Academic Advising Management System
Academic Advising Management System, TRIO Upward Bound Math Science Center, Wichita State University (Wichita, KS)
One service that the Wichita State University (WSU) Upward Bound Math Science (UBMS) Program provides in support of its mission is academic advising. A key practice with the WSU approach is the data collection and management of information essential for effective advising of the students. This information includes students’ progress towards completion of their required curriculum and enrollment pattern in math and science courses. It is also used for strategic planning purposes by the UBMS program personnel for whom the information helps inform study group formation, tutoring needs and summer course design.
While Upward Bound programs commonly provide academic advising services to its students, the WSU approach is more comprehensive and includes additional stakeholders. One example of its benefit is the way the information is synthesized and provided to the high school counselors in working with their students. This value-added approach strengthens the partnership between the high schools and this UB program.
This data management system allows the UBMS Program to provide interventions for students as needed. Most commonly, the Center staff is able to assist students in the following ways:
• Monitor requests to change their academic schedules at their respective high schools
• Make recommendations for summer school if needed
• Make recommendations for concurrent enrollment opportunities
• Make referrals for e-school or credit recovery programs if needed
• Support recommendations regarding desire for early graduation
The Upward Bound Math Science Center is hosted by Wichita State University and serves 74 students from diverse backgrounds throughout the state of Kansas. Participants are recommended to participate in the Center based in part for their ability and propensity for study in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.) Students also hail from economically disadvantaged families or are potentially the first in their families to graduate from post-secondary education.
The Mission of the UBMS Center is to:
• Educate students with the interest and propensity for study in STEM areas
• Stimulate and sustain interest in science and science-based careers;
• Motivate students such that that they realistically consider pursing a STEM related career.
Educational Theory Guiding Practice
The UBMS Program academic advising process is built according to the Integrative Advising Theory advanced by Matthew Church, an academic advisor in the freshman/sophomore division of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Louisville. Mr. Church’s theory integrates five other theories (prescriptive, engagement model, academically centered, developmental, and student-centered) that have merit in certain situations on their own. The Integrative Theory takes the best of each theory and maximizes the benefit to the student/advisee while holding true to the NACADA Core Values Statement, which lists academic advisors' various responsibilities that should be incorporated into any viable academic advising theory (Church, 2005),
NACADA outlines six main responsibilities of academic advisers: academic advisers are responsible to the individuals they advise, to their institutions, to higher education, to their educational community, for their professional practices and themselves personally, and for involving others when appropriate in the advising process (NACADA, 2004). The core values statement should be at the heart of all advising procedures and actions.
The Integrative Advising Theory has five components.
1. A core formed by NACADA's core values and Kitchener's ethical traits: beneficence, no maleficence, autonomy, and fidelity
2. An element of prescriptive advising to convey the essentials of the curricula
3. A focus on a well-rounded education
4. Reductive advising focusing on identifying career goals or interests and arranging complementary course schedules
5. Student approval
Program Description Process
The UBMS Academic Advising Loop
The above represents the coordination between collection of information and its use with students, parents, UBMS staff, and counselors in the target high schools. A system is needed to manage the data collected and generated from all the sources. Careful analysis enables effective advising by the UBMS staff and the high school counselors.
The UBMS Program academic advising process is scheduled to take place twice per year just after report cards have been issued by the 10 target schools, in January for the fall semester and May for the spring semester. The UBMS partners collect an average of 115 transcripts per year.
Transcript Solicitation
All UBMS participants complete a “Release of Records” form upon entry into the program and again upon completion of the bridge or senior year when possible. These release forms are critical to gaining access to student transcripts. The Senior Administrative Assistant, with direction from the Curriculum Coordinator, is responsible for sending a request for transcript letter with accompanying Release forms to each school served. Some schools respond by faxing transcripts to the Center. Some districts have the ability to forward the transcripts by email. Either method is satisfactory. Upon receipt, care is taken to secure student records for confidentiality and FERPA concerns with data security protocols with the computer data and the paper files in the UBMS office
Academic Audits
After collection, transcripts are given to the Curriculum Coordinator and Academic Audits are performed. The Academic Audit form allows staff to track course completion by category (i.e. Math, English, foreign language). Also noted are the earned GPA’s for each student as well as information used for submission of the Annual Performance Report required by the US department of Education.
