Phil Lehman, Nick Lucas, Matt Medley, Dana Salizzoni

Lerner Advisement

Alfred Lerner College Undergraduate Advising

Project

Agenda

• Define problem• Current state of advising• Comparisons & benchmark• Survey results• Recommendations

Definition of the Problem

• To optimize the allocation of resources (people and space) to improve the advising experience at the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware for students and staff.

Current State of Enrollment

Trajectory● Growing class size will

emphasize both the need and the importance of advisement and career service resources for students

• Professional advisers located in 102 Purnell (freshman & sophomore) – Marcia Rollison - Sr. Assistant Dean, Student Services

– Kimberly Wilson - Academic Program Manager

– Mayra Ortiz - Academic Support Coordinator

– Carrie Baldwin - Academic Adviser (UDream)

– Patricia Moore - Academic Adviser & Career Services (UDream)

– Cindy Walkusky - Academic Adviser (UDream)

– Megan Kuck - Academic Adviser

• Jill Pante - Assistant Director of Career Services (located in Lerner 103)

Current State of Advising

Faculty Advisers:● Dr. Jackson Gillespie - ACCT

○ 211 Purnell○ 281 students

● Diane Wright - MIS○ 007 Purnell○ 86 students

● Elizabeth Bayley - ECON○ 424 Purnell○ 206 students (300 minor)

● Sandra Fields - BUAD○ 203 Lerner○ 471 students

● Tim Detwiler - FINC (works w/ Dr. Stocker)

○ 321 Purnell○ 464 students

● Dr. Jennifer Gregan Paxton - IBS

○ 214 Lerner○ 117 students

● Paul Sestak - HRIM○ 206 Allison○ 306 students

● Cindy Walkusky - Sports Management

○ 102 Purnell○ 395 students (including

fresh/soph advisees)

Current State of Advising

Current State of Advising

• 6 undergraduate students work in advising center

• 5 undergraduate students work in career services

Current State of Advising

● Processes involved in adviser workload:○ Scheduled appointments/walk-ins - 5-30 min○ Change of major forms - 14.1 min per form ○ Senior check-outs - 3-15 min (767 in 2014 academic year)○ Credit request form - 7.25 min per form○ Sophomore audits - 7.5 min per audit (618 in Jan)○ Transfer student audit - 5 min per audit (202 in Jan)○ Course substitution form - 4.5 min per form (287 Jan-Feb) ○ UDream appointments - 30-60 min per appointment (15 students per semester

meeting 4-6 times with adviser)○ Leave of absence form - 15 min (17 since Feb)○ Excused absence form - 20 min (71 since Feb)○ Transfer credit evaluation form - 5-10 min (284 Jan-May)

Current State of Advising at UD

● Using the average number of advisees as 320 students

● All seeking advisement from one faculty adviser

Feb 2015 - May 2015

Swipe Data Trends

Swipe Data Trends

E-mail & Telephone Counts Spring Semester 2015

• February 23 - April 25 data by week

Internal Change of Major Forms By Department

● Processed from 2013-2014● 14 minutes per form● BUAD change of major

forms takes roughly 78 hours for one person to do

Lerner College vs. University Studies

Lerner College• 1,189 Freshmen & Sophomores• Staff of 6 in undergraduate advising center• Some staff are part time• 1 graduate worker that works at the

advising center and career services• 6 student workers in the advising center• Drop add & registration are the busiest

time

University Studies• 1,500 students at peak (Freshmen &

Sophomores)• 700 - 800 new students every year

– 20% of freshmen class• Staff of 6 (2 full time, 2 at 50%, and 2 at

25%)• All staff are housed in one building• 300-325 students for full time advisers• No graduate workers• 10 student workers for both programs• Advising:

– Only walk-ins the first two weeks– Appointments with advisors with 1

person doing walk-ins– Registration week only walk-ins

Lerner College vs. Arts & Sciences

Lerner College• 3,016 students• 14 majors & 9 minors• Strict program for majors• 8 faculty advisers• 1 graduate worker• 11 student workers between the

advising center and career services

• Students fill out their senior checkout sheet and it is reviewed by two people

• UDREAM - student support program

College of Arts & Sciences• 7,000 students• 6 academic coordinators located in Mitchell Hall

– Each coordinator is assigned to departments depending on size of department

– Responsible for senior checkout (partially), transfer credit eval form, course sub form, change of major forms, updating undergraduate and graduate academic catalogs for their departments

• 23 departments and 8 programs that offer majors (over 50 different majors)• Students are assigned to faculty advisers in their individual departments at

NSO• 7 or 8 student workers• 4 graduate workers who facilitate the senior checkout process• NUCLEUS - student support program

– 2 employees– 800 students – Located in Brown Lab

Bench MarkUniversity of Delaware

● 3016 students● 4 undergraduate advisers● 8 faculty advisers● 1 career service professional with

graduate & undergraduate student help

Drexel University

● 2800-3000 students● 7 advisers, 1 associate director, 1

director, 1 program coordinator● 3 full-time career services

professionals● No faculty advisers● One central location for advising

and career services

Bench Mark● Mandatory senior seminar:

○ Explain process to clear for graduation○ Works in conjunction with career services

● Students responsible for making sure they have all courses○ They apply for graduation and they are checked out by adviser

● No sophomore audits, no required advising● Course subs not very time consuming because they can be done by a

single adviser in only a few steps● Biggest use of time = transfer credit evaluations and external transfers

Survey Results - Voice of Customer

Survey Results - Voice of Customer

Survey Analysis - Voice of Customer

51%37%

“Wish List” State of Advising

● Hire two more full time professional advisers● Hire four more faculty advisers

○ Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Economics● Hire three more full time career service professionals● Combine advising center and career services in one central location in

Lerner

Realistic State & Recommendations● Hire two more full time professional advisers

● Hire one faculty adviser for Business Administration students○ Marketing, Management, & OM majors

• Hire two more full time career service professionals • Combine advising center and career services in one central location in

Lerner

Utilization of Resources/Cost Savings• The saving that could be achieved by combining the Undergraduate

Advising Center and the Career Services Center in Lerner:

– Some advisers work part-time in both the undergraduate advising center and Career Services

– Combine resources → student/graduate workers, printers, etc.• Only need one student worker at the reception desk as opposed

to one at the advising center and one at the career center • Student, graduate, and part-time workers can be cross trained

Utilization of Resources/Cost Savings • To create more space in Lerner career services center

– Utilize existing underused office space – Remove cubicles in the career services

• Creates a larger wait area• The advising center would now be able to use the conference room in

Lerner 102 for meetings and group tutoring• We would only need 6-8 students workers opposed to the 11 total students

currently working in advisement center and career services

Takeaways

• Time management

• Clear communication

• Team work

• Utilizing resources to perform research

• The complications of creating a survey - getting approved & getting

responses

• The impact of using visuals as opposed to words and numbers

• Marcia Rollison

• Kim Wilson

• Dr. Christine Kydd

• Jill Pante

• Sandra Fields

• Diane Wright

• Tim Detwiler

• Cindy Walkusky

• Professor Thompson

Special Thanks to...

• Dr. Jackson Gillespie

• Dr. Jennifer Gregan Paxton

• Cynthia Shenkle

• Adrian McCleary

• Carrie Baldwin

• Patricia Moore

• Sheri Shaw - Drexel University

Questions?