Worthington Scranton Faculty Senate Advising Committee

Worthington Scranton Worthington Scranton Faculty Senate Advising Committee Academic Advising: Student Perspectives Dr. Janet Ann Melnick Dr. Russell Casey

Advising Committee Goals -Access students perception of the role of an advisor. -Engagement of students in the advising process. -Increase retention on campus -Have faculty understand advising from the students’ perspective.

Design Protocol • Qualitative • Questions derived from Advising Committee • Focus Group Format • Used to obtain data about feelings & opinions • Small groups format • To encourage participation

Focus Group Research Design Protocol • Sample • Random sample • Population: All currently enrolled PSU-WS Students- Spring 2011 • 75 currently enrolled (Spring 2011 Semester) students

Focus Group Research Design Protocol • Invitation Letter • Three Focus Group sessions • Noon and 5:00 p.m. • April 18, 2011 • Incentive to participate • Gift certificate to the Campus Bookstore • Free lunch /dinner provided • Reminder emails were sent to encourage participation

Second Round • Same protocol • 300 currently enrolled (Fall 2011 Semester) students • Twopossible focus groups (October 24, 2011) • noon • 5 p.m.

Focus Group Questions • What semester or year are you in currently in? • Do you know who your advisor is or how to find out? • How often do you meet with your advisor each semester?

Research Questions Continued… • What areas have you discussed with your advisor? • Schedule of courses for upcoming semester • Discuss program and major requirements • Talk about career options • Discuss academic concerns • Discuss graduate programs • Ask for a referral

Research Questions Continued… • What specific issues/challenges with advising services did you encounter this academic year? • Describe your experiences with academic advising. • What resources of the campus have you used? • What are the best times to meet? What kinds of information are you most interested in talking with an advisor about?

Research Questions Continued… • What has been the most rewarding aspect of advising for you? • What has been the most frustrating aspect of advising for you? • What advice would you give to improve academic advising? • What do you feel are the strengths of the way advising activities, that you have participated in, have been provided?

Research Questions continued… • What do you feel are the weaknesses of the way advising activities, that you have participated in, have been provided? • Are there any other comments you would like to add to this discussion about academic advising at PSUWS?

Focus Group April 2011 Sample Characteristics • One Focus Group was conducted • Six Students Participated • 1 freshman; 1 sophmore;2 juniors; 2 seniors • 5 females & 1 male • 1 student self-identified as an adult learner • 5 traditional age

Focus Groups October, 2011Sample Characteristics • Two Focus Group was conducted • 10 Students Participated • 3 freshmen; 1 sophomore; 1 juniors; 5 seniors • 4females & 6 males • 10 traditional age

Results/ Main Themes • Availability of Advisor • “Like, in the past when I’ve had to make an appointment with an advisor, like, it’s like my old advisor was available like 2 days a week for an hour each day, but like he would have appointments like booked like so it was just too, it was too much. “

Results/ Main Themes • Advisors not responding to requests • “This is my first semester here before I used to be at Penn State Harrisburg and I just, I had to go to my advisor because I had a course I transferred from the (inaudible) college and Harrisburg, um, it was a 3 credit course over there and at Penn State it is a 4 credit. So, Penn State Harrisburg waived one credit. When I transferred here the waived credit was moved out so I had to go and tell my advisor about that but he didn’t do anything (inaudible). I talked to the Registrar and I just got it fixed.” (April Group) • Advising on the Fly • Students found it useful & convenient • …“I stopped going to my advisor since they started that thing where you get the free lunch for the advising when you can walk in.”;… “It’s really easy cause you don’t have to make an appointment.” • Another student noted… “Student: I really like that advising on the fly. Melnick: Advising on the fly? .Student: Because you don’t have to make an appointment and like not even like I’m sure like if I email (names advisor) like I know that she would be available; I know that cause I see her, but like even my schedule, you know what I mean, cause like nursing is you’re like busy like you’re and all majors but like it’s just nice to be able to walk in and not be like having to make an appointment two weeks in advance and then just have the degree audit and just go over it.” (April Group)

Results/ Main Themes • Use of Advisor • Seen Primarily for advising • Discussing major requirements • Graduate programs • Depended on year of student • Closer to graduation more likely to think about references and graduate programs • Now that I’m graduating, um the rest of my life. I met with my advisor and said “I just need a couple minutes of your time” he said “for what” and I said “to talk about the rest of my life” and he just laughed. And I did.”(October, 2011) • More assistance needed understanding requirements for the major especially for freshman.

