October 22-26

 This week was a slow week in the office. However, I went to a meeting with the people who are recreating the DGS website. This meeting went really well and they are currently coming up with what the site is going to look like. We clarified what we think the current site is missing. There was a lot of discussion about improvements and what they need from us to move forward. I was surprised throughout the meeting when the people who are putting together the website understood students pretty well. They understood DGS students and what they are about and what the office is about. They also understood students. This impressed me, but I once I thought about it, it made sense that the people who are creating a website need to know their audience. I put together the suggestions I came up with and sent them to one of the people in charge of the new site and I am responsible for compiling advisor bios for the new site. Overall, this week was slow

This week, I read The Irrational Nature of Choice: A New Model for Advising Undecided Students? This article discusses how Americans go through a rational decision-making process and that this process is usually used in academic advising. The rational decision-making process is like a prescription  that is made up of facts and evidenced by proof and logic. Instead of using this process, the author suggests that academic advisors focus on the means rather than the ends. He suggests focusing on what students can do to decide a major rather than what major should be decided. He also suggests asking questions and digging for information so find the reason behind what the student says and asks, and to think about the context of the question. Finally, he suggests that advisors try to increase the time that they spend with students to develop a better relationship, especially in informal settings. He calls these suggestions irrational because  we usually wouldn't see this as the logical way to approach advising. It must be noted that this article was published in 1996 so it is a bit dated. For example, he talks about the new invention of the internet and how that has changed people's thinking processes. I think that DGS advisors are doing a good job at following this irrational decision-making process to help students. They constantly question what students have done/are doing to explore majors. DGS advisors ask a lot of questions to dig deeper into why the student might be asking a question or stating something. However, I think there is room for improvement, especially as a new advisor. I think these suggestions could benefit my student. As I get more comfortable with advising, I think I will be better at remembering to ask the student more questions and to more fully think about why the student is asking me certain things. His suggestions, to me, are conscious things that I will need to remember to do as I advise more students.

This week, I spent:
2 hours and 30 minutes on the website
45 minutes reading and journaling
20 minutes organizing my desk/new information and resources from campus offices
1 hour 15 minutes at a staff meeting (getting updates on DGS)


Bertram, R. M. The irrational nature of choice: A new model for advising undecided students? NACADA Journal, 16(2), 19-24.

Bert

October 15-19

This week at DGS has been fairly busy. I started the week off by doing further research for the DGS website and coming up with some ideas on how to improve the site. Next week, I am meeting with some DGS staff and professionals who are updating the website. I met with the Admissions Director of DGS to talk with her about my suggestions. She responded really well to them and thought my suggestions better captured the personality of the office and what we are trying to accomplish. I also met with the first student of the semester (YAY!) She dropped in to meet with any advisor so it made sense with her to meet with me since I didn't have any appointments. I didn't feel prepared to meet with her because of the nature of her questions. I nailed down how to help students plan a schedule but I have not had any experience talking with students about Credit/No Credit, Grade Replacement, or Drop options. She left the appointment and I felt a bit discouraged but she ended up making  a decision and her email to me afterwards was very kind. DGS is having Express Advising today because this is the last day to drop a class, elect credit/no credit, or do a grade replacement. So far, I have seen one student and felt a lot better after meeting with him.

As addressed in our last class period, I had not seen any students yet this semester so I told the director that I could take any student who walks in to see someone, students of an advisor who is out sick (so we don't have to cancel those appointments), and students whose advisor is booked 3 weeks out and cannot get in for awhile. This plan made the most sense. If I continue with DGS next semester, I hope that we can formulate a better plan.

