1. MAUREEN SCHAFER ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ACADEMIC ADVISING CENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA CARRIE MORRIS ACADEMIC ADVISOR ACADEMIC ADVISING CENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA Get the Conversation Started: Helping Students With No Interests

2. Academic Advising Center at Iowa 43 Professional Academic Advisors Advise most students entering the University at least through their first year Advise Open Majors Open Majors Committee

3. Our time together….. Define students with no interests Discuss what we as advisors bring to the table Discuss strategies for getting a conversation started to help these students move forward Advising Homework - My Blueprint

4. Diversity of Open Majors Completely open but interested in many areas Narrowed down to 3 main areas or majors NO INTERESTS AT ALL The double whammy – NO INTERESTS AT ALL and NO MOTIVATION TO FIND ANY

5. Signs a student might be struggling to identify interests: Unable to articulate courses or careers of interest No outside-of-class experiences have been enjoyable Apathetic, not excited about major exploration process Looking for answers but without a lot of self- knowledge

6. Advising Challenges If a student doesn’t share a lot of information about his/herself, it can be hard for us to help It can be challenging to be enthusiastic when the student is not It is tempting to show them the list of majors and ask them to choose Time constraints

7. How to fight the frustration? Recognize and understand our response. Get the conversation started!

8. What do we as advisors bring to the table? Can we identify with these students or do they frustrate us? Why? Did we have a lot of interests as college students? Is the student getting your best advising?

9. Uncovering the layers Why the lack of interest?  A result of their background, schooling, family? Lack of interest may be masking other issues.

10. Guiding Framework Virginia Gordon’s 3-I Process Inquire Inform Integrate

11. Virginia Gordon’s 3-I Process Inquire  “involves identifying students’ academic and career concerns, clarifying their needs, and making appropriate responses that help them move to the information- collecting phase.” (p. 47)

12. Virginia Gordon’s 3-I Process Inform  Involves “the acquisition and effective use of educational and career information.” (p. 63) Integrate  “advisors and students determine what additional assistance is needed to help students organize and make meaningful connections between the information sources they have collected.” (p. 79)

13. What do we do? Get the conversation started!

14. Be honest with the student This is normal. This is a process. It takes hard work and time!

15. Use open-ended questions The wonderful word ‘WHY’ “Tell me more about that” “What was your favorite part?” Letting them speak, looking for the nugget

16. Persevere through uncomfortable moments Sit through uncomfortable silence Ask the difficult questions  “Do you want to be in college?” Be ready for strong emotions

17. How does your student operate best? Extroverts process ideas while talking Introverts prefer to process ideas alone first and then talk about them Use appointment time wisely Advising homework

18. My Blueprint

19. Our experience with My Blueprint An option for staff Most successful when started in the appointment Challenges:  Takes time  Advisors feel they must have the answers, connect the dots

20. Recommendations for using My Blueprint Provide training on how to use it Provide examples/success stories of how it is used Allow flexibility

21. Closing the appointment with a plan Goal is to have them feel like they accomplished something (even small!) and that they have a plan for moving forward. We want to leave them with a tangible reminder of what we have discussed.

22. Assigning Advising Homework Assess their willingness for doing some work on their own Determine together what they are ready to do Coach on next steps

23. My Blueprint-planning side

24. Accountability is important! Follow up – an important part of this process Make note of what you agreed they would do so you can ask next time Tell the student when you will follow up

25. Final Thoughts These students can be challenging. Goal is to make small steps to get the conversation started. Advising strategies/tools can help you through this process. Remember that these students require more time and guidance but they can find their way!

26. Comments…Ideas

27. Thank You! Maureen Schafer Associate Director, Academic Advising Center The University of Iowa maureen-schafer@uiowa.edu Carrie Morris Academic Advisor, Academic Advising Center The University of Iowa carrie-morris-1@uiowa.edu