Group+4

17 Maple Drive Dayton, OH 45414  (937) 555-1746 (937) 555-1746

April 19, 2011

J.J. Davis Vice President for Administration University of Delaware 202 Academy Street Newark, DE 19711

Dear J.J. Davis:

The Training & Organizational Development Advisory Committee has contacted us to raise the standards of advisement towards students. We understand that this has been a reoccurring issue that the registrar office have noticed and have been dealing with for some time now. We would like to assist you in recruiting the top advisors. We plan to set up a proper agenda to train and develop excellent advisory teams.

Attached we have included a plan and procedure to execute this proposal. We will recruit, train, and develop an outstanding team through conceptual, informational, and relational practices. This will be carried out through workshops and interactive meetings.

Through this process, the University of Delaware will receive not only well versed and knowledgeable advisors, but also a happy student body who will be satisfied with the education they will have received as well as enjoyed their time at the University.

Sincerely,

The Center for Academic Advisor Development and Training

** Proposal **

<span style="background-color: #d9adad; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: sub;">**Introduction:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">It has come to our attention that the University of D<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">elaware's Registrar Office has received numerous complaints from students about their inability to register for proper classes. A major complaint was that students were unsure about what classes to take to pursue their degree because of a lack of advisement<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Our goal for this project is to lower the advisor to student ratio at the University of Delaware.The Training & Organizational Development Advisory Committee has reached out to us to raise the standards of advisement towards students. The TODAC will conduct interactive meetings, seminars and workshops that will cater to student and advisors' needs. We will recruit Professors we see fit to be an advisor. Each advisor will be a hired faculty member tha t  will be given a certain number of years in his or her contract to be an advisor. We will then conduct workshops providing Professors with the best tools to be a proper advisor to all University of Delaware students.

<span style="background-color: #d9adad; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: sub;">**Background of the Problem:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The University of Delaware's Registrar Office has received major complaints from numerous students. There were freshman students who were confused about the actual process of registering for classes and even seniors, who felt that they could not get into the classes they needed to graduate due to poor advisement. In instances of new transfer students, advisement was not available to some students right away. Since there was no actual problem with the registration process or classes itself, we decided to focus on the root of the problem which was lack of proper advisement from advisors to students. The Training & Organizational Development Advisory Committee needs to find a solution to this problem, so our company has enacted this proposal.

<span style="background-color: #d9adad; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">**Objectives:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">By learning and understanding your advising needs and the needs of your students, we will be able to develop a course of action to solve your problems and meet your needs. We will work with you to improve the relationship between your advisors and their students by equipping you with the proper tools to maintain an open channel of communication. We will get to the root of the problem by obtaining input from both your <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">facult and your students to create an effective plan for your university. We will also offer you our services to educate and train potential and existing advisors, and help them make a smooth transition to any new requirements or procedures that may be implemented.

<span style="background-color: #d9adad; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">**Procedure:**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. We will interview current advisors from different colleges and assess their level of involvement with their students. We will also inquire of complaints or feedback they have received either from their departments or their students.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3. We will conduct a survey among the student body to determine the general consensus of the <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">students satisfaction with the advisement at the University of Delaware. We will create a survey on Surveymonkey.com and distribute the survey through the Facebook, a social network, <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">to as many student s from the University of Delaware.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Determine the current training process that the University of Delaware implements to their staff.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5. We will meet with you to present our findings and course of action to improve the advisor/student relationship.

<span style="background-color: #d9adad; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">**Record of Service:** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The CENTER for ACADEMIC ADVISEOR DEVELOPMENT and TRAINING (CAADT), advances and promotes superior academic advising in higher education institutions to better the educational support for students. Advisor training is the foundation to any advising <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">program and CAADT provides formal training to educational providers with thought of the student in mind. We assist in professional development through workshops, forums, discussion and the exchange of ideas. CAADT serves as an advocate for effective academic advising and has been awarded with the Award for Excellence in Professional Training, Instructional Improvement Award and The Nobel Advisement Prize. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The Center for Academic Advisor Development and Training was founded in 1965 at the first National Advisement for America Conference. Since, we have grown to over 2,000 employees representing 50 states. We have worked with private and public universities across the nation by aiding with the academic advising effectiveness at these establishments.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">CAADT Mission Statement. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Center for Academic Advisor Development and Training strives to be the leader within the educational community for the delivery and advancement of academic advising to allow the prosperity of student development and learning.