How to complete the form
The form, found on the following page, begins with static information about each student that is fairly straightforward.
• The “batch year” field refers to the batch year for the Annual Performance Report.
• Particular attention to is paid to the number of credit hours earned and those yet needed in order to graduate from high school according to the requirements for the district.
• Class rank (i.e. 54/678) and the percent rank (8%). This information helps with ascertain admissibility to college based on class rank.
• Anticipate graduation dates are noted next. Doing so informs the Center staff about high school graduation rates for the program and provides data for the Annual Performance Report.
• Next the Center staff goes over the transcript by semester, noting course results or grades.
o Each two semesters are noted on one blank. For example, Algebra 1 Honors may be reflected on the Academic Audit as such A/B-Algebra 1
o Classes not already listed on the form can be added in the open blanks.
• Notes are made related to student proficiency. If the student has tested and their results are none, that is noted. If the student has not yet tested, that is noted. If the student has tested and their results are not known, that too is listed.
• A determination is made related to the type of curriculum that each student in pursuing (i.e. High School, KS Qualified Admissions, KS Scholars or UBMS).
• Other pertinent information found on the transcript is noted for reference and to expose trends if any exist.
• ACT test scores, also found on transcripts, are noted as well.
• Notes are made regarding the progress the student is making and any interventions or follow-up needed.
Upon completion of the Academic Audit the form, with the attached transcript is forwarded to the Program Assistant or student assistant for data entry.
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Calculation of Qualified Admissions and KBOR GPA
Upon completion of the Academic Audit, the Curriculum Coordinator enters grade information in to the Kansas Board or Regents Qualified Admission Curriculum and Kansas Scholars Curriculum Template set up by the WSU Office of Admissions. This form, allows the UBMS office to use the same tool as the host institution to determine admission eligibility. The template automatically calculates the requisite grade point average based on the required curriculum. Some served high schools publish this information on their actual transcripts; however several of the smaller high schools with less sophisticated systems don’t report this information. Providing this information to students and schools on an annual basis alerts both entities of the need to complete the curriculum or to improve performance in order to attend one of the six Board of Regents governed universities in the state of Kansas.
Database Entry
The Program assistant is responsible, under the supervision of the Curriculum Coordinator, to enter the student transcript information into the UBMS database. The UBMS database is home-grown and built with Microsoft Access. Information is kept digitally for easy access and for the ability to run reports and queries about student enrollment trends and highlights.
It is important that this duty be restricted to one or two persons maximum. Doing so increases the likelihood that the data entry is consistent. For example, Center staff has been trained that students who enroll in Trigonometry should be noted as such, not Trig, or Trigon. or even Trig/Calc. The importance of an agreed upon nomenclature cannot be overstated.
Figure 7 UBMS Database Screen Shot
Student Parent Conference
Parent/Student Conferences are held at least annually for each UBMS student. The actual advising session is integrated, per Church’s integrative theory of academic advising (2005). The focus of the conference changes slightly as students matriculate through high school and present different needs. All conferences are scheduled for 30 minutes, with 15 minutes between appointments. Students with special circumstances or for who 30 minutes is inadequate are scheduled as the last appointment of the day.
Students typically have the opportunity to sign up for conferences at times that best work with the families schedules. Post cards are mailed and phone calls made to make sure parents are aware of the arrangements made by the student. Conferences are routinely held in the evenings and on Saturdays. The Curriculum Coordinator is the lead on all conferences. The Director attends all freshmen and seniors conferences and others as needed. The Center often hosts conferences for 20-40 students in targeted grade levels in a two-week period. Below is a typical schedule used for sign-up.
