Poster 1- High Achieving Black Men Quinton Geis- Graduate Assistant in Educational Administration Poster 2- UNL Advanced Scholars Program Dr. Bob Mathiasen- Academic Adviser, Online and Distance Education Poster 3- We ve developed our four year plans what happens next? Mark Nelson- Academic Adviser, College of Arts and Sciences Poster 4- LGBT Membership of Culturally Based Fraternities and Sororities Keith D. Garcia- Graduate Assistant, Department of Educational Administration Keynote- Growing B1G Potential: Designing Excellence At the University Of Nebraska, you are being called to be architects of the newest Big Ten University. Each of you will determine what UNL will look like as the campus grows to 30,000 students in 2020. What is your role in the University s vision? How can you be a positive agent for change and growth? In order to provide quality academic programs and support services, this process cannot be left up to chance. Progress and success must be something you design.
Session 1 - Ten 'Must Have' Tips for New Academic Advisors It is sometimes said that we can t really train someone to be an advisor; it s just learn as you go. While this has some validity, there certainly are things new advisors should know as they embark on this career path. The following list contains ten tips to ease the new advisor s transition into the field or to remind veteran advisors of the things they should keep in mind when working with new colleagues. Session 2- Developing and Sustaining an Inclusive Campus Dr. Cynthia Willis-Esqueda Associate Professor in Psychology and Ethnic Studies Andre Fortune- Director of Gaughan Multicultural Center and Office of Academic Success and Intercultural Services Dr. Debra Hope- Professor- Department of Psychology Tony Lazarowicz- Academic Adviser- College of Arts and Sciences AnnMarie Williams- Director of Advising- College of Education and Human Sciences How can advisers become more inclusive in their efforts? What types of actions may we intentionally or unintentionally produce or condone that either create or hinder an inclusive environment for students? This panel discussion will bring together multiple professionals on campus who have extensive backgrounds in areas of diversity and inclusiveness to create a dialogue and understanding of best practices for making our campus a more inclusive environment for all. Session 3 Best Practices for Academic Advising: Utilizing Technology to Increase Efficiency Nicole Smith Academic Success Coach- First Year Experience and Transition Programs Celeste Spier- Academic Adviser- Department of Psychology Are you behind on entering your MyPlan notes? Is your desk covered in Post-Its? This presentation will help you utilize the technology available to staff on campus most efficiently. We will look at Microsoft Outlook and how to organize your calendar as well as coordinate calendars and tasks. We will explore how to use templates for common email questions and creating graduation plans (which can then copy into MyPlan). We will also look at office configurations across campus to show various arrangements. There will be a demonstration on how some offices utilize the setup to best take notes in MyPLAN while meeting with a student. Lastly there will be small group discussions to brainstorm ideas that others have found effective and then share in a large group discussion
In order to provide a valuable lunch session, we have organized a series of hot topic discussion groups while you are eating lunch. Below is a list of the hot topic areas and those who will be helping to facilitate the discussions. At lunch, please find the tables you are most interested in to continue the dialogue in each area. We are especially thankful to those people who volunteered to serve as facilitators. - Skills for Professional Advancement - Professional and Graduate Programs Preparation - Helping Probation Student Excel - Balancing the Roles of Faculty Member and Adviser or - Navigating the 1 st Job - Understanding High Achieving Students - Tackling the Challenges of Underrepresented Groups - Anything New Student Enrollment - Enhancing the Experience for Faculty Advisers Session 4 - The Brand Gap: Developing Your Professional Identity NACADA has championed advising as a profession, but it is up to us, as advisors, to solidify our brand. Viewing advising through the lens of brand identity, the following questions will be considered: What can advisors do to create and develop a professional identity? How do we stay relevant and grow in our field? What tools and methods can be used to connect and partner with other colleagues? Participants will be shown how professional networks and portfolios can highlight and drive their work and leave them feeling empowered as professionals in the field. Session 5- Cultivating Transfer Student Success: A Campus Dialogue on Current Practices and Theory Tony Lazarowicz- Academic Adviser- College of Arts and Sciences Cheryl Pflueger- Academic Success Coach- First Year Experience and Transition Programs Dayne Hutchinson- Graduate Assistant -First Year Experience and Transition Programs Nearly 1000 students transfer into UNL each fall. It is important to understand the experience to effectively assist those in transition. How can advisors better understand the transition of transfer students, particularly when there is no model in the literature that has attempted to explain the transition process of transfer students (Cameron, 2005)? Schlossberg s Transition Theory provides a strong framework for advisers in understanding how to work with transfer students. This session will discuss Schlossberg s Transition Theory, highlight the College of Arts and Sciences Early Outreach model, overview the transfer peer mentoring program, Transfer Advantage Course, and transfer learning community, as well as provide an opportunity for collaborative discussion on ways for advisers to improve the transition for transfer students.