This week, I read What's the Point? An Exploration of Student's Motivation to Learn in a First-Year Seminar by Jody E. Jessup-Anger. This article focused on a freshman seminar class and what motivates a student to learn in this class. Jessup-Anger found that students did not take the seminar seriously at first because it was pass/fail and because it was only 1 credit hour. They did not expect the class to require a lot of work. The instructor too thought that not having a grade scale of A-F was an explanation for why their performance on early assignments was not satisfactory. However, this research also showed that instructor feedback on assignments, critical thinking during class, and "personal connection"(p. 109) to the material in class improved motivation in the class. The researcher suggests that future research needs to be done on different kinds of first-year seminars. I agree with that suggestion because it seemed like the set-up of the course studied is different from General Studies 101. I have become more interested in the value of freshman-seminars since teaching GS 101. I think to myself, "Are students getting anything out of this? I can sense they are bored and this is a waste of their time." Although General Studies 101 and the course that was researched in this study are different, I think the findings can be applicable to GS 101. For example, GS 101 is a 1 credit hour course but still requires homework outside of class. Students in GS 101 might not be motivated to go to class and do well in it because it is only 1 credit hour. However, GS 101 is taken for a letter grade, which might improve their motivation to do well in the class. Also, GS 101 is, most often, not taught by an advisor with a PhD, so they might not have the knowledge on how to provide valuable feedback on assignments or connect the material to each student personally. Still, after shadowing some of the advisors who teach GS 101, I think they provide assignments that are meant to help the student discover what their strengths, interests, and passions are which could contribute to their motivation.

This week I spent about 3 hours working on the DGS website, 4.5 hours meeting with students, 3 total hours reading, blogging, and preparing my academic plan, and 1 hours refreshing my memory on academic policies in DGS.

October 8-12

This week at DGS brought out many firsts for me. I taught DGS students about how to prepare for registration. I had created a PowerPoint and spent time on Monday fixing up the presentation and practicing. I taught about 100 students on Wednesday and 100 students on Thursday. I enjoy instructing class and I would welcome the opportunity to teach  if that is part of my future job(s). I also went to a Mock Admissions session. I have learned throughout my time at DGS that advisors do not fully understand how students get into Illinois. Over the summer, I frequently heard "How did this student get into Illinois if they got an 18 on their ACT and tested into remedial Math" or something like this statement. To open our eyes to the admissions process, many of the advisors and I learned about the process of admitting students. We were given four students, had to review their application based on different criteria, and then make a decision about their status of admission. Given the current debate about affirmative action at University of Texas, it helped to see how holistic the process is though I think the process is not a perfect one. It makes me think that admissions will never be "pure" because humans are in charge of the process. We are biased and emotional and there may be tiny details that attract one admissions reviewer to a particular student. I left the session wanting to know and learn more but overall the session was insightful. My final "first" this week was assisting with Majors/Minors Fair. I helped pass out bags and maps to the students who were attending. At this event, almost every major and minor on campus is represented by students in that major or advisors for that major. Any student can attend the event and gather information about different majors and minors on campus.

Further, last Friday (after I wrote my first blog post), I attended Orange and Blue Days. Prospective DGS students and their families learned about DGS, the benefits of DGS, what DGS does, etc. I was quickly impressed by our admissions director not just because she knew so much information and articulated it well, but because I realized that she probably gets the most skeptical of parents of all the different colleges. I have no research to back this up and my evidence is anecdotal. I overheard many of the admissions directors' conversations with parents and their questions were not about whether their child should attend Illinois over another school. Their questions were about the myths of "potential severity" of starting in DGS (being academically behind other incoming students, not graduating in 4 years), the potential financial loss of starting in DGS rather than at a community college, and others. Therefore, she is dealing with not only selling the university, but selling to parents and students that those students who are exploring majors are the exact students we want, we will make them successful, regardless of the scare factor of spending thousands of dollars on a program that doesn't seem secure.

I spent approximately:
2 hours teaching GS 101
1.5 hours in a staff meeting
3 hours preparing for GS 101
1.5 hours at the Mock Admissions session
2 hours researching websites and brainstorming ideas for the new DGS website
2 hours reading and journaling. 


I read Using Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Research to Look at Undeclared Students this week and it discussed using different methods to study if a new class for undeclared students was going to improve persistence rates. The research studied one religiously affiliated university and  the university class called Life Calling, Work, and Leadership. This class was optional for the exploring students. They found that compared to students who did not take the class, students who took the class were more likely to graduate in 4 years, and students who took the class but did not graduate in 4 years were more likely to remain taking classes compared to students who did not take the class. Students reported that the class helped them feel supported, helped them discover a path, and clarified that it wasn't a bad thing to be undeclared.Although this study only looked at one university, the evidence supports DGS's General Studies 101 course. Many students may think "what's the point of this freshman seminar?" but this evidence suggests that some curriculum for freshman seminars can have impact in a positive way. This is encouraging news that Illinois is doing a great thing by having freshman seminars for every major.

