No More “ Nobody Told Me! ”

1. No More“Nobody Told Me!” Using Technology to Create a Student-Centered Advising System Ruby Singh Stephanie Smith Director of Student Services Director of Academic Advising College of Science & Technology College of Liberal Arts Kristen diNovi Academic Advisor Division of University Studies

2. Temple 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

3. Systems • 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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8. Advising Climate in Fall 2004 • Decentralized advising located within the schools & colleges • Increasing enrollment • up 85% since the mid 1990s • 25% in the last 5 years • “Millennial kids” 1 • Sense of entitlement; Hand-holding expected • Strong dependency on parents • Technology-savvy 1“Letting Up and Letting Go,” Cynthia Sarver (2003), Academic Advising Today - Quarterly Newsletter: 26 (2).

9. Advising 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

10. Result Advising Session Reports A student centered program that connects the Advising Database and students’ OWLnet accounts

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21. Features • Administrative vs. Session Report notes • Data dump • Deletions vs. Addendum contact types • Pasting emails

22. Implementation: Phase I • Piloted in the College of Liberal Arts and the Division of University Studies • Informing students • Listserv messages • Temple Times article • Stats analysis & student surveys • Advisors’ communication techniques

23. Communication with students

24. Quantitative Data

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

26. Qualitative 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?

27. Implementation: Phase II and beyond • Rollout to all advising centers throughout the university • 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?

28. Questions, Comments, and Contact Information • Ruby Singh ruby.singh@temple.edu • Stephanie Smith advisor@temple.edu • Kristen diNovi dinovi@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 NACADA conferences in the past.