Session 6- Exploring Partnerships between Advisers and Learning Communities Dr. Tamy Burnett- Academic Coordinator for Learning Communities and Programs Jordan Black- Assistant Director of Residence Life for Learning Communities and Academics Bede Bolin- Academic Adviser and Lecturer- Department of Gerontology Dr. Michael Carlson- Assistant Professor of Practice- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Jaci Gustafson- Coordinator of Pre-Professional Advising Services- Explore Center Kelly Payne- Academic Adviser- Department of English; Film Studies Program What kinds of possible partnerships exist between academic advisers and Learning Communities at UNL, and how can advisers best support success of students in Learning Communities? This panel discussion will investigate the various ways academic advisers can support the success of Learning Community (LC) students by exploring different types of interactions between advisers and LC students, best practices for advisers in working with LC students, and past examples provided by a panel of advisers from different colleges (Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Arts & Sciences, Business, and the Explore Center), who have worked with LCs in a variety of contexts. During the panel, we will discuss how LC program expansion has led to more opportunities for advisers to interact with LC students, share best practices for various types of adviser interactions using past examples, and learn through a discussion between panelists and the audience. Session 7 - Building Collective Identity among need-based scholarship recipients Dr. Emira Ibrahimpasic- Associate Program Coordinator William H. Thompson Scholars Learning Community Kelli King- Director William H. Thompson Scholars Learning Community Amy Fellhoelter- Assistant Program Coordinator William H. Thompson Scholars Learning Community Working with low income, minority, and/or first-generation students presents a unique set of challenges rooted in the students backgrounds; frequently these students come to college with extra financial, personal, and academic concerns as well as without institutional knowledge. Professionals working with this student group are tasked not only with helping them overcome these challenges, but also helping them achieve academic and personal successes. This discussion will address an array of strategies that can be employed to engage and encourage a sense of community within this population.
Session 8- Motivational Interviewing as an Advising Tool Heather Ockenfels- Director- First-Year Experience and Transition Programs Advisers use many tools to reach and meet students where they are developmentally. One tool expanding into Academic Advising is Motivational Interviewing. Motivational Interviewing (MI) helps students identify behaviors that need to be changed and creates a path for change using a stage process. This presentation will expose Advisers to the elements of Motivational Interviewing, the Stages of Change, and empathetic listening. Participants will interact with each other through role play and learn powerful questions to ask that invoke deeper responses from students. Motivational Interviewing is a tool that takes time to develop and this presentation will shed light on the process and the application within advising. Session 9- Are You Ready to Plan? : Reflection, Reading, and Research in Comprehensive Academic Planning Kelly Payne- Academic Adviser- Department of English; Film Studies Program Ann Koopmann Assistant Director University Honors Program Celeste Spier- Academic Adviser- Department of Psychology Academic advisers and career counselors all strive to impress upon undergraduate students the importance of planning for the future by using online degree worksheets, strength assessments, and advising guides. The goal: to get students to think creatively about the question What are you going to do with a major in? This presentation takes as its subject the activities of degree planning. Reflection, disciplinary reading, and research are integral activities for developing a comprehensive degree plan, one that takes into account a student s major discipline, professional and personal goals, and the national and international job trends. Presenters from the University Honors Program and the Departments of English and Psychology will invite attendees 1) to work through several reflective exercises, 2) to relate comprehensive educational planning to their academic disciplines, 3) to consider the role of research and reading in long-term planning. Presenters will discuss how this approach can be developed for one-on-one appointments, advising program workshops, or discipline-specific career courses.