To: Dr. Lane Earns, Interim Provost & Vice Chancellor
From: The Advisory Council for Comprehensive Academic Advising
Date: September 28, 2004.
Re: Funding Priorities for Advising During AY 2004-5
Dear Dr. Earns:
Thank you for the memo of June 18, 2004 (co-signed by Dr. Miller), endorsing the Advisory Council for Comprehensive Academic Advising’s May 2004 recommendations. We welcome the support of our work implicit in that endorsement.
In the memo, AY 2004-5 was specified as a transitional year as the campus moved to implementation of the Total Intake Model in September 2005. We heartily agree that the next 10 months are crucial.
At the ACCAA meeting on September 17, we reviewed all the work that lies ahead for the campus community in making this transition as smooth as possible. Some of the preparations are well underway. A significant reorganization of the Undergraduate Advising Resource Center occurred over the summer. A web team is creating consistent, comprehensive Advising web pages for every Department and Program on this campus.
However, one particular task “to-do” is much on the Council’s collective mind: the timely development of Faculty, nearly all of whom already advise students, but have not had the opportunity to consider the formalization of their involvement in the new Total Intake Model environment. We believe the Faculty and Academic Staff components to be absolutely critical at this juncture, particularly as we begin to prompt Departments and Programs to conceptualize their own versions of participation in the Total Intake Model.
We have just learned of a special $75,000 advising grant program offered to the Deans late last year, which was answered with a collaborative proposal that sets up a Peer Advising development program. We laud the Deans for their interest in, and commitment to, advancing advising on our campus. While we are not privy to the details of the proposal, the inevitable turnover of Peer Advisors due to graduation concerns us.
As an alternative, the Council formally encourages you and the Deans to think creatively – this year – about utilizing these funds to support Faculty and Academic Staff with programs targeting their development as advisors. We believe this better serves the long-term interests of students as we move to a more progressive advising model.
Thank you for considering this ACCAA recommendation.
Respectfully submitted,
Dana Vaughan, Chair of the ACCAA
This memo was approved by a quorum of the ACCAA via email on Sept. 27-28, 2004.