| Winter 2021 - ImPACt Newsletter
Welcome to the ImPACt newsletter which highlights the most notable happenings in the world of Academic Advising at Oakland University. On behalf of the Professional Advisers Council (PAC), thank you for taking a moment to read about the achievements of professional advisers and the impacts they have made this semester across campus.
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| | 2020-2021 PAC Executive Board
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Chair
Melanie Chamberlain
School of Education and Human Services
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Chair-Elect
Kurtis Kirkpatrick
School of Engineering and Computer Science
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Secretary
Denica Holzworth
School of Business Administration
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Treasurer
Adam McChesney
School of Business Administration
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| | New Advisers and Positions
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Position ChangesJen BelliniJen moved from a part-time advising position to a full-time advising role in the School of Education and Human Services advising office in April 2021.
Lauren LeveLauren started in the School of Business Administration Advising Office in December 2020.
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New Adviser HiresDr. Montisa WatkinsMontisa assumed the role of Assistant Director of Advising in the First Year Advising Center on January 18. She earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Central Michigan University, an M.A. in Student Affairs Administration from Michigan State University, and a B.A. in English from Aquinas College. Dr. Watkins has a robust background serving in many Student Affairs areas at multiple institutions, including fourteen years as the Project Director of Upward Bound at CMU.
Jade VangJade joined the First Year Advising Center as an Academic Adviser on February 22. She is no stranger to the OU advising community, as she has served as a temporary adviser in the FYAC and CAS and is currently completing an internship with SECS. Jade earned her B.S. in Psychology from Missouri State University and she graduates with her M.Ed. in Higher Education Leadership from Oakland University this month.
Alaina WoodAlaina is interning with School of Education and Human Services Advising in the Winter 2021 semester. She is a graduate of the Masters of Higher Ed Leadership program at OU and is working on advising HRD students with Melanie Chamberlain. Alaina also works in the Department of Organizational Leadership as an Office Assistant.
Marlin HunterMarlin returned to OU with the School of Health Sciences Advising Office in January 2021.
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Excellence in Academic Advising Oakland University is nearing the end of the first phase of the Excellence in Academic Advising (EAA) initiative. We will be hosting a virtual Campus Retreat the first week of May for all members of the EAA committees. The purpose is to reflect on our findings and review recommendations from the nine committees focused on the "conditions of excellence" of advising:
- Adviser Selection and Development
- Collaboration and Communication
- Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity
- Improvement and the Scholarship of Advising
- Commitment
- Learning
- Organization
- Student Purpose and Pathways
- Technology Enabled Advising
EAA was developed by NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising and the Gardner Institute and funded in part by The Kresge Foundation. EAA is a three-year evidence-based self study of academic advising at OU. Over 125 faculty, staff, administrators and students are participating in the first phase. Be on the lookout for the development of implementation teams during phase two, slated to begin in Fall 2021. PAC would like to thank our colleagues across campus who are investing their time and expertise in the Excellence in Academic Advising initiative.
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Academic Advisers Leading Others School of Business Administration advisers Meaghan Cole and Adam McChesney have taken on Leadership Roles outside of PAC and the SBA this year. Adam is President of MIACADA and Meaghan is President of AP Assembly. We are proud of both their accomplishments and know these organizations are in good hands with their leadership.
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School of Education and Human Services HR Job and Internship Recruitment Night
On February 11 the HRD program and HRM program worked with Career Services to host a joint HR recruitment night, connecting students and employers with internship and job opportunities. Eight companies and 25 students participated. As of March there were three students with internship offers as a result of the event!
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First Year Advising CenterChoosing the Major That's Right for You!On March 17 the FYAC partnered with the OU Counseling Center on a virtual workshop for undecided and redeciding students. Kate Golder and Zach Barclay led the session titled, “Choosing the Major That’s Right for You,” which focused on common career myths, decision-making strategies to reduce anxiety, introduction of Focus 2 OU and a review of major/career exploration resources and services. The FYAC would like to thank David Schwartz and Seth Swary from OUCC for their expertise and partnership.
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School of Business AdministrationBusiness DayTogether with the Undergraduate Admissions team, SBA welcomed future business students to Business Day, Saturday, March 6. For the 2021 virtual day, 103 RSVP'd and 43 attended, compared to 2020 when 128 RSVP'd and 89 attended. We had a first ever alumni panel with 5 OU alumni spanning multiple career fields.
Exploring Business PathwaysTogether with faculty and employers, SBA held Explore Business Pathways on February 10th from 5 - 7 p.m. We had 45 RSVP and 19 students attended this virtual event!
