The Joy of Assessing Technology for Advising: Someone has to do it! NACADA 2011 Pre-Conference Workshop 6

Goals: Address micro and macro issues related to selecting technologies for advising and supporting student services. Provide a framework for making decisions about use of technology in advising.decisions at both the micro (tactical) and macro (strategic) levels

Developmental advising “ Academic advising can be understood best and more easily re-conceptualized if the process of academic advising and the scheduling of classes and registration are separated. Class scheduling should not be confused with educational planning. Developmental academic advising becomes a more realistic goal when separated from class scheduling because advising can then go on all during the academic year, not just during the few weeks prior to registration each new term. ” Winston, R. B., Miller, T. K., Ender, S. C., Grites, T. J., & Associates (1984). Developmental academic advising. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass. p. 542.

Interaction and academic advising "Academic advising is the only structured activity on the campus in which all students have the opportunity for one-to-one interaction with a concerned representative of the institution" (Habley, 1981).

Strategic Plan for Higher Ed The State of Ohio will increase its educational attainment to compete in a global economy that is fueled by knowledge and an advanced workforce. The Strategic Plan is a comprehensive blueprint to raise Ohio’s educational attainment, with specific strategies and measureable goals. Graduating more students Keeping graduates in Ohio Attracting more talent to Ohio GOALS IT is tactical – Advisors must sit at the table to help provide strategic direction to assisting students.

CENTSS Audits

CENTSS Audits 31 student services areas Based on research into best practices in student services online by WCET, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, and Seward Incorporated. For each audit area, provides a series of multiple choice and open text questions and compiles the responses into a confidential report. Groups of institutions can participate together to provide data to individual institutions and aggregate group results.

Generation 1: Service is not provided on web site Generation 2: Informational, internal focus on institution Generation 3: Informational, audience focused (Prospective students' link, continuing students' link, etc.) Generation 4: Process oriented - customized community, personalized, portal Generation 5: Virtual mentor – process orientation, and decision making guide Generations

Q1. Find information about my institution's academic advising services, including philosophy and roles and responsibilities: 1. Cannot find information or services on the web. 2. View general information about the institution's academic advising services, along with its general philosophy and the roles and responsibilities of students and advisors. 3. Link to the institution's description of academic advising services, including the philosophy and roles and responsibilities for the type of student I am (e.g., freshman, transfer, graduate student). 4. Log in to MyAccount and link to information about the institution's academic advising services, along with its philosophy and roles and responsibilities relevant to me. 5. Receive a welcome message introducing the institution's academic advising services, including the philosophy and roles and responsibilities relevant to me, along with a link to an online form for more information or assistance. Example Audit Question

Step One: Determine Technical Goals Step Two: Determine Resources Step Three: Create and Edit Step Four: Pilot the Technology Step Five: Review and Evaluate Step Six: Update and Develop Adopted from Pasquini, L. (2010). Chapter 9: Emerging Digital Resources: Easy and Accessible Online Tools. Comprehensive advisor training and development: Practices that deliver, 2nd Ed. NACADA Monograph. Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University.

Executive level sponsor Cross-functional team (charged by sponsor) Review your CENTSS audit results Document current state of each service Low hanging fruit (find an early win) Prioritize – which services to target? Campus wide awareness / Buy-in Develop roadmap – current /bridge/ desired states (bridge small steps need to transition from current to desired state) Recommend projects based on roadmap Implement projects Key steps to implementation* * Dr. Nancy Thibeault, Dean Distance Learning, Sinclair Community College

Implementation Model

focus on activities in the bottom right quadrant those that are important but are not done well Rate each service 1 – 4 How Important? 4 = Most Important 1 = Least Important How well? 4 = Service routinely delivered online 1 = Not easily accommodated without campus visit Prioritize - Quadrant Tool

Enrollment Steps

Ohio Institutions Belmont Technical College Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Clark State Community College Columbus State Community College Cuyahoga Community College Hocking College Lakeland Community College Lorain County Community College Marion Technical College Miami University Owens Community College Sinclair Community College The University of Akron The University of Toledo University of Cincinnati Washington State Community College Zane State College Bowling Green State University Central Ohio Technical College Central State University Cleveland State University James A. Rhodes College Kent State University North Central State College Rio Grande Community College Stark State Technical College Southern State Community College Terra Community College Wright State University