

Advising Session Reports

A student centered program that

connects the Advising Database

and students’ OWLnet accounts

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FeaturesFeatures

Administrative vs. Session Report notes

Data dump

Deletions vs. Addendum contact types

Pasting emails

Implementation: Phase IImplementation: Phase I

Piloted in the College of Liberal Arts and the Division of University Studies

Informing studentso Listserv messageso Temple Times article

Stats analysis & student surveysAdvisors’ communication techniques

Communication with studentsCommunication with students

Quantitative DataQuantitative Data

Month Show Advising Sessions

Totals 3042

September 05 791

August 05 948

July 05 569

June 05 267

May 05 318

April 05 149

Qualitative DataQualitative Data

Survey says… … It helps to remind me of the decisions I have made, and goals I plan each time that I have a meeting.

…I found it very useful to see a written report of my advising session. I like the option of being able to see exactly what was discussed, when I otherwise may have forgotten. I predict that I'll be reading over my advising reports in the future, as they are a good gauge of what my years at Temple, academically speaking, are like.

There are certainly enough things to keep track of in this busy life. Anything that helps to reduce what I have to carry around in my head helps me tremendously. Thank you for creating features that are student friendly!

Qualitative DataQualitative Data

Survey says…

I have reviewed my Advising Session Report on Owlnet and found it to be inaccurate. I most definitely did not appreciate [the advisor’s] comments, especially as they were not said to me, nor the implication that the drop/add policy was discussed, it was not.

“[Student] came in to add Rel 240 - a course she thought she'd registered for but didn't. [Student] should keep in close contact with Ms. Smith in regard to her progress in this major. ---Discussed drop/add policy---” What, if anything, can be done to correct this information in my Advising Session Report?

Implementation: Phase II Implementation: Phase II and beyondand beyond

Rollout to all advising centers throughout the universityo Science and Technology in training

Marketing campaign to increase student awareness

Formalized assessment process: have the session reports made an impact on quantity/quality of advising contacts? Do we hear “Nobody Told Me” as often?

Questions, Comments, Questions, Comments, and Contact Informationand Contact Information

Ruby Singhruby.singh@temple.edu

Stephanie Smithadvisor@temple.edu

Kristen diNovidinovi@temple.edu

We are greatly indebted to the work of Cindy Konecko, Jane Stringer, Jayne Drake, and Annette McMenamin-Bakley, all of whom were crucial to the development of the Advising Database and have presented on the subject at various NACADAconferences in the past.