Reference:
Reynolds, P. J., Gross, J. P. K., Millard, B., & Pattengale, J. (2010). Using longitudinal mixed-methods research to look at undeclared students. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2010, 53-66.

First Month at DGS

First Month at DGS:

I started at DGS around the third week of class. Thus far, I have shadowed 3 different academic advisors while they taught General Studies 101. It was important to me to see different approaches to instructing this class and that is what I saw. One advisor, who had a smaller class (40 students), engaged the class in a lot of discussion and group work. Another advisor had a mix of engagement with the students and lecture. The last advisor mainly lectured with some engagement; however, this advisor also had a large class of about 100 students. I am currently in the process of creating a lecture on Registration and Intercollegiate Transfer processes to teach General Studies 101 students. I will be teaching this class next week to two different sections of the class, each with approximately 100 students.

I will also be shadowing the Admissions Director at DGS at the Orange and Blue Day today to learn more about what parents and students are asking. Since I have been at DGS, it has always seemed like the admissions process into DGS is somewhat removed from the everyday tasks of DGS as an office, but the admissions director lives it daily, so I wanted to see what that was like. I think shadowing her will also give me some ideas of how to better the DGS website (more to come on the website below)

I also have been at the staff meetings learning more about many of the logistics that go into running an office like DGS. It has also been a great opportunity to learn more about the different majors to better my knowledge when helping students. The staff meetings, I have found, are pretty critical to being able to keep up with what is going on in the office and how DGS is actively trying to improve services. For example, DGS is currently partnering with the Study Abroad office to create a short spring break trip abroad to give DGS freshman the opportunity to go abroad. DGS students and freshman are an underrepresented population of study abroad students. A class will be paired with the trip that students will take before they go abroad so that they are prepared.
Additionally, I have worked on some marketing materials for the office. I created a flyer that advisors can give to their students to let them know when they can meet with the Stress and Wellness Health Educator, who is housed in McKinley, but has hours at DGS (my supervisor for my GA position :)) I have updated the slideshow that rolls on the TV Screen in the lobby though I don't think it has been put up yet. Finally, I am currently doing research on other general studies programs and their websites in hopes of making the DGS website more user friendly and useful for all of the stakeholders of DGS.
I also joined the C.A.R.E. Committee at DGS. C.A.R.E. stands for Creating A Restorative Environment. The purpose of the committee is to promote wellness in the workplace since advisors are helping students all day. The committee was started last school year after advisors around campus were encouraging departments to focus on their wellness. I think the CARE Committee is a great hybrid of my GA position in stress and wellness and my work at DGS. I am excited to see some of my ideas brought to fruition.

This week, I also worked on the Academic Plan and gathered many journal articles that will give me further incite into advising and undecided students. However, what I have gathered thus far is that academic advising is incredibly decentralized at U of I and the issues with that bring to mind many discussions in the Student Affairs Administration class. Because the university is so decentralized, at almost every staff meeting, we invite advisors from different offices to come talk with us about majors, updates on requirements, and other things. Without this explicit effort to meet with advisors, we would not be able to advise students appropriately and the quality of our service would go way down. Communication is even more important for an office like DGS because it serves students with all future interests in different majors. Also, I found reflecting on institutional and departmental missions in Student Affairs Administration very helpful because it has made me reflect on the purposes of DGS and why we are here. DGS does have a mission or a statement about their beliefs that they strive for daily; however, it is the decentralized campus that can get in the way of the DGS office's ability to achieve that mission. For example, there are some majors that have a rigid curriculum and if the student is exploring different majors, with only one of them being rigid, then the student can be severely limited on their ability to explore those majors.

Overall, I have logged 10 hours per week with my time being split amongst these various projects. This week, I spent 4 hours preparing for GS 101, 1.5 hours at a staff meeting, 1.5 hours at the Orange and Blue day admissions event, 45 minutes reflecting and journal writing, and around 2 hours researching different general studies departments. I also spent time working on the academic plan.