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Academic Advising

Academic Alerts

  • The standard Academic Alert form remains available and relevant (it may be found from within ScotWeb)
  • The campus resources that are activated when you submit an alert remain open, engaged, and actively working with students:
    • As a reminder:
      • the first alert for any one student is shared with the academic advisor
      • the second alert is shared with the advisor and a staff member from the learning center
      • the third alert is also shared with the Dean of Students’ Office
  • IN ADDITION, for the remainder of Spring Semester 2020, every single academic alert is going to be reviewed by a staff member. This is to help all supports remain aware of any pressing issues facing any faculty or students regarding student engagement, performance, etc.
    • ALSO NEW FOR SPRING 2020, effective April 1, 2020: If through any reports, it becomes apparent that a student is not accessing any resources, or engaged in any classes, the Committee on Academic Standards, in collaboration with the CARE team, approved the following protocol:
      • Student will be contacted via e-mail by a support office (Learning Center, Dean of Students Office, or DCAE)
      • If no response within 48 hours, second e-mail
      • If no response within an additional 24 hours, phone call or text
      • If no response within 24 hours, CAS letter regarding lack of engagement (sent via e-mail, notified via text, and sent in snail mail).
  • A common alert we see is lack of attendance — this is still relevant — only in a different presentation. Some things you can look for that are similar to attendance:
    • Absence of any engagement from student (no communications, no login to Moodle [if using], no assignments turned in)
  • A key issue we are anticipating is one of access. So, if you have not heard from a student by April 1, 2020, please submit a form. (Why April 1? We know some students are traveling due to COVID-19 arrangements, and this should be completed by then).

Class Registration
As is the case during any academic session, prior to registration periods (specific information will be coming from the Registrar), contact your academic advisees to let them know your plan for meeting with them for registration. Microsoft Teams is the recommended mode for holding advising meetings. If you have advisees who are not able to use Teams, please consider some other form of live communication (e.g., the phone) so that you can have a conversation about their plans.

When you contact them about registration, give them clear instructions on how to schedule a meeting with you and ask them to load several class choices into Student Planning prior to the meeting they schedule.

  • All registration will continue to take place online via Student Planning (this has been the case for several semesters now).
  • Advisors will still need to release students for registration. 
  • Please submit an alert if your advisees are not responding to any reachouts.
  • You may advise students for course registration purposes via Microsoft Teams, telephone, or e-mail.

Academic Advising
As with everything else, academic advising is going virtual. In the same way we are thinking about how to connect with the students in our classes, we have to think about how to connect with our academic advisees.

Checking In
Contact your academic advisees in the second week back (March 30th) to see how they are doing. In your reach out to your advisees, encourage them to be patient with their faculty and to keep in touch with their faculty. Assure them that they are not going through this alone (we are all figuring it out together) and highlight the importance of talking with their professors if they are struggling with anything class related.

Encourage them to utilize campus services. The Writing Center, the Learning Center, Career Planning, etc. are still up and running. Their college world should not stop, it will just be a little different for a while.

Stress with them the importance of keeping up with their emails. Lots of information will be coming at them via email. And, though that can be overwhelming, they need to stay on top of it.

When you “meet” with advisees, in addition to your usual advising questions, you may want to ask about some of the following:

  • What has been the coolest thing about going virtual for the last month of the semester?
  • What have they learned about how they learn and study?
  • How are they organizing their time to complete coursework?
  • How are they staying connected with Wooster friends, faculty, and staff?
  • What are their summer plans and have they changed? We may need to manage some anxiety or disappointment about internships or study away experiences that are no longer likely.
  • What do they miss most about being on campus?
  • How’s their family?

Remind them about/alert them to the changes in the Spring Semester Academic Policies regarding S/NC and dropping a class. (https://www.wooster.edu/offices/registrar/forms/).

Peer Mentors
For those of you with Peer Mentors from FYS, know that the Peer Mentors are still working to maintain connections with the students in your section. Please collaborate with your Peer Mentor about facilitating pre-registration meetings.

We are working on a way to hold virtual walk in hours with Peer Mentors during registration. Stay tuned on this.

This website is maintained by the Dean for Faculty Development at the College of Wooster. Contact me if you have questions or suggestions. Dr. Christa Craven: ccraven@wooster.edu