Academic Advising - Current Duties
In my time at the Department of Languages and Literature, I've had many challenges and chances to develop programs and methods to help the department run more smoothly. This page is to add depth, detail, and understanding to what my days include. See reflections in the drop down menu to hear my thoughts.
Previous Duties:
- Advising Major/Minor/Prospective Students - Advising is my main priority. My current student load totals over 800 declared majors and minors across the 10 majors and 14 minors for which I am responsible. During busy times such as Fall and Spring semesters, I might see up to fifteen students a day and answer emails to as many more. During the summer, I have averaged about five students, though this year I've had as many as seven student appointments in one day. Below are some examples of other duties that fall under advising.
- DARS maintenance - this is the Degree Audit system students use to track progress toward graduation. I submit all updates and changes to our programs. We currently have 25 reports in our department that I maintain.
- GPS planning - this is a Graduation Planning System linked to DARS. This year, I updated twelve GPS reports for our twelve majors.
- Major and minor information updates - The major and minor information sheets are handed out to current and prospective students in our department, but the information changes with relative frequency. I do my best to keep them updated.
- Website updates - I have written for many of our department pages, including the Undergraduate and individual major/minor pages, and have designed the Academic Advising page. See them here: www.languages.utah.edu
- Scholarships - I advertise and collect applications for departmental scholarships and submit the recipients' names to Financial Aid for verification. I also review applications with the committee and help advise them on recipients.
- Bachelor of Arts Language Requirement and Purchasing Language Credits program - The BA language requirement is a part of the Bachelor degree requirements for any student earning a BA, from History to Biology to Psychology. To fulfill this, students must prove 4th semester proficiency, which can be achieved in multiple fashions. I serve as the advisor to any student with a question about fulfilling this requirement, typically in a way that falls outside the standard track, such as for international students or through proficiency testing for bilingual students.
The Purchasing Language Credit program allows students who are fluent in a foreign language to receive lower-division credit in that language. The student must prove proficiency by passing an advanced class or by taking a proficiency exam. After determining that the student is eligible, I supervise and fill out the petition for them to take to Student Services.
- Religious Studies BA - The Religious Studies BA was approved in Fall 2012. Although it is not directly affiliated with the Department of Languages and Literature, it is directed by a faculty member of the department, and I have been the Academic Advisor since then. Three semesters later, the program has grown to house 22 majors and 12 minors. Each elective that applies to the program must be from an approved list and manually entered into the student's record.
- Faculty Support - As a member of the front office staff, I serve multiple roles as office and faculty support. I especially assist with undergraduate policy questions, including grading and assessment.
- Orientation responsibilities - Especially during the summer, Academic Advisors now have many responsibilities related to Orientation. On certain dates, I have to give back to back presentations, conduct a group advising session, and/or assist with freshman registration. I also have hours that I table for the College of Humanities.
- Peer Advising - I am the coordinator and supervisor of the Peer Advising program for the department. This includes handling the marketing to find interested students, collecting applications, conducting interviews, and choosing Peer Advisors. In the Fall, I teach a Peer Advising class, for which I developed a syllabus and course content. I also hold a day long training before the school year starts and maintain the Peer Advisor handbook, which I update before each year begins, and am responsible for scheduling the Peer Advisor Office Hours.
In my office, I have a copy of the old handbook used before I arrived and have kept copies of my first year and my current year, which demonstrate the improvements I've made over the materials I began with. - University Major Expo - The University Major Expo is held in September every year. In the Union Ballroom, representatives from as many departments across campus come together to display what programs they offer, specifically majors and minors. I am the main representative from the department of Languages and Literature and along with my Peer Advisors have developed all the marketing and materials for the Expo.
- UAAC - This stands for University Academic Advising Committee, and is comprised of all the Academic Advisors at the University of Utah. By attending UAAC meetings, I stay informed on events around campus and new developments in other offices, and I have an opportunity to educate other advisors about developments in our department as well. UAAC also holds a University of Utah Advising Conference yearly and serves as the main place for advisors to network across campus.
- PR and Marketing Committee- This is a sub-committee of UAAC that I am currently serving on. The goal of the committee is to research how academic advising is currently viewed, and how we would like to promote and market it. We would like to present advising in a cohesive fashion, thereby communicating more effectively to students what to expect from advisors, what to prepare for, and what advisors consistently do across campus.
- College of Humanities Advising - The College of Humanities holds Academic Advisor meetings monthly, led by Assistant Dean Taunya Dressler. COH Advisors form my main advisor network, and during the meetings we cover updates and issues pertinent to our college especially. We have a yearly retreat for professional development and often meet with departments across campus. At the COH Advisor meetings, we often are asked to take on extra duties to assist the college in recruitment/development. Most recently, I worked with two advisors to create the College of Humanities Advising Expectations guide.
- UG Advisor Planning Social Committee- In an effort to find new spaces and times for advisors across campus to get to know one another, network, and work together on projects, a colleague and I spearheaded the UG Advisor Planning Social Committee. Our goals were to plan simple activities - coffee, lunch, breaks - in a casual space where people could drop in and out for a few hours. In doing so, we hope to create more cross-campus relationships and a greater sense of community within advising.
- Professional Development - A major goal of mine in the next year is to present at a conference, and I'll begin with preparing at least two conference proposals. Some subjects that I've discussed with my colleagues to co-present on include advising multiple majors and graduate education for Academic Advising as a career.
Previous Duties:
- Scheduling Classes - For the first 1.5 years with the Department of Languages and Literature, I was the point person for class and classroom scheduling. First, we create the draft of the schedule. After that is added, I facilitate any changes that need to be made. I can add new courses, instructor names, change times, change rooms, etc. This is especially important in the first week of class when instructors may discover something less than desirable about their classroom. It is a year round job as there are always classes being taught and always classes being planned.