2021 Session Details

In this session the Office of Enrollment Management Research Group will present findings from a recent focus group study on the experiences of first-generation college students (FGCS) and how they learn, utilize, and trust campus resources. Using data from a demographically representative sample of 17 focus groups and over 60 first-generation students, we examined how first-generation students learned and utilized campus resources. We present two conceptual models that practitioners may find helpful when supporting FGCS: 1) Model of Advisor Trustworthiness that highlights qualities and behaviors students shared that allow them to trust an advisor and 2) Student Success Information Mapping Model that organizes ways FGCS find information regarding campus resources. 

Due to COVID-19, units proved we could move services online quickly and we know everything can be done in person. As we have all maneuvered through the pandemic, advisors and staff have adapted to utilizing different technology tools to continue doing our work remotely. However, post-Covid, what should go back to being in-person and what should remain (or be reimagined) online? If we offer a hybrid workplace, what are the potential benefits for each scenario? A panel of undergraduate students will also discuss their engagement with remote student services and answer questions, followed by roundtable discussions with advisors from different colleges and departments. Guiding questions will be provided. Discussion will include various topics such as events/programming, advising, and wellness. Advisors, event planners, and student services staff are encouraged to attend. 

In collaboration with the Office of Academic Innovations (OAI), the Science Learning Center (SLC) developed an adaptable online microaggression training for student-facing student staff via the Canvas platform. By using a scenario-based model, we have created a living training that is context specific to our unit with the ability to “plug and play” replacement scenarios based on the contextual work environment of alternate student staff roles (ex: Peer Advisors), and the evolving university and national needs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Nearly 200 newly hired student staff began completing the training in September 2020 with 97.6% of those completing a post-survey reporting they felt they would be able to intervene when witnessing an exclusionary situation. Future work will involve the creation of new modules for additional exclusionary behaviors such as implicit/explicit bias. We aim to connect with advising units interested in adapting the training for their student staff. After attending this presentation, participants will acknowledge the need for scenario-based student staff training on microaggressions, understand the online microaggression training model developed by the SLC and OAI, and be equipped to take action steps to incorporate this training model into their student staff training programs. 

U-M has long celebrated a 92% 6-year graduation rate of first-time students. But what about the 8% who do not finish -- why did they leave? Where did they go? Do they want to come back? This session will begin to answer these important questions by detailing the results from a cross-disciplinarily developed exit survey distributed to unregistered students in summer 2019. The presenters will also share updated information from the 2020-2021 school year. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss the implications from this work on academic advising practice and what questions remain for future surveys. 

We will showcase how our experience as both students and undergraduate peer facilitators of ALA 171: Making the Most of Michigan can be adapted to academic advising. ALA 171 is usually an in-person class that engages first-year and transfer students with resources, connects students across social identities, and encourages interactive learning at the University of Michigan. During the 2020-2021 academic year, we have continuously adapted to the online learning environment and campus conditions, as both students and facilitators. Our session will focus on three areas: fostering connections with and between students, introducing students to and encouraging engagement with resources, and using technology as a tool to support students. After introducing ourselves and our focus areas, advisors will choose between three separate breakout rooms that highlight activities we use in ALA with students: Culture Box, Utilizing Electronic Portfolios to Get to Know Students and Support Their Goals, and Visiting Campus Resources. We will close by happily answering advisers’ questions. 

More than ever, academic advisors are in a position to listen and support students' well-being and mental health. The new Well-being Toolkit is designed to provide interactive, customizable and adaptable wellness tools for professional staff to use in one-on-one appointments, coaching, and group meetings to suit the needs of your school/college or department. The tools are intended to promote an inclusive, holistic understanding of well-being, and to help bridge the gap of decentralized tools used to support students and their communities throughout their well-being journeys. We will demo the toolkit at this session, and you will be able to use the tools immediately in your work with students! 

As resources and staff capacity are stretched, it is critical for professionals to work across boundaries to provide impactful and far-reaching support for our students. While the siloed nature of our work can make this difficult, this workshop will address these barriers and challenges by providing higher education professionals with strategies and tools to help them establish long-lasting collaborative relationships across units on campus. This interactive workshop is both a training session and a networking opportunity. Attendees will leave with some new professional connections, a collaboration toolkit, and roadmap to start their summer planning. 

The COVID-19 pandemic and anti-Black racism movement led us to wonder how different student populations experience academic advising differently. Our research team, composed of advising administrators and educational researchers, surveyed undergraduate students on the U-M Ann Arbor campus about their advising experiences at a large, public, research institution. We asked questions such as whether their advisors respect their identities and use inclusive language, how virtual advising compares to in-person advising, and how advisors help them navigate challenges. Then we analyzed how the advising experiences of students in marginalized groups differed from those of their peers. In this session, we will share lessons learned from our research and engage participants in an interactive activity to identify strategies for supporting marginalized students on their own campuses.