<span style="background-color: #d9adad; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">**Budget:** REVISED:


 * //__Consulting Fee:__//** $9,000

There will be 5 employees from our company doing extensive research for four weeks. Each employee earns an hourly wage of $10. Each week every employee will contribute around 40 hours towards this project. They will commute from our main offices to the University of Delaware several times a week and will receive a traveling stipend of $200 each.
 * Budget:**

One day will cost $400= 8 hours of work x $10 per/hr x 5 employees Multiply that by 5 days to get a full week = $2,000 Multiply a week’s work by 4 to cover the full month of research = $8,000 Add $1,000 ($200 x 5 employees) for travel stipend for the whole month TOTAL = $9,000
 * Breakdown:**

New total is $52,600 cheaper than original budget of $61,600. Now it makes sense great improvement!

<span style="background-color: #d9adad; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">**Schedule:** Revised:

Week One: April 18th - 24th 2011 - Analyze current standards for advisors - Research other universities’ advisory systems - Develop a survey to understand the types of problems students are facing - Develop a standard interview to ask advisors what is expected of them

Week Two: April 25th - May 2nd 2011 - Survey students - Interview professors and advisors - Contact Training & Organizational Development Advisory Committee at the University of Delaware to get them involved and contribute to the solution. - Come up with different solutions

Week Three: May 3rd - 8th 2011 - Analyze results from surveys and interviews - Determine major and minor problems with the advisory system - Adopt solutions for the different types of problems

Week Four: May 9th - 16th 2011 - Team meets and puts report together - Revision

Presentation Day: May 17th 2011 - Present to Training & Organizational Development Advisory Committee at the University of Delaware

To: Members of the Training & Organizational Development Advisory Committee From: The Center for Academic Advisor Development and Training Team Date: May 4, 2011 Subject: Opportunities on Lowering the Advisor to Student Ratio

Enclosed is the Lowering the Advisor to Student Ratio Report for the University of Delaware. The report includes the research and the new opportunities that can be implemented to improve the advisement and increase student satisfaction at the University of Delaware. The advisor to student ratio problem is reported and analyzed by the student survey results and the advisors’ interviews. Most students said the main problem they encountered was simply trying to reach their advisors. The report suggests several opportunities to improve the lack of communication between advisors and students.

It is our hope that this report will provide useful solutions for lowering the advisor to student ratio. These potential opportunities can improve the relationships between advisors and students. Please feel free to contact our team at (937) 555-1746 (937) 555-1746 for any questions.

** REPORT **

** Center For Academic Advisor Development and Training’s Advancement of UD Advisement **

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">Prepared for the Training & Organizational Development Advisory Committee at the University of Delaware.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">Report Distributed May 4, 2011

** Center for Academic Advisor Development and Training ** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">Prepared by: Danielle Leahey, Heather Hays, Courtney Heckman, Diana Sepulveda, Jessica Foraker

** Table of Contents **

** Executive Summary………………………………………………………. **

** Introduction………………………………………………………………... **

** Procedure…………………………………………………………………… ** ** Table I……… **

** Results………………………………………………………………………. **

** Conclusions………………………………………………………………… **

** Recommendations…………………………………………………………… **

** Work Cited…………………………………………………………………… **

** Appendices................................................................................................. **

MAIN IDEAS: to help stay on topic and sound unified (add main ideas if you think it applies to other people's sections)

**Purpose** : to better enhance the advisor and student relationship/ratio

**Background Major/Minor problems:** Major= advisement, Minor= technology (court should expand on examples of students problems)

**Objectives/Conclusions:** main idea is to raise standards by lowering advisor/student ratio (says this should be the main focus of ex summary)

