Navigating the First Year: A Program
for Advising Exploratory Students
Pennsylvania State University
Nominated by Eric R. White
The challenges of decreases in advising staff, coupled with increases
in student enrollment, were two primary factors that led to the
development of an advising program to enhance the quality and
efficiency of advising services for exploratory, first-year students
enrolled in the Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) at Penn
State University. These students must deal with the complex
issues of gaining a better understanding of 1) their personal
characteristics 2) the characteristics of academic programs and
3) how to use this information to develop their educational plans.
In addition, academic rules, procedures, and deadlines can overwhelm
new students. To address these issues, the Division developed
The DUS Navigator: A Guide for Educational Planning, a comprehensive
advising program that teaches students how to become better planners
and decision makers.
The Navigator, a series of guides distributed to students at
critical times during their first year, includes a time line,
related worksheets, and supplemental information. Students
use these guides to gain an understanding of the objectives of
the educational planning process, to learn how and when to initiate
important steps in this process, and to acquire information that
is critical for academic success. The Navigator enables
students to take and active role in their educational planning
and to work more productively with advisors to make informed decisions.
A World Wide Web version of the Navigator was developed to accommodate
individual student differences in readiness to apply to the educational
planning concepts presented in the guides.
The evaluation of a pilot project lead to significant changes
in the program that included an orientation meeting and a revision
of the guides to increase student involvement. An evaluation
conducted after the second iteration of the program indicated
that students were more actively involved in their educational
planning and were better prepared to make informed decisions earlier
in their academic careers.
University of Tennessee
Faculty Advising Handbook
Table of Contents: I. The Curriculum, II. Advising (goals of
academic advising, characteristics of the effective advisor, advising
system, assignment of advisors, departmental majors, advising
conference, student file), III. Procedures (registration, late
registration, phone registration, scan form registration, dropping
and adding courses, late drop, removing an incomplete, repeating
a course, academic second opportunity, course load, correspondence
courses, s/nc cources, auditing courses), IV. Graduation Requirements
(university requirements for bachelor's degree, senior standing
sheet/degree audit, double majors and minors, petitions), V. Academic
Standing (calculation of G.P.A., academic review, withdrawal from
the university, reentering the university, SAMS access), VI. Advising
for SPecial Populations (transfer students, executive undergraduate
program, evening school students, international students, pre-law),
VII. Referral Sources (recommendations for referral, advising
centers, clubs and organizations, scholarship information, co-op,
graduate school), VIII. Index.
Saint Mary's College of California
Faculty Advisor Handbook
Table of Contents: What is an advisor expected to do?, The faculty
member as academic advisor-An overview, 1996-97 Academic Calendar,
Index to most frequently asked questions, Compendium of most frequently
asked questions, Appendices, Privacy Act of 1974, Right to Privacy
Waiver, Probation Policy, Academic Honesty Policy, Guidelines
for Independent Study Courses, Liberal Studies Program, Commonly
used forms, Campus Referral Resources.