Results/ Main Themes • Advisor Not Understanding Course Substitutions • Major issue • “Cause he didn’t seem like he honestly understood the process of what he had to do. Originally when he was like, he was like, “I don’t know, yeah”. ... “And I’m sure it’s a pain in the a.. for him to go through all of that.” (April Group) • When I was trying to transfer to U Park, and um, there was a lot of confusion there, that’s when I got the different advisor because I didn’t transfer down and then I just never left so I got thrown back in to get an advisor here (October Groups)

Results/ Main Themes • Extra Help from Advisors • Very appreciative when advisors go the extra mile such as mentoring, discussing graduate programs) • Mentoring • Confusion with Degree Audits • Frustrated when they and/or advisor did not understand the degree audit • Want more interactive degree audits

Results/ Main Themes • Knowing What Questions To Ask • Felt advisors answered their questions but they needed to know what questions to ask • Frustrating especially early in their academic career • “I think like when I come up with a question, they answer it but I have to come up with a question which sort of, I don’t know, like…” continues…, “Melnick: You don’t know what questions to ask.… “ No, like I just think that they should tell you what to do before you figure it out and encounter a barrier because like I, since alternative scoring how I explained that, that went in late because I didn’t know so I had to do that last minute so then my campus location had to be done last minute. Like everything was just so rushed and for that one week when I, when my degree audit still said Worthington, I tried to schedule my classes and I couldn’t do it; I got so nervous and like I just wish that someone told me before.” (April Group)

Results/ Main Themes • Concern :Taking Credits (and the Cost of Tuition) that Do Not Count Toward the Student’s Major. • Major concern • Extra time and money • “it you know what I mean if it like, in that case or even in your case for a 3 credit class is $1600 bucks. And if you, if I took a class that I didn’t have to I’d p….d. You know what I mean? For $1600 bucks like you know what I mean like? • “Or for you if you had to wait a year… to move on, like I would be, I’d be beside myself…” (April Group) • I had, last year I got a new advisor when I started the program and I went from full time status and I wanted to drop down to part time with just my nursing classes and I was told by my advisor that if I did that, I would lose my financial aid. That it would affect it, that I would lose health, that I could possibly lose health insurance. I’m an adult learner, I carry my own health insurance and I didn’t know how that was quite possible. But if I had just taken that, I’d be taking classes I didn’t need. But instead, I took the walk up and came up to financial aid and was told ‘no, your financial aid actually will decrease but so will your tuition’, so. But if I took what my advisor said as law, I’d still be taking 12 credits for nothing, like.” (October Groups)

Results/ Main Themes • Campus Resource Awareness • Registrar, Business Office, Success Center, Career Services, Nurse etc • In regards to the success Center one student noted, … “Like this, I was just over here, I saw them working on it I was taking a class in the summer I saw the construction and I never even thought to come over and look at it. I was like wow.” (April Groups) • In all 3 groups most students were not aware of resources other than the library and computer labs.

Results/ Main Themes • Best Practices: What Works! • Disregard emails except from faculty • “I check it every day but I’m like used to like the same names coming up from here so, I don’t know, I don’t look at all of them. Only the ones that are like, really pertain to me.”(October Groups) • Empathy for Their concerns • “Ah, I know like going to talk to (names Professor), you ah, you can see, like he can relate, like, you know, I know he’s working on his Ph.D.” (April Group)

Results/ Main Themes • Best Practices: What Works! Continued • Solving their issues • “I know she’s here on Monday, Wednesday, Friday so the one day I went to her and I just went to her office and she just was able to call main campus and ask them a question right there and I talked to them and just the fact that they were able, well she was able to straighten that out in like 5 minutes just was really um helpful and it was like a weight off my chest.” • Another student noted… “Um, one of the strengths I feel like earlier that ah, my questions are always answered, so that for me is a great strength and like I never walk out leaving confused or anything, like I have the sense of like knowing what my next step is and so that for me is a big strength and always being there for me like in a nutshell like being there for me…”(April Group)

Student Recommendations • Class schedules: • “I think that ah, this campus puts the schedule of classes too late like you only have two weeks before you start scheduling like other campuses when it’s time (inaudible) they already have the classes up for the next semester. This campus isn’t does that. It’s only like two weeks in between so the students even doesn’t know like what classes are going to be offered, what not.”(April Group) • Encouraging summer classes: “Yeah. No one really pushes like summer classes. I mean, kids think that they just take them if they need them but they really are—I think it’s helpful because it could lighten your load and if you take over 6 credits you get financial aid so you save $500 no one really says like Oh, did you ever think about taking class in the summer.” (April Group)

