Week 2
This week you will learn about the online resources used by both advisers and students through the World Campus website, University websites, and other platforms. You will also take a virtual tour of the Penn State World Campus website in order to learn the most important areas in which to direct students.
You will continue to learn about the majors you will advise by working directly with your pillar team trainers.
You will set up meetings with cross-trainers on other pillar teams, so that you can spend time observing them do their work.
You will meet with a Student Transfer Credit Specialist, and the Registrar liaison in AA&SDS, to learn about the important work that they do for us.
You will learn the philosophy of General Education at Penn State and develop an understanding of how programs are housed under the colleges and campuses.
We will review specific recommended academic plans, entrance to major (ETM) requirements, transfer credit information, course substitutions, flexibility in general education, the university bulletin, and the transfer credit evaluation guide.
We will cover important information that advisers refer to on a daily basis. Adult learners often take breaks from their education and inquire about how to return, and there are varying processes depending on their academic record. Those processes are outlined in the topics of re-enrollment and academic renewal. Upon their admission to Penn State, students are placed into a particular status, such as degree seeking, DUS Conditional (DUSC), or Does Not Qualify (DNQ), all of which are discussed in this lesson. Students also need advice on how to change campuses, majors, and advisers. You will read about those processes in this unit. You will also read about dropping and adding courses. In an effort to support students, advisers also need to know about Early Progress Reports, Faculty–Student Issues, and World Campus Mediation.
You will complete the following online units of training this week: Adviser Resources, Educational Planning, and Academic Records and Student Progress Management.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of Week 2, advising staff will:
Have an initial understanding of the majors that you will advise
Read and understand the following online lessons:
Lesson 4: Adviser Resources
Lesson 5: Educational Planning
Lesson 6: Academic Records and Student Progress Management
Supervisor
- Assessment of Progress
Mentors and Trainers
- will answer any questions you have about the online training units
- will provide an initial overview of the degrees you will advise
- will engage in a discussion about General education
- Review and Reflection
Please discuss the following questions with your mentor at the end of week 2:
General Education: What are your thoughts of Penn State’s general education (GE) requirements? Given that there is a possibility that GE changes will be made, what do you think should be included, altered, or removed from the current curriculum to better serve our students?
Colleges/University Systems: If you haven’t attended Penn State nor worked at Penn State, what are your thoughts on the multiple colleges and units? What do you think the advantages/disadvantages would be for students given our system?
Transfer Credits: How do you think transfer credits impact our students and their educational path? How do you anticipate working with a student who has 89 credits, compared to those who don’t have any transfer/previously completed courses? What may be different? What may be the same?
Entrance to Major Requirements: Why do you think majors have ETMs? Do they serve our students? Do they put our students at a disadvantage?
Stopping Out and Returning Policies: Often times our students take a semester off to have a baby, assist a family member, become acclimated to a new job, or just have downtime to regroup. How do you think this impacts our students and what challenges do you see them facing as they return? What are your thoughts on the many student statuses and options for returning to Penn State (re-enrollment, DUSC, non-degree)? Do they support our students?
Support Services: The World Campus has several systems and strategies to support our students (Early progress reports, World Campus Mediation, ALEKS placement assessment, SmarterMeasure, Inside track, New Student Orientation, University Bulletin, Advising Handbook). What challenges will the student have and are these services truly supporting our students? How do you envision using these tools?
What did you learn from the Transfer Credit Specialist and Registrar Liaison?
Lesson 5: Educational Planning
- Overview
- Program Specific Degree Audits and Recommended Academic Plans
- Entrance to Major Requirements (ETM’s)
- University Bulletin
- Academic and Enrollment Support Services
- Flexibility in General Education
- Prior Learning Assessment
- Advising Students Receiving TAA Funding
- Transfer Course Evaluation Guide
- Enrollment Date
- Review of Activities
Lesson 6: Academic Records and Students Progress Management
- Overview
- Re-enrollment
- D- Academic Warning, Suspension, and Dismissal
- Undergraduate Student Classifications
- Drop/Add and Late Drop/Add
- Change of Campus
- Change of Major
- Change of Adviser
- Academic Reviews
- Early Progress Report (EPR)
- Faculty – Student Affairs (FSA) Team
- Holds on Student Accounts
- Intent to Graduate
- Review of Activities
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