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Running head: MIDTERM 1
Midterm: Email Reflection
Practicum Environment
My practicum is through the Advising Center, which is part of the Center for Student
Success on the campus of Georgia College. Up until January 1, 2015, the Advising Center was a
part of the Enrollment Management Division. It has been separated out into its own division
with the addition of a new Associate Provost for Student Success who was brought on board to
help with the development and implementation of retention best practices for the campus. My
primary mentor is Shaina McGill, Associate Director for Advising and Retention with a
secondary mentor of Mike Augustine, Senior Director for Advising and Retention. McGill’s
main focus is that of working with at-risk students of various undergraduate levels. As a result,
she typically works with any student who is placed on academic probation as either their primary
or as a supplemental advisor. This also includes assisting members of the Council of Student
Ambassadors who have been placed on academic probation according to the organization’s rules
and regulations. Georgia College’s Ambassadors are held to a slightly higher standard
academically, and must maintain a 2.75 G.P.A. every semester. If an Ambassador should have a
semester G.P.A. average below a 2.75, despite their overall G.P.A., they must work with a
supplemental advisor.
As an Admissions Counselor, I already work with the Council of Student Ambassadors
through special events and tours. Because of my relationship with the Ambassadors, McGill has
given me the responsibility of serving as this supplemental advisor for the semester to the 11
students who fall into this category. I have meet with McGill and the Coordinator of The
Learning Center, Jeanne Haslam, to discuss each student’s transguide, current schedule, and any
support that the university can offer to assist with the academic success of the student. They also
explained to me the best manner in which to approach the topic of academic probation with
J Gore
MIDTERM 2
students and tips and hints for working with these students. From there, I have meet
individually with eight of the 11 students to discuss in further detail their situation and the
challenges that they are faced with academically. Based on this information, each student was
asked to compose their our Restoration Plan and return that to me signed; this will act as an
agreement between the two of us as well as a form of accountability on both ends. The eight
students who I have meet with have composed their Restoration Plans and submitted them,
however, the other three have yet to contact me to discuss their academic plans for the semester.
The second part of my practicum has been focused more on the general advisement of
undergraduate students. With this, I have observed several advisement sessions with Augustine
and the students with which he advises: both individual and group sessions. The group sessions
have been for a specific major and were an option for the students. These sessions are best
suited for freshmen and sophomores who are still completing their core curriculum whereas the
individual sessions have been better suited for students who are in their major classes and/or
have a double major and need more guidance on what classes they need to take.
In addition to observing advisement sessions, I am also hosting “Registration 101”
courses in each of our on-campus housing facilities. The incoming freshmen on campus are pre-
registered for their first year through a registration process called POUNCE. This is a great
system for our in-coming freshmen to get their schedule early on, however they are unaware of
how to register themselves when the time comes in the spring. In my sessions, I am reviewing
the registration process as well as providing general tips and hints to help them through their
process. This ranges from how CRN’s work to how the Wait List works. I have hosted two
sessions thus far, and will have several more in the next week as registration for freshmen is
scheduled for Thursday, March 12th beginning at 7:00 a.m. I am also planning to be present next
week in the computer labs to assists advisors and students with registration.
J Gore
MIDTERM 3
Eye-Opening Experience
The biggest eye-opener of my practicum experience thus far has been that of serving as a
supplemental advisor to students on academic probation. I have been amazed at how each
student has reacted to the news of having to receive supplemental advising and how he or she is
handling the meetings and development their Restoration Plans. One of the students has been
very proactive with everything. They have meet with me multiple times and update me on every
major test, project, or paper they have to submit; this student is the ideal student to work with.
Then on the other end of the spectrum, I have a student who feels as though they do not need
supplemental advising and can handle everything on their own. They has not been rude or
disrespectful, but have presented themself in a manner that leads me to believe that they have
better things to do.
