Action Items and Policy Changes Advising and Retention

1. The AVP and Directors are supportive of the statement of required characteristics of an effective advising and retention program for Tri-Campus, and the vision and mission statements presented by Nadine Brennan, Director of the Tri-Campus Advising and Retention Initiative, at the July 6 meeting. We support them as Tri-Campus policies and the AVP's office will communicate them as Tri-Campus policies to the Tri-Campus community. Bonnie Smith will work with Nadine Brennan to develop a format and a strategy for communication to include appropriate placement on the Tri-Campus Web Page and links to the campus web pages.
2. The progress in the area of advising and retention in Tri-Campus has had a positive impact on each campus however, the extent of success has been in direct proportion to the individual campus support for and commitment to the initiative, as well as the commitments of degree program representatives. It is essential that all three campuses as well as advising and retention personnel throughout Tri-Campus become appropriately involved in the development and implementation of the Initiative. Each of the Campus Directors will be responsible for insuring appropriate levels of staff: involvement, leadership, and support for Tri-Campus advising and retention efforts and policies at his campus.
3. We support the continuation of those “Initial Goals of the Tri-Campus Advising Taskforce” (2004-2005) that are, by nature, on-going or that simply require more time for development and implementation to be accomplished. We also support the “Advising and Retention Goals for the Academic Year 2005-2006”, the “FYE Goals”, and the “Tri-Campus Leadership Development Goals” that were presented at the July 6 meeting. These will also be communicated to the Tri-Campus community.
4. The Tri-Campus Directors have made a commitment to a special focus on their integration into the Tri-Campus Advising and Retention Initiative in the coming year as well as their on-going involvement in advising and retention. Beginning immediately, the Directors and AVP would like to set up three dates for informal discussions with Nadine regarding advising and retention, to be held during the hour immediately preceding Tri-Campus Leadership meetings. The goal of the discussions is to bring the AVP and Directors up to speed on the progress made to date, the vision for the future, national standards and trends, philosophy, etc. and to ensure Tri-Campus wide support for the Initiative. Bonnie Smith will work with Nadine to set up these meetings.
5. We also want to begin to institutionalize the Advising and Retention Initiative and develop a formalized system of annual updates and broader interaction. To that end, we will establish the following set times for interaction between the Director of the Tri-Campus Advising and Retention Programs, and the AVP, Campus Directors, and Leadership Team:
6. Annually, at a Leadership meeting scheduled in late October, the Director will provide a report of the success, glitches, challenges, and impacts during the start-up of the new academic year relative to advising and retention functions. This will include, but not necessarily be limited to: orientations, FYE, advising, student activities, leadership programs, etc.
7. Annually, at a leadership meeting scheduled sometime in late March, the Director will provide a report of the successes, problems, issues, etc. relative to advising and retention functions for the academic year.
8. Annually, at a leadership meeting scheduled sometime during the summer and as a part of an annual review of all Tri-Campus Initiatives, Nadine will present an in-person and written annual report on the status of Advising and Retention in Tri-Campus and goals for the next year. The long-term goal is to have sufficient data so that the annual report will include a set of metrics focusing on campus and Tri-Campus data showing the status of advising and retention such as: student participation in advising and retention programs, retention and graduation rates, students on probation and the results of their probation, faculty and staff participation in professional development activities related to advising and retention, and any other data that provide measurements of the success or lack of success of the advising and retention system.
9. To further institutionalize the Tri-Campus Advising and Retention Initiative, we are re-affirming and/or initiating the following personnel-related responsibilities for Nadine Brennan in her leadership role for the initiative:
10. Nadine will provide leadership for and/or final input into any Tri-Campus position description and search for a staff position with responsibilities involving advising and retention.
11. She will work with the AVP and/or appropriate Campus Director and/or supervisor to insure that the orientation and probation period interaction for all new Tri-Campus advising/retention personnel focuses on campus, academic program, and Tri-Campus objectives and supports the Advising and Retention vision, mission, and priorities.
12. She will provide written input to the annual evaluations of all staff with advising and retention responsibilities in Tri-Campus working with the AVP, Directors, and/or program supervisors.

September 23, 2005

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