Advising Students on Probation

1. Advising Students on Probation Guidelines, Tips, and step-by-step procedures

2. Advising Students on Academic Probation • First, the advisor must initiate communication with the student. • Initial contact should be by letter or email, and it should be clear in the initial correspondence that an appointment should be made by a certain date. If students do not meet with or schedule an appointment with an advisor by the assigned date, the advisor should follow up by telephone. • In the first meeting, take time to get to know the student and the circumstances that led to their academic probation. • At times the problem may be out of the adviser’s scope of expertise, and, in that case, it is necessary to refer students to proper resources.

3. Advising Students on Academic Probation • Major and career exploration is also a vital part of helping probationary students. • You must meet with probationary students on a regular basis. Ideally, meetings must be held every two weeks. • Get to know your student on a personal level so that you can gain that sense of trust with the student and be able to understand their situation better.

4. Intrusive Advising • Intrusive advising is described as having a much more personal than professional approach. • Studies have shown that probationary students have a higher GPA when intrusive advising is used. • Advisers that are probation specialists should be given a lighter advising load to make up for the time that needs to be spent on probationary students. • Intrusive strategies may include the use of open ended questions, identification of student’s strengths and weaknesses, matching learning styles with instructor teaching styles, goal setting and action plan development, and outlining importance of deadlines and attendance.

5. Reasons for Academic Probation • Difficult classes/not prepared for course level • Registered for too many classes • Unable to understand professor/conflict with prof • Lack of utilizing professors' office hours • Unable to understand course content/relevance • Ineffective study skills • Did not attend/skipped class • Over-involved with extra-curricular activities • Working too much • Undeveloped time management skills • Unprepared for exams • Difficulty with early classes • Possible learning disability • Overall schedule too rigorous (school, athletics, work, etc.)

6. Tips for Advising Students on Academic Probation • Review the Academic Probation, Dismissal, and Reinstatement policies that your school have in place. • Keep it to 12 credits. There is no need to place a larger burden on students that already have enough to deal with. • Complete the Academic Success Agreement. This is between the adviser and student and lists things such as long term and short term goals, study habit changes, etc. • Refer to Academic and Campus Resources • Possibility of the student repeating courses to boost GPA • Develop a plan to get back to good academic standing

7. Three Other Methods of Advising Students on Probation • Prescriptive- involves the adviser taking an authoritative role. The adviser prescribes a plan for the advisee of which they are to follow. The decision making is done by the adviser and the advisee provides little input in the process. • Developmental- The student takes more responsibility and develops greater independence and empowerment. In this model the adviser is considered to be more of a facilitator, helping the students make decisions for themselves. It is important to focus on the human development of the student in this process. • Integrated- This model is one that incorporates both styles talked about above.

8. Advising Guidelines • It is important for advisers to seek out at-risk students since these students will not actively seek help on their own. • Advisers should meet students at orientation in small groups or one-on-one. This interaction sets the stage for good adviser-student relationships. • There are some important times when advisers should be contacting their students such as three weeks into term, midterm, preregistration, and between semesters. Midterm time is the most important because progress reports are being sent out right around this time.

9. Questions for Probationary Students • What subjects did you most enjoy in high school? • In what subjects did you get your best grades? • What is your greatest accomplishment? What about the experience made it significant? • If you have spare time, what do you do? • What does having a college degree mean to you? • What are your best personal qualities?

10. Topics to understand before assisting students on probation • If a student is struggling academically, at what point is he/she placed on academic probation • What tutoring resources are available to students? • What referral is available to students who need help improving time management and organizational skills? • What should you do if you suspect an advisee may have an undiagnosed learning disability? • How can some of the answers from the previous slide help you in advising your student?