The time is short for each conference so there is an established plan for the information covered. The list of topics shortens as the student’s tenure, familiarity with the Center Staff and trust increases. The actual Academic Audit and collected transcript lead of each discussion with additional focus on goal setting, college planning and career discussions. Students are then prompted, with a copy of the Academic Audit in hand to complete enrollment for the upcoming year or approach their high school counselors for assistance with schedule modifications or additional resources.
Counselor Feedback
Upon completion of Parent/Student Conferences, a cover letter is attached to all of the Academic Audits for a particular school and mailed or dropped off to the head counselor. Schools with domain counseling provide the information to the post-secondary counselor. Schools with “alphabet-driven assignments” or counseling by grade level, distribute the information to the counselor who works with the student of record.
For those Academic Audits that are straightforward and require no intervention, the counselor simply becomes aware of our process and notes the information for their files. In some cases, comments or feedback is provided to a Center staff member, especially if there was an error or misinterpretation of the transcript. The process is complete for this group of students which typically account for 90% or so of the UBMS student body.
The process continues for those students whose Academic Audit showed a need for intervention. This select group of participants typically will require program and parent support to make adjustments to their schedules or to even get past the front door of the counselors office with a request. The most common interventions include:
• Requests for modifications of schedules including adding a science course or foreign language course.
• Request for change of schedule for enrollment in an AP or Honors section of a course
• Requests for summer school attendance for Juniors who want to double up on “certification” in a particular academy i.e. Engineering and Health Sciences
Nearly all counselors are very appreciative of the feedback and count on the delivery of this service. A few find our process to be intrusive. In any event, this step adds to the communication had with the served high schools and provides another touch-point for Center staff.
Key Factors for Program Success
The key factors to success with this Center activity are at least tri-fold. First the Center has to have a solid relationship with the target school or district. Securing copies of transcripts, in a timely and efficient manner, is key to the success of the service. Counselors and registrars have to either find value in the service or know that their compliance to our request is supported by the administration. Preferably both are true.
Having an updated and air-tight Release of Records form on file for each student is also imperative. Schools are hesitant at best to share any information without the requisite release. The Center sends a release for every student every time, even though the school received the same request merely four months ago.
Additionally, parent buy-in and acceptance of Center suggestions and recommendations are both essential. Parents have to believe that the advice and counsel provided by Center staff is solid and will benefit their student. When sending parents to communicate with school personnel the Center has been known to “role-play” the experience with the parent to prepare them for the discussion. This is especially important when working with the counselors who are less excited about students and parents who engage is self-advocacy.
Other Resources
While the list of resources is fairly short, they are not optional. Staff members are key to the success of this activity. The table below outlines the best case scenario, which presupposes that:
• Release of Information forms are on file and ready to copy and fax/scan and email.
• The Request for Transcript letters are already made in a template that simply require updating
• Database table or spreadsheet for tracking aggregate enrollment.
Costs to Implement the Practice
The costs associated with this program practice are primarily those associated with staffing. This effort can by one person, but would take a lot of dedicated time, which seems hard to find in the UBMS office. Supplies involved are limited.
• Copies for forms (Release of Information, Request for Transcript, Academic Audits
• Filing supplies (files, file cabinet)
• Computing supplies (software)
• Printing supplies (Paper, ink, printer) dependent on number of students
• Postage or mileage for mailing or personal delivery of Academic Audits for Counselors dependent on number of target schools.
Program Evaluation
The program uses a variety of data collection systems to evaluate progress towards achievement of the program outcomes. Some of these data collectors are included in this submission. When final analysis of the data is completed, the submission will be revised with addition of a rigorous analysis study of the data. At that time, the expanded document will be resubmitted to the MAEOPP Center for evaluation at the higher level of “validated education practice”. The program currently engages in formative evaluation through survey responses from participants, interviews with staff involved with the program, and other data collection methods. As described earlier, this information is used for program revisions and planning purposes.
