2022 Session Details

What happens when we bring improv to our workplace and incorporate it into advising practices? Improv teaches one to listen carefully, communicate clearly, and to be spontaneous. This informative and interactive session will introduce attendees to the notion of “Yes, And” all while emphasizing how adopting this simple mantra can help you build collaboration, honor and empower those around you, and spark innovation and creativity in your work. Open to advisors of all levels. 

Back for another vibe check on Generation Z communication styles, this presentation will revisit and expand upon our February Communicating with Gen Z event. We’ll briefly share what we know about students in Generation Z including demographics,  values, and communication preferences, along with providing tips and tricks for best engaging Zoomers in hopes that you can take some of these skills back to your own units to re-imagine your communication plans. This presentation will also touch on specific strategies we’ve used in the LSA Newnan Academic Advising Center to communicate efficiently and inclusively with Gen Z before turning things over to a panel of Generation Z experts to share their thoughts on how our students themselves would like to receive information.

Performance Evaluation time is coming up! Do you have a quick and easy way of outlining your successes and accomplishments for the 2021-2022 year? Join our session to learn more about how to leverage the ACUM Advisor Training Canvas site to better prepare for annual performance reviews in your unit. While the Canvas site will provide the framework for our small group work, the real deliverable will be in the discussion, writing, and review of new bullet points for not only your performance evaluation, but also for your resume or LinkedIn profile. Our hope is that attendees will leave the session feeling invigorated, inspired, and impressed by the amount of professional development they’ve already accomplished, as well as have a clear set of goals and objectives to achieve in the upcoming year to make themselves the best advisors they can be. The session is appropriate for supervisors of advisors, advisors, and interns. 

In this session, advisors will learn some unique elements of self care from various self-help books including: self-compassion (Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself Kristin Neff), creating desired habits (Atomic Habits by James Clear), and finding the language to express emotions (Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown). There will be full group and small group discussion to enhance the conversation and share various perspectives.

Advisors often coach students through learning experiences and may even bring up learning styles - the idea that students learn best from one of several modalities ie. visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.  A large industry is built up around the theory of learning styles perpetuating the myth in higher education. However, research in educational psychology and neuroscience reports that this is a flawed frame from which to understand learning. There is no evidence that humans learn better when information is presented through one modality over another. If students believe they can only learn in one modality this could limit them and restrict their potential. This session will ask participants to reflect on experiences with learning styles.  Integrating metacognition into student conversations is encouraged, allowing for a reimagining of learning discussions.  We suggest that advisors evolve beyond flawed ideas of learning styles and hope to re-energize attendees to move toward evidence-based learning practices.

This year we created the first Ann Arbor campus-wide advising award.  We solicited nominations from all of the UM-AA schools and colleges.  Full-time staff advisors and faculty advisors and mentors were all eligible.  We asked nominators to tells us how their advisors excelled in delivering accurate and helpful information; demonstrated care and supported their well-being; challenged them to examine or carefully reflect their decisions or future goals.  The response was overwhelming.  We received more 1000 nominations. In this session we will dive into the nominations to discuss recurring themes and lessons advisors can learn from this treasure trove of positive student feedback.

For many students, it is a myth to think: “When I get to the interview, I'll convince them I want to be a doctor.” If a student cannot convince an admissions committee in the primary application, they will not be considered for an interview.  Come learn about a mission-based approach on how to assemble an application including a personal statement, and work/activities/experiences using a mission-map. Using key questions during the college experience and applying to the mission map, one can help guide a student through their pre-health professions journey. From over 10 years of helping first-generation, disadvantaged students, tell their stories, I have developed and am sharing a useful tool to help "find a student's voice" in the competitive world of health professions application process.