Even more eye opening is the fact that three of the students have failed to even contact
me in any format. These three students all happen to be in the Nursing Cohort on campus, which
is very time consuming and rigorous, but the fact that I have not heard from them after several
emails attempts as well as from their campus supervisor is somewhat baffling. As a result of not
communicating with me, they have received a strike against them, which as an Ambassador, you
can receive up to three strikes before you are removed from the organization. I understand that
these three students are very busy with classes and clinicals at the hospital, but I would like to at
least have them communicate with me in reference to their probation. I even had the chance to
speak with one of the students during a Homecoming event and mentioned that I would be
willing to work with them in any capacity that I could, but, I have yet to hear anything. I find it
somewhat irresponsible of these three students as I am only trying to assist with their academic
success.
Administrative Philosophy
J Gore
MIDTERM 4
I believe that my mentors and I have very similar administrative philosophies. We both
keep the mission of Georgia College at the core of everything that we do and focus on the
success of the student as a whole. I have also witnessed that my mentors are not only advocates
for the students in which they advise and work closely with, but also with their staff. The
Advising Center has been growing in order to create a more centralized, effective, and cohesive
experience for our students to ensure success and retention, which has placed quite a bit of stress
on my mentors. As a result, they have had to promote the best practices to their staff to ensure
they are growing and developing properly. Providing support to your staff is extremely
important to the development and wellbeing of the department. When your staff feels supported,
they will be more successful in their daily work, which will show through to the students that
they work with.
One other area where our philosophies are the same is that of encouraging continued
growth through education. My mentors encourage their staff to pursue higher levels of education
and to attend professional development opportunities when possible. I believe that it is crucial to
be a life-long learner and to support furthered education in whatever means necessary. I am glad
to see that many administrators on the Georgia College campus believe this is important as well.
Portfolio Reflection
Of all of the portfolio components, reviewing my Career Trajectory has helped me to
realize that I have accomplished some of my goals, but that my trajectory has also altered over
the past year. In my trajectory, one of my goals was to become a supervisor or to have more of a
supervisory role. I have been able to accomplish this task through my current position when I
was promoted to a Senior Admissions Counselor and given the opportunity to supervise two of
the on-campus Admissions Counselors. This has definitely been a learning experience and I
continue to learn more about how to be an effective supervisor both through my current position
J Gore
MIDTERM 5
and my practicum experience; it has exposed me to a more diverse group of people in its own
unique way. But from my work and practicum experience, I am realizing that I enjoy working
closely with students to help them through a difficult process such as the admissions process and
that I would not mind working on the high school side as a Guidance Counselor. I believe that
my practicum in the Advising Center will help me to discover if I would like to remain in higher
education or if I would like transition to a high school eventually.
Conclusion
I have enjoyed my practicum experience thus far and hope to continue to learn more as I
progress, but as of today, I would have to give my overall experience a three out of five. The
reason for this is due to the fact that I have been unable to spend as much time as I would like to
in the Advising Center. Because of my current job duties, I have to travel out-of-town quite
often, which prevents me from being able to work side-by-side with my mentors. Also, because
of the growth of the Advising Center, they have been short-staffed, which has resulted in my
mentors having to take on more students than they usually advise during a semester. With my
mentors have additional responsibilities and myself being out-of-town, it has been more difficult
than anticipated to accomplish all of the tasks and observations that I would like to for my
practicum experience.
In addition, I wish that I had been able to learn more about the scheduling process for
students so that I can assist them with more specific questions. For example, students must
complete core course in particular areas as well as prerequisites for their major. I had no prior
knowledge of this content outside of my own undergraduate experience and would have liked the
opportunity to review and study this information in a more in-depth manner. Currently, if a
student asks me a question pertaining to a particular degree program and what courses to register
for, I am having to look up the information in the same manner that the student would on their
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MIDTERM 6
own. It would be ideal if I could have some if not most of the knowledge readily available to
best serve the students I have and will encounter.
J Gore