Applying Technology to Academic Advising: A Vision Statement

Jeff von Munkwitz-Smith

University Registrar

University of Connecticut

Copyright statement

Copyright Jeff von Munkwitz-Smith 2005. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

Introduction: What this presentation is and isn’t

“Where the puck is going to be…”Beyond degree audit systemsA few interesting first stepsSuggestions for future stepsA long term goal (or science fiction?)

What’s wrong with advising anyway?

Surveys tell us that students are unhappy with the quality of advising.

Even very good advisors often don’t live up to student expectations.

Let’s start with how advisors are usually assigned.

Why should we care?

Advising affects student success as measured by retention and graduation rates.

Advising affects student satisfaction with our institutions.

A great advisor matched with the right student can have a profound effect on a student’s life.

A few interesting first steps

University of Connecticut Advising Contours

Pennsylvania State University eLionUniversity of Connecticut ICAN proposal

Advising ContoursA statistical analysis of historical data on

student performance in quantitative (Q) courses revealed that a student's SAT1 Math score and high school class rank are the most significant predictors of student performance in those courses.

Based on this analysis, a family of line plots showing the estimated probability of success in a Q-course as a function of SAT1 Math and High School Class Rank percentile information were developed.

Suppose that a student is to be advised on whether to take a particular Q-course.

Based on the student's SAT1 Math score and high school class rank, the advisor or the student can immediately determine the student's predicted probability of success in that course.

If the value determined by the contour is acceptable, the student would enroll in the course.

If not, the student could be counseled on the various alternative courses of action.

Take a look at Advising Contours:

www.placement.uconn.edu/CONTOURS.html

eLion

“Penn State's eLion is an expert-based, empirically-grounded interactive system that is delivered by the latest technologies to supplement student-adviser relationships and engage students in interactive inquiry for informed educational planning.”

eLionContains modules for students, faculty,

and advisors.Includes many features that are present

in many institutions’ systems, including academic history, registration, degree audit, billing information, financial aid information, etc.

Also includes a number of less commonly offered features.

Several features that I especially like…

Academic SuccessAdvising PreparationExploring MajorsCourse PreferencesMajor Preferences

Take a look at eLion:

eliondemo.oas.psu.edu/

University of Connecticut ICAN proposal

Goal is to supplement and enhance, not replace, the student-advisor interaction.

The system would, among other things, help students find advisors and others on campus who share their academic interests.

We want to start small, then expand.

How ICAN might workThe student would use a series of drop-down

menus to select majors of potential interest, sub-fields within those majors, career interests, etc.

The ICAN system would return lists of faculty and others whose research interests align with the student interests.

An email alert system would notify the student of relevant courses and speakers coming to campus.

Some things we should work onAdvising contours for allPersonalized degree progress plansBuilding registration around degree auditExpert systems

without forgetting the goal of supplementing and enhancing,

not replacing human interaction!

The future? Or Science fiction?

Elwood’s story

The future?

Open University of Hong Kong teaching assistant software agent pilot

(see Educause Quarterly, Number 2 2005, pp. 34-40)

Some conclusions

Avoid complacencyMake use of the data already on handLook at new toolsRemember: Supplement and enhance, not

replace human interaction

Contact information

Jeff von Munkwitz-Smith

University Registrar

University of Connecticut

jvon@uconn.edu