**Recommendations:** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: line-through;">#3) train advisors (seminars, workshops, meetings held by main advisors)
 * 1) 1) have more open channels of communication available to students – hotline, email, interactive websites, meetings (weekly, monthly, semester)
 * 2) 2) hire one full time advisor per college that manages the rest of the advisors (court expand saying full time job they should know all the answers, keep track how often advisors meet with their students, have a goal of 98% students graduate on time blah blah)
 * 1) 4) am i missing any? or add new ones

__**Executive Summary**__

This report analyzes the student/advisor ration at the University of Delaware and the levels of dissatisfaction student's have with personal advisors. The purpose of this report is to provide the Training & Organizational Development Advisory Committee at the University of Delaware with a plan of action to better improve the student/advisor relationship. Our main purpose is to enhance the advisor and student relationship at the university. (numbers can/should change) A troublesome issue was that students were unable to reach their advisors. As a result, many complaints were filed to the University's Registrar's Office. Students were unable to get into the classes they needed to graduate because their organization of classes per semester was not set up properly with an advisor. We did extensive research on campus and came up with helpful statistics, ideas and recommendations to solve this reoccurring issue. Our first research procedure was to survey the students and understand the problems they encountered with advisement. We categorized the issues into major and minor problems so that we had a more focused plan of action. It came to our understanding that the major problem was lack of communication between the advisor and the student. Our main methods of research include a student survey and advisor interviews. Technology was brought up as a concern but was only a minor issue students dealt with. The problem was not the physical act of technically registering for the class, the problem lied with the preparation for what classes a student should take. This preparation included the minimal help from advisors. We found that the biggest problem students had was contacting their advisors int he first place. Next was the fact that the advisors were unavailable most of the time. ( TALK ABOUT STUDENT SURVEY RESULTS) Our next step was to interview current advisors at the University. We interviewed as many advisors we had access to. From our research we developed our main objective; which is to raise advisement standards by lowering the advisor to student ratio. We anticipate lowering the advisor to student ratio from 1:10 to 3:10.

THE EX. SUM.IS INCOMPLETE. IT SHOULD STATE WHAT YOU ARE RECOMMENDING.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this report was to provide the TODAC with a conclusive summary of a proper plan of action to take in lowering the advisor to student ratio. The University of Delaware's Registrar's Office received numerous complaints from students about their inability to register for proper classes. We concluded that students were unsure about what classes to take to pursue their degree due to a lack of advisement. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The University of Delaw are's Registrar's Office has received major complaints from students in all different grades. There were freshman students who were confused about the actual process of registering for classes and even seniors, who felt that they could not get into the classes they needed to graduate due to poor advisement. In instances of new transfer students, advisement was not available to some students right away. There are even particular majors in which advisement does not start until well into the student’s junior year. Since there was no actual problem with the registration process or classes itself, we decided to focus on the root of the problem which was lack of proper advisement from advisors to students. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The research that we have conducted proves to discover the root of the problem with student advisement. We conducted interviews with current students and advisors at the University and survey and further determined where their miscommunication lies. The next step after our presenting our research material to the TODAC and lowering student/advisor ratios, standards for advisors would have to be improved. In doing so we would conduct interactive meetings, seminars and workshops that will help advisors provide correct information for their students. These advisors would be hired faculty members that have the requirements necessary as decided by the TODAC.

= ** PROCEDURE ** =

//Outside Analysis//

To further gain information about the advising processes and current standards for advisors at the University of Delaware we conducted preliminary research. TODAC was able to contact the Dean of each college and also gain knowledge directly from the University's website, www.udel.edu. Each interview was done through email and all the De ans were given the same interview questions. These interviews occurred on April 29th at 4:00pm. The purpose of this research was to not only find out more information but also to compare answers of the Dean's to those of the advisors. The questions consisted of three questions. (see appendix) The people that were interviewed were <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Robin Morgan, George Watson, Daniel Leathers ,Nancy Brickhouse, Rick Andrews, Michael Chajes, Kathleen Matt. <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ff0000; line-height: normal; text-decoration: line-through;">(remember to cite the interview in the works cited and also put in each college the dean is from.)