During the pandemic, widespread accessibility improvements were made in an effort to keep people safe while remaining connected. As a result, many people utilized accommodations and became more familiar with their own health, access, and learning needs. In addition to those who had chronic conditions prior to the pandemic, many are now grappling with Long Haul Covid symptoms. As advisors, we are in a unique position to support students as they work toward their educational goals while balancing challenges presented by chronic illness and disabilities. During this presentation, participants will understand the growing need to support students with chronic illness and disabilities, seek to understand the unique challenges these students face, learn how to invite conversations about access needs in advising appointments, and identify opportunities for advocacy. The Covid-19 pandemic facilitated deeper discussions around health and access and together we can continue these discussions to improve outcomes for all students. 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT (pronounced as one word), is a mindfulness-based counseling theory that helps people move toward meaningful life goals while accepting the pain which inevitably accompanies going after things that matter. ACT teaches people to commit to actions that move them closer to valued living even when the experience may be uncomfortable, unwanted, discouraging, or challenging, as college often can be for students pursuing a degree. ACT approaches are highly adaptable to academic advising practice and may be applied to everything from encouraging students on probation to find a deeper connection to education to helping pre-health students learn how to cope with uncertainty on the path to medical school. Learn how to use ACT approaches in your advising practice and develop new strategies to help students move toward what matters most to them even when challenges arise.

In this session I will first present some of my most effective “tools of the trade” from my 25+ years of experience in academic advising and coaching in the College of Engineering, focusing on the Relational NACADA Core Competencies (https://nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Pillars/CoreCompetencies.aspx). Participants will then join one of seven breakout rooms along each of the core Relational competencies, where they will be able to share their own tips through a working document.  We will then come together to discuss some of the most impactful tips along each area. The final document will be shared with all participants after the session. 

The Dean of Students Office (DOS) at the University of Michigan is a central place for students, parents, faculty, and staff to seek assistance in navigating the complex issues of campus life; receive support; evaluate individual needs and review options for problem solving; and learn about available resources for a student struggling with a challenge or unmet need.

The Dean of Students Office Student Support Team utilizes partnerships within the University of Michigan and the surrounding community to adapt services, resources, and care to individual student needs. Students often turn to their advisors in times of struggle or need, and DOS stands ready to partner with advisors and support students. This program will give participants the opportunity to learn more about how to partner with the DOS Student Support Team to best serve and support students.

Advisors play a critical role in supporting student well-being. This workshop will integrate tools from the Well-being Toolkit and the ACUM Canvas module for undergraduate and graduate advisors to utilize in their work. We will specifically attend to the common reasons that cause advisors to feel stuck or unsure about how best to support their students.

Advisors often feel that they have to fix the problems that students come in with--and many are more complicated than "what classes do I need to graduate." This session offers a peek how a motivational interviewing framework can be a tool for advisors to guide students toward behavior change whether it be time management, studying more, choosing a major that's a good fit or dealing with mental health issues. We'll discuss “MI spirit” and practice compassionate open questions, briefly discuss reflections, and practice a way to offer information and advice that will leave you feeling energized instead of overwhelmed. The goal is to peak your interest to learn more.

"Marty, you're not thinking 4th dimensionally!"

In Back to the Future, Doc showed us that achieving one's goals requires thinking about what the world will look like when the goals are reached, and preparing towards that future instead of the present. Using international experiences and fellowships as an example, this session will take you through the framework of helping students to prepare for opportunities - and their careers - well in advance of their eligibility and graduation date. It will also help you identify the true goal of these opportunities, which may be more than simply winning an award. Finally, we look forward to discussing the hurdles surrounding future planning with students, and how we have worked to overcome them.

Students come to college with a myriad of interests and experiences.  Many are uncertain of what to study or activities to get involved with, and have a hard time deciding what is right for them.  Throughout their education, these students have often been asked to reflect on their experiences, but may not have been taught how or shown the value of self-reflection.  We are going to explore a systematic way to create and utilize a reflective journal (a.k.a.  personal storybook) with our students in academic advising.  Through the creation and utilization of such journals, we are able to teach students one method to make tough academic, professional, and life decisions on their own, based on their own experiences, and with confidence.

All students face stress throughout their educational journey, especially right now in the time of COVID. Some of the main stressors have been named and regularly addressed by researchers and administrators including being in a state of transition, building a sense of community and belonging, and financial and future career concerns. Advisors can (and do) have an influence on how students identify and respond to stressors and we often provide them with valuable strategies for managing their wellbeing. Attend this session to discuss the small, yet impactful, moments with students that help (or add to) students' stress.