A common conundrum faced by liberal arts students is being drawn to a career path that appears at odds with their academic focus. Additional pressure comes from employers, who increasingly expect job applicants to possess foundational industry knowledge, skills, and experiences not delivered by academic courses. As liberal arts students struggle to understand how they will “fit” within an industry, they seek help from career advisors. But often the advising is too generalized or hands-off, directing students to online industry guides and career mapping tools that don’t take their unique circumstances or knowledge level into account.

At the LSA Opportunity Hub, we developed a tailored industry advising model that meets students where they are. During this session, industry advising staff will present our model, its benefits, and how to implement it. We’ll be joined by one or two LSA students who will speak about how this model helped connect them to relevant experiential learning opportunities, identify transferable skills, engage in extracurricular skill development, and prepare for industry hiring.

This session is designed for liberal arts and sciences career advisors who coach diverse students and are seeking new tools and approaches to deliver tailored industry advice and learning opportunities.

On a large and decentralized campus, consistency in advisor training across units varies widely, and in some instances, formalized training may not be available to advisors. The Advisor Training Committee through the Advising Council at UM has been working to create a comprehensive and centralized Advisor Training program for both new and experienced advisors on campus. Through feedback collected at the 2019 Advising Conference, we have established five modules encompassing competencies and skills for advisors as a means to promote best practices as well as hone our craft and elevate the profession. During this collaborative session, we are excited to unveil - for the very first time - the first iteration of our training curriculum. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their own training experience and determine potential growth areas or gaps in their advising practice as well as have time to discuss with other advisors ways to incorporate the training curriculum into their current work.

When advising went instantly virtual last spring, many hallmark summer programs had to be completely re-imagined. Come learn about several programming models utilized in Nursing and Engineering during the summer of 2020 (and how those programs have evolved for summer 2021) and generate ideas of what summer programming might look like in your individual units. We encourage participants to attend this webinar with colleagues, as there will be time for small group discussion (or individual reflection) to make plans to implement practices shared within individual departments.

Social workers have long played a crucial role in the promotion of student mental health on college campuses. Increasingly, however, social workers are venturing outside of college counseling centers and pursuing careers in academic advising. Drawing on the emerging field of social work in higher education, this session will explore how a social work lens can be applied to college student academic advising and retention efforts. We will explore how a social systems perspective, trauma informed practice, and empowerment theory can complement student development theory to promote holistic student success. And further, as social justice is a core value of social work, this session will focus on opportunities for academic advisors to center anti-oppressive praxis in their work.

U-M students have finite time on campus to experience and choose among majors, minors, programs, student organizations, and opportunities that help them reach their goals. Could we leverage our admissions process to help students self-select and make informed decisions about their intention to pursue a program? 

This session will focus on the development of an interview process designed to help students engage in internally-motivated decision-making about engaged learning opportunities. Based on research from counseling and teacher education program admissions, appreciative advising, and self-authorship theory, the Engineering Honors Program developed a group interview process to provide students with a better understanding of the program experience, enabling us to approach admissions as a collaborative effort aligned with our advising philosophy. Advisors, program managers, and directors responsible for or participating in admissions should attend this session to hear from students and staff, and come away with your own ideas for admissions. This session will focus on programs that recruit and admit during the UM undergraduate experience (majors, minors, programs, student organizations).

Many advisors work with students with various disabilities and want to understand how to provide accessibility in those interactions. The presenters will go over basic concepts around disability, accessibility, accommodations, and ableism. Additionally, the presenters will provide technical guidance on producing a variety of materials in an accessible manner. Attendees will have access to video content before & after the discussion and there will be some time for Q&A and discussion about how we can ensure quality advising experiences for disabled students.

Between 2000 and 2018, total post baccalaureate enrollment increased by 41 percent (from 2.2 million to 3.0 million students). By 2029, post baccalaureate enrollment is projected to increase to 3.1 million students The Condition of Education. (May, 2020). National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_chb.asp. Higher education continues to evolve and the number of students interested in graduate school continues to increase. With that increase comes students with questions on how to choose a graduate program, how to secure funding for graduate school, how to prepare graduate school application materials, and more. Do you find yourself working with students who have similar questions? Do you want to learn how to support students in navigating the graduate school process? If so, join Hub Coaches, Megan Coburn and Sarah Burch from the LSA Opportunity Hub in a session where you will learn how to provide support to undergraduate students exploring this path. We will also speak to additional barriers underrepresented students overcome.