//Advisor Interviews//

Standard interviews were conducted with advisors from multiple departments on campus about the advisement process here on campus. These interviews consisted of five questions (See Appendix) that would provide TODAC with information over the training and advising in general at the University of Delaware. These questions compiled information of how advisors were assigned students to their biggest advising concern. Emphasis was placed on the procedures on how each advisor was trained. The surveys were conducted through email and also in person, allowing for more flexibility with the advisors schedules. We attained information from advisors in the Communication, Spanish, Political Science, Fashion Merchandising departments, as well as the Business school. The advisors that were interviewed were as follows; John Courtright, through email on April 25th at 2:00pm, Julio Carrion through email on April 25th at 2:00 pm, Hans-Joerg Busch through email on April 25th at 2:00 pm, John Antil, in person on April 27th at 11:00 am and Dilia Lopez-Gydosh in person on May 9, 2011 at 11:00 am.

//Student Survey// Surveys were created for the students to gain first hand knowledge of their opinions. The survey was distributed in two different forms, passing out paper surveys during classes and online at surveymonkey.com. The survey was distributed and taken by students of all different majors and class levels to represent the whole student body. (See Results) The survey contained seven questions. (See Appendix) These questions gave TODAC a better understanding of the student/advisor relationship here at the University of Delaware. The questions allowed us to gain better understanding of the student body we were surveying and what types of issues they were experiencing.

//University Comparisons// In order to compare the advising system at the University of Delaware, we conducted interviews with Professors who were advisors at other schools. These interviews took place on May 1st through the means of phone and email. The people contacted were......(still waiting to hear back from all of them) The questions that were asked during these interviews were the same questions that were asked to the University of Delaware advisors. (See appendix) The purpose was to compare responses and discover better solutions to the advising process at the University of Delaware.

WHERE IS THIS INFORMATION?

**Results**

**Student Difficulties** After conducting a survey of the undergraduate students at the University of Delaware, we were able to conclude that though most students are experiencing various problems with their advisement situation, the most common problem was the availability of the student's advisor. ( specific information about the sample size of the survey and accurate results to come upon completion ) Some of the difficulties students have been experiencing are problems with contacting their advisors, the availability of their advisors, and their advisors lacking sufficient knowledge to answer their questions and help solve their problems.
 * [[image:advisor_shortcomings_chart.JPG width="800" height="547"]]Chart 1**: Advisor Shortcomings

The following chart will show the difference in cost from the current advising system to the proposed advising system. [A chart showing the adjusted cost will be inserted here]
 * Cost **

SHOULD THIS GO IN THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND THE CHART IN THE APPENDIX? Student/Advisor Ratio One of the goals we had as a company was to improve the communication between advisors and their students. One way we plan to accomplish this is to reduce the student/advisor ratio. Currently there are an average of 85 students per advisor. We would like to increase the number of advisors in each department from three to ten making the projected student/advisor ratio 26/1.




 * Chart 2**: Projected Student/Advisor Ratio

Results of Interviews

Interviews were conducted among some of the advisors at University of Delaware. The results between advisors in different departments were very different from one another, giving us the impression that there is no standardized method of advisement across the university.

Advisor A, a Communications advisor, was interviewed on May 6, 2011. In the Communications Department students are assigned to advisors on a rotating basis. The newest student to enroll in the program is assigned to the next available advisor. Each advisor is assigned only one student at a time. Advisor A also said that faculty members in the Communications Department are not trained in advising; they are responsible for learning the curriculum and requirements for their department on their own. Advisor A was asked if she took any special measures to ensure that students graduate in four years. Her response was that she works with each student to get him the schedule he needs to meet his own timetable. Advisor A’s only concern about the advising situation at University of Delaware was that students do not come each semester to obtain advisement on a regular basis.