Student Recommendations • Engage Students • I would say like be more engaging towards the student. Like ask them ‘What do you want to do with your life’ and then give advice on what classes to take, what would be the best option, I think just like to give a little bit more advice, not just answer the question that I have, I’d say.”(April Group) • Another student noted:“I think more time, like give more time so that advisor probably should stay in the office just a little bit longer or something so if you could go and meet them, you know like give more time to students you know. Because I know, like a lot of advisors are not there most of the time. They’re probably once there once a week or something, in the office or something, but time is more important.” (October Groups)

Student Recommendations • Degree Audits: • “I think you can take a load off the whole process by making that web site better. Melnick: The audit more interactive? Student: Right and more explanatory that way. I think that would relieve a lot.”(April Group) • I think that the degree audit is really hard to understand. I didn’t think it was self-explanatory, I think I had a really hard time understanding it. Even now that all my plus signs are up there, I still like will be looking at it and I missed a few classes. I should have graduated the last semester, and I had to take a summer class and I’m doing independent study this semester that um my advisor missed and I missed ‘cause I did look at my degree audit. But um, my understanding of the class that I’m taking for independent now, I didn’t know that it was a mandatory class. I thought it was like an additional class that you could have opted to take so that’s why I’m in that now.”(October Groups)

Student Recommendations • Student Responsibility • Interest in understanding the process • Completing tasks themselves • “You know I mean like I transfer credits from Luzerne all the time. Like back and forth—I can do it, like once I figured it out I was like ‘wow I don’t have to go and talk to somebody about this…it’s not that hard.’ And I’d rather do it myself; you know what I mean? Like you wanna be a part of what’s going on, so it’s not—if I had something believe me I’d be like, this needs take care of…you know what I mean? Like any, like if you went to a store and you—something wasn’t right you’d be like ‘this needs to be taken care of’; I’m paying a lot of money for this.” (April Group) • It is the student’s responsibility. And uh, we’re higher education field, and we need to step up at one point. Once we get out of here, you know, it’s just us in the working world. So, while people do put a lot of pressures on the advising staff, I’d just like to say that some of it’s like a little um, unwarranted. We are our own people, we are our own students. And as good as the advising staff is, nothing’s gonna overcome like, student competence.”(October Group)

Student Recommendations • Advising and FTCAP • “And I think that every semester advisors should email their students like, I’m your advisor. Cause I know like some freshman might not know…” (April Group) • “I remember, because it was chaos. When I came in it was chaos. I don’t know why we were held up in this room and we were meeting with people right over there, and they had no idea what I needed as a Nursing major, so I was getting, it was like mid to late August so everything was full. So basically I was put in what was available just so I could get started and luckily I was able to like appeal it all and go to the teachers like you had to and get in what I needed but it was chaotic.” (October Groups) • Clarity in advising • Instruction on how to use web resources as they relate to advising

Conclusions/ Recommendations • Overall students were frustrated with the advising process: • Degree audits (readability) • Response from advisors • Students were aware of cost • Did not want to spend any extra time or money in securing their degree

Conclusions/ Recommendations • Students were aware of the responsibilities of their advisors • Apologetic • But, were very frustrated when they could not get in touch with their advisors. • Students were also frustrated that the degree audits and found them cumbersome • Interactive degree audits

Conclusions/Recommendations • Appreciative of advisors and /or faculty who took the time to explain the process to them in addition to helping with course schedules or course substitutions. • Students need to have multiple attempts at explaining the degree audit and the associated items needed for major requirements and class scheduling. • More time needs to be spent, by advisors, explaining degree requirements especially for freshman and transfer students.

Conclusions/Recommendations • Suggestions include individual, group and web access tutorials on these subjects such as creating a video walk through of how to read a degree audit for the different majors here at PSU WS and posting on the web under the appropriate program might lessen student anxiety and familiarize a student with how to read a degree audit. • The current efforts to revise FTCAP are supported by the data from the second round of focus groups. Students found it confusing ad as noted chaotic in many regards. As this is their first experience with the advising process it can set a positive or negative note that will be carried throughout the students’ academic career. A better experience with the first advising contact would help students to be less confused and more apt to seek out future advising interaction.

Worthington Scranton Faculty Senate Advising Committee