1. Office of Student Activities 205 Strebel Student Center (315) 792-3037
Updated:11/28/201811/28/2018
Advisor Training 101
Office of Student Activities
205 Strebel Student Center
(315)

2. Overview Role of an Advisor . . . . . Page 4
Expectations Page 6
Org Recognition Process Page 11
How to use Pioneer Place Page 13

3. Thank you!
Thank you for accepting your role(s) as an advisor to your student organization(s)
Your involvement will serve both the UC Community and students by directly influencing student development
Thank you!

4. What is an advisor? Educator
Models goals, values and missions of Utica College
Serves as a mentor to their student organization
Counsels and mediates when problems arise
Advocates for organization’s well being
Role of advisor varies between organizations

5. Basic Roles of an Advisor
“Hands-on hands-off” approach
Aids in leadership development and skills training
Group encouragement
Resource on college policies, procedures, contacts, etc.
Help the group troubleshoot problems
Access to internal and external networking
Ask questions and challenge students
Channel information
Monitor expenditures, policies and goals
Provide year to year continuity
Provide organizational history
Aid in leadership and officer transition

6. Expectations: The Student Leader/ Advisor Relationship
Student leaders and advisors must be clear about expectations
Communication= understanding + respect

7. What a student leader expects:
COMMUNICATION!
Assistance in formulating long-range goals and planning short term projects
Resource person- evaluate projects, performance and progress
Offer guidance by reviewing goals, objectives, and the progress of the organization
Assistance with college procedural matters
Suggestions on how organization could be strengthened or improved

8. What a student leader expects:
Improvement strategies for leadership skills
Accessible and available, should emergency situations arise
Willingness to listen to and be open to criticism and evaluation
Allow the group to act on its own and make mistakes, but help them learn from mistakes
Help in maintaining organization records
Encourage the division of labor among group members to sustain member interest

9. What an advisor should expect of a student leader:
COMMUNICATION!
Keep advisor informed on activities, meetings, agendas and topics under discussion
Attendance at regularly scheduled informational meetings
To assist other students in the organization in skill development
Willingness to share responsibility with other group members
Documents and historically saves all group activities
Invite advisors to meetings
Inform and invite advisors to org events

10. Questions to ask your Organization
How much involvement is needed?
How many events does the organization sponsor each semester?
How often does the organization meet?
How do your skills match the needs of the organization?
What are some needed improvement areas within the organization?
Is the advisor expected to give feedback? How often and when?

11. Organization Registration
MUST HAVE:
At least 5 members total, including:
President/Director
Treasurer/Comptroller
Faculty/Staff Advisor
Valid and current constitution
Pioneer Place should always have the most up to date information on student organizations. After elections (which can also be done through PioPlace), the roster and position titles should be updated immediately to reflect new positions and new members should always be invited.

12. Recognition privileges
Student Senate Funding
Reservation of rooms
Posting fliers
Org mailbox
On-campus fundraising
Assistance on finding resources
Pioneer Place!

13. What is Pioneer Place?
Social network platform designed by Collegiate Link exclusive only to Utica College
Allows management of co-curricular activities such as student organizations and events
Promotes student involvement

14. Perks of Pioneer Place
Student Organizations MUST have a Pioneer Place to be recognized by Student Senate
All Utica students, faculty and staff can make personal page
All Utica personal may view news, upcoming events, etc. of any student organization

15. Advantages of Pioneer Place for Student Organizations
* * *
IT IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ADVISOR TO KEEP PIONEER PLACE UPDATED, IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STUDENT MEMBERS
Management of members, e-board, events and news
Private messages to organization members
Social Networking sites such as Facebook and/or Twitter, may be link to an organization’s page
Advertisement of events on campus-wide event calendar

16. Pioneer Place: The Basics
Updating Organization Profile
Adding New Members
Updating/Adding New Positions
Creating Events
Uploading News
Sending Messages
* Any members given the permissions to update your organization’s profile can perform any of the above tasks

17. Updating Organization Profile
Click the [Edit] button on the organization’s “About” tab
You can edit the description, contact information and external page links, etc.
Click the [Update] button at the bottom to update the changes to your organization’s “About” page
Your profile changes have now been updated

18. Adding New Members
Click [Invite people] under the [Roster] tab in page navigation menu
Enter the campus addresses of individuals you wish to send membership invitations
Select [Member] from the drop down menu (or other appropriate position for invited addresses)
Click [Send Invitations] when all people have been added to the list
A message will be sent to those selected which will prompt them to either accept or decline invitation

19. Updating/Adding New Positions
Click [Manage Positions] and then [+ Position] button on the next page
The Positions Templates that are available for this organization are listed. Click the name of the position that best matches the new position
Update the name of the position
Update the remaining options as appropriate
Click [Create]
The new position has been added to your organization’s profile!

20. Creating Events
Click [Create Event] under [Events] tab in navigation menu
Enter all appropriate details and Click “Save”
*Note* If you upload a picture for your event, make sure there’s no small text and that it’s within the design guidelines listed in the upload area.
**Note** Events get archived automatically after the date and time of the event has passed. Events should NOT be entered in the News area.

21. Uploading News
Click on [Create Article] under the [News] tab in the navigation menu
Enter the details of your article
Click [Save Article]
*Note* If you upload a picture for your event, make sure there’s no small text and that it’s within the design guidelines listed in the upload area.
**Note** News articles stay active in the News feed constantly, so a news article is a piece of information WITHOUT a particular date and time. News is NOT an event.

22. Sending Messages
Sending messages through Pioneer Place is unique in that it allows you to actually use your own platform! There aren’t any messages actually SENT through PioPlace. PioPlace will instruct you to create a “relay” which is essentially one address that will then send the message to a whole bunch of other addresses!
This video explains how it works. (Don’t mind the administrative parts, relays work the same at the organization level pages!)
Click [Messaging] under [Roster] tab in the navigation menu
Click [Create Relay] and follow the instructions to generate the relay address.
Enter the relay address into the “To:” area of a new in your own inbox through your favorite browser and send!

23. Advising Tips
Have a strong interest and commitment to the student organization and mission
Build a strong relationship with the president, chairperson, or other key members as they will be your main point of contact
Praise in public, criticize in private
Provide an outside perspective and assist students with seeing “outside the box”
Make sure all executive board members have your contact info ( address, work or cell-phone number)

24. Want more information on Pioneer Place?
Additional information and instructional power points and word documents are available upon request
Remember, any organization members can be granted permission to update the organization’s profile

25. Administrative Assistant
Monica Hodkinson
Administrative Assistant
Designated Student Organization Liaison
x3479