Advisor B, a Fashion Studies advisor was interviewed on May 9, 2011. When asked how she was assigned students to advise, Advisor B answered that when she was hired she was assigned all fashion merchandising freshmen from the second half of the alphabet. She also advises all the Costume History minors. At this time Advisor B has over 60 students to advise. This was very different from the communications advisor that only worked with one student at a time. Also differing from the Communications Department, Advisor B was trained in advisement was she was first hired. For this training the heads of the department sat down with her to share the information in the Advising handbook. Since she has been a professor here at the University of Delaware, she has received e-mail updates on advisement tips each year. Also, when she was a new faculty member she had an experienced advisor mentor who she could consult with questions. Advisor B uses various tools to ensure that her students graduate in four years, should they choose to come see her. She uses the advisement handbook, the student handbook, a tentative plan to help determine what a student’s schedule should be, and each student’s senior checkout. Advisor B’s biggest concern with advising is that students do not communicate with her to check on their status. She is also concerned that too often students come to her when it is too late to solve whatever problem they have.

Results of Survey When signing up for classes students stated that they mostly have problems with technology or have no problem at all. Close behind with almost the same response that advisors are also a large problem in signing up for classes. Next, we asked what the major problems students had dealing with advisors and we got strong response from the the choice, "My advisor lacks sufficient knowledge to answer my questions." Secondly, students find it hard to get in touch with their advisor. Then we asked students how often they meet with their advisor a semester, and students had a majority response of zero to one meetings. Some student said one to two visits, but know one answered more than two visits a semester. When asked if they register with there advisor or alone 99% of students said they register alone without any help.

I THINK THESE SHOULD BE MADE INTO CHARTS? -HEATHER Major Comm-11% FM - 50% APD - 5% Crim Jus - 5% PoliSci - 12% ENG - 12% Psych - 5%

Year SR - 39% JR - 39% Soph - 16% Fresh - 6%

Biggest problem with signing up for classes a. 30% b. 35% c. 35%

Major problems with Advisors a. 9% b. 24% c. 48% d. 19%

How many times a semester students meet with there advisor Zero- 39% 1 to 2 - 61%

Does their advisor ever contact them yes - 17% no - 83%

Resister alone or with advisor Alone - 89% Advisor - 11%

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt;">CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Through extensive research done both on campus and off campus, it’s clear that there are multiple issues with the advising process at the University of Delaware. The University had many aggravated students due to the advising process, problems reaching their advisors and the advisors inability to help them with important issues they were experiencing. Our data proves this dissatisfaction among students and provides greater information about their complaints. Our main objective when approaching the situation at the University was to raise standards by lowering the advisor to student ratio. Each College and major department was found to have their own system set in place. We implemented a standardized system in each department so it was cohesive in all parts. One full time advisor was assigned per college and each faculty member was allotted 26 students for their duration their time at the University. The purpose of the full time advisor is to train the department advisors on the proper was to advise the students, be able answer frequently asked questions, and ensure they know all the college requirements. Many students stated that a major problem was that their advisors were unavailable to be reached. We hope that this issue is now solved with the lowering of the student to advisor ratio. The Center for Academic Advisor Development and Training would like to see the issues with the advisement process at Delaware. We would further recommend that the advisors have more open channels of communication available to the students. The University should think about creating a hotline or interactive websites that the students can have access to. Advisors should also think about updating their technology usage and communicating with their students via facebook. Advisors should ensure that all of their students are on track and that they graduate on time. Goal should be set to have their students complete their degrees in four years. They should plan to meet with their students on a semester basis to confirm that these goals are being met. The advisors should initiate communication with the student for these meetings. The Center for Academic Advisor Development and Training believes that with the right processes and training the advisement problems can be solved.

APPENDICES Advisor Interview Questions

1) How are you assigned students to advise 2) How many students do you advise? 3) How/if are you trained to advise students? 4) What tools/advising methods do you have to ensure that students graduate in 4 years? 5) What is your biggest advising concern at the University of Delaware?