Senior RecognitionSBA hosted a senior recognition event on Saturday April 10. The event was attended by 21 graduating senirs.
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Bachelor of Integrated StudiesHonor Society InductionBIS Advising team celebrated the new Association for Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS) honors society inductees at an event on March 27.
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Drive-In Graduation CelebrationBIS Advising will celebrate Winter 2021 graduates with a special Drive-In event on campus, held on April 17. They are excited to celebrate their newest alumni!
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FYAC at Great Lakes Regional Student Success ConferenceKate Golder, Zach Barclay, and Rachel Stagman Kate, Zach, and Rachel presented at the Great Lakes Regional Student Success Conference in February. Their session, "Proactive Advising in a Pandemic: How to Engage Students Online" reviewed how the First Year Advising Center team moved their services to the virtual environment and started new initiatives to support student success.
Dr. Montisa WatkinsMontisa presented “Be Thou My Strong Habitation: Spirituality, Faith, and Religion for Black College Women” at the Great Lakes Regional Student Success Conference in February.
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School of Business AdministrationAdam McChesneyAdam presented at the National Academic Advising Association regional conference in April 2021. His presentation, "It's in the Syllabus" reviewed how other advising offices can utilize and benefit from creating an advising syllabus.
Meaghan ColeMeaghan has a proposal approved to present at the Michigan Academic Advising Association conference that will be held in May 2021.
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School of Education and Human ServicesRoberta ReaRoberta has a proposal approved to present at the Michigan Academic Advising Association conference that will be held in May 2021.
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Outstanding Advisers!Kate GolderOU Outstanding Adviser of the Year Recipient 2020-2021
Jari PathenosOU Oustanding New Adviser of the Year Recipient 2020-2021
Michelle SouthwardOU Outstanding AP of the Year Recipient 2020-2021
Melanie ChamberlainOU Rising AP of the Year Recipient 2020-2021
Adviser of the Month Recipients- Rachel Stagman, FYAC - January 2021
- Courtney McCarrey, FYAC - February 2021
- Will Daniels, SHS - March 2021
- Jim Bilinski, CAS - April 2021
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Advisers getting degrees!
Meaghan Cole, Sarah Konrad, and Roberta ReaMeaghan (SBA) completed her Educational Doctorate (EdD) degree in Organizational Leadership from OU in Fall 2020. Roberta (SEHS) and Sarah (SECS) are on course to complete their EdD degrees in Organizational Leadership from OU in Winter 2021. Congratulations on these tremendous accomplishments!
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School of Education and Human ServicesStudent Success OutreachSEHS Advisers are reaching out four times during the Winter 2021 semester to all students that received one or more U grades in Fall 2020. There are 70 students in our outreach population and they receive a personal email or call each month to check in on their progress and connect them with university resources.
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School of Engineering and Computer ScienceMentorship ProgramThe School of Engineering and Computer Science is piloting our first Mentor Program! Current EGR/CS Candidate students were invited to be paired with an upper-class student in SECS. Mentors were selected through an application process and paired with their candidate mentee based on major, interests, and goals. Mentees were coached on goal setting and provided with resources to promote their academic success. Mentors were trained on communication skills, relationship building, and skill development. Mentees and mentors have been able to join virtual events and virtually meet throughout the semester to promote connection and learn from their peers' experiences and expertise.
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First Year Advising CenterPartnering with Student Financial ServicesThe First Year Advising Center’s physical location allows for easy referrals to Student Financial Services, which is just a short walk down the hallway. During peak times like add/drop and withdraw weeks, students often need to seek guidance from both academic advisers and financial aid advisers as they are making registration decisions. Since services in both departments moved online, we needed to identify a new way for students to be easily referred from advising to financial services. The FYAC team collaborated with SFS to host drop-in hours via Zoom where students could meet with both offices through breakout rooms. Using one Zoom link, students were greeted by a FYAC office assistant who then routed the student to the appropriate breakout room. Using a shared Google spreadsheet, FYAC advisers and SFS staff could share notes on the students attending drop-ins and refer back/forth as necessary. This collaboration was so successful during the fall withdrawal period that it was repeated at the end of fall semester, the start of winter semester and during the winter withdrawal period. The FYAC would like to thank Carrie Gilchrist and Greg Ashe from SFS for their support in this new initiative!
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Bachelor of Integrated StudiesMajor standing tutorialsThis semester our advising intern, Simone Amalio-Klebba, assisted us in creating a video tutorial series for our major standing application process. This was a big venture and we are excited to add it to our website to streamline students seeking major standing.
Website changesThis semester our advising intern, Leah Mikulec, assisted us in making updates to our website to make it more user friendly which included remediation of documents for ADA.
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