3. When signing up for classes what, if any, is your biggest problem? a. Advisors b. Technology c. I don’t have any problems signing up for classes
====4. What, if any, are the major problems you encounter when dealing with your advisor? a. I have problems contacting my advisor b. I have problems with the availability of my advisor c. My advisor lacks sufficient knowledge to answer my questions d. I have no problems with my advisor====

7. When registering for classes, do you do so with the help of your advisor or on your own?
<span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">1. What type of training or information the department provides for the faculty in order to help them advise the students? <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">2. Do you require the faculty to meet with their students on a regular basis? <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">3. How times per week (office hours) are the facultyequired to have available to meet with students?
 * Dean Interview Questions**


 * Advisors Interview Responses**

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; margin: 0px;">//<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Century Schoolbook',serif;">John A. Courtright, Department of Communication //

1) How are you assigned students to advise

<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Century Schoolbook',serif;">1. Students are assigned to advisers (in Communication) on a rotating basis. The next student to come in gets the next adviser whose turn it is. <span style="border-collapse: separate; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px;">2) How many students do you advise? <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Century Schoolbook',serif;">2. I only advise one student at a time. <span style="border-collapse: separate; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px;">3) How/if are you trained to advise students? <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Century Schoolbook',serif;">3. Faculty are not “trained” in advising. They learn the curriculum and the requirements on their own. <span style="border-collapse: separate; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px;">4) What tools/advising methods do you have to ensure that students graduate in 4 years? <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Century Schoolbook',serif;">4. I don’t do anything special to ensure that students graduate in four years. I work individually with each student to get them the schedule they need to meet their own timetable. <span style="border-collapse: separate; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px;">5) What is your biggest advising concern at the University of Delaware? <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: 'Century Schoolbook',serif;">5. My only real concern is that students do not come each semester to obtain regular advising.


 * <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Dean Interview Responses **

//David Frey, <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">assistant chair and faculty member in the Plant and Soil Science Department: //

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">What type of training or information the department provides for the faculty in order to help them advise the students?

The faculty are involved with the advisement process starting with summer scheduling of incoming freshmen. Faculty meet over the summer with the incoming students who are interested in their department to set up a schedule for their first semester and to get to know them. This activity is coordinated by our Assistant Dean for Student Services Kim Yackoski. Students who are undecided about their major within the College but know they want to be in agriculture are advised by the College Student Services staff. Faculty training is both informal and formal. Several workshops/seminars are set up for faculty by the Dean of Student Services during the academic year to orient faculty regarding advisement and other matters that effect students. The Dean of Student Services and her staff are also always ready to help faculty in the advisement process and often work one on one to make sure that faculty are aware of issues related to advisement. Every department in the College has faulty members that can assist other faculty who have advisement related questions. Advisors are assigned based on the area of study that the students are most interested in. All department majors in the College are advised by faculty members.

<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">2. Do you require the faculty to meet with their students on a regular basis? We encourage students to meet at least once a semester with their advisees. Faculty help students select courses for the upcoming semesters, offer advice regarding internship opportunities and help students in any other way that they can. The only group of students that are obligated by policy to meet with their advisor are those students who are on academic probation. This group cannot register without meeting with their advisor every semester that they are on probation.

3. How times per week (office hours) are the facultyequired to have available to meet with students?

Faculty members are not required to devote a specific block of time to advising. Most faculty members keep in touch with their advisees and it is relatively easy for the students to set up meeting times with them. During advanced registration periods, faculty set aside extra time to meet with advisees.

//<span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Dr. Rick L. Andrews, Interim Dean and Professor, Lerner College of Business & Economics //

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">What type of training or information the department provides for the faculty in order to help them advise the students? <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Unlike other colleges, we only have one faculty advisor in each department. It is their job responsibility to advise all majors in that department. We feel that this gives us better quality control over the student advising.

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">2. Do you require the faculty to meet with their students on a regular basis? <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Students are not required to meet with their advisor, but it is strongly encouraged.

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Most of our advisors have approximately 10 office hours per week, but the Lerner College undergraduate advising office is open 8-5 every day in case students need simple things like forms, checkout sheets, etc.

<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">3. How times per week (office hours) are the facultyequired to have available to meet with students? <span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Our students use the professional advisors in the undergraduate advising office for the first two years, and then they are assigned a faculty advisor for their last two years.