1. Lori
What Comes First? The Chicken or the Egg? UW-Platteville Distance Learning Center

2. About the Presenters Lori Wedig
Academic Advisor and Outreach Specialist
Amy Foley
Advising and Outreach Manager

3. Agenda About UW-Platteville
Advising at the UW-Platteville – Distance Learning Center
Previous Advisor Training
New and Improved Advisor Training
Assessment

4. Disclaimer
A commitment to the UW-Platteville Distance Learning Center’s (DLC) mission, goals, and students is demonstrated each day by dedicated DLC staff and faculty. The following materials are directed to support the mission and vision of the DLC and its core advising team. While each institution is different--we hope that there are some transferable skills, knowledge, and goals that you can provide to your institution.

5. About UW-Platteville Founded: 1866 Campus: 821 acres
400-acre education/research farm
20 academic/services buildings
12 residence halls
Undergraduate Programs:
41 Majors
78 Minors
17 Pre-Professional
Graduate Programs: 3
Distance Education:
2 Undergraduate Majors
5 Graduate Programs

6. Online Education at UW-Platteville

7. Online Education at UW-Platteville
Distance Learning Center (DLC)
Operates as a "mini university”
Liaisons with other departments
Financial Aid
Registrar
VA/Military Benefits
Cost Recovery
Courses also available to on-campus students

8. Online Education at UW-Platteville
About our students:
2400 students, 50/50 split undergrad/grad
Mainly non-traditional
Average age: 35.6 (lowering slightly)
Female: 44.5%
Male: 55.5%
Students of color: 14.9%
Military/Veterans/Families Served: 37.3%
Average credit load: undergrad - 5.8
Average credit load: graduate - 4.8
Students in 45 states, 11 countries

9. Advising in the Distance Learning Center

10. Advising in the Distance Learning Center
Philosophy
We are the students’ advocate, guide, and resource to help them succeed in earning their degree. Our goal is to make a connection with our students so they are comfortable in contacting us with questions pertaining to courses or the university’s policies.
Focus
Success of the student
Build and maintain relationships
Retention
Graduation
Meeting their needs so they can accomplish their goals

11. Advising in the Distance Learning Center
Structure
Advisor receives name of student
Advisor sends out welcome
Introduce ourselves to our students
First advising session help
Undergraduate is mandatory
Graduate is highly recommended
Goals of students within their program
Registration outreach
Payment outreach
Capstone
Graduation

12. Advising in the Distance Learning Center
Build and maintain relationships
Bridge between DLC and Department
Academic Advising
Student Success Coach
Outreach Capacity
Coach
Counselor
Therapist
Conflict Negotiator
The “bad guy”
The Hero
Sounding board

13. Otherwise known as….

14. Previous Advisor Training

15. Previous Advisor Training
Responsibility
Relationships
Resources

16. Previous Advisor Training from Manager
Challenges
Manager removed from day-to-day operations
Timeline and Schedule
Delegating
Opportunities
Mentoring, coaching, and guiding
Involvement from day-to-day operations
Overall
Rough and inconsistent
Flexibility was good
Advisors did complete training

17. Previous Advisor Training from Advisor
Challenges
Checklist started at time of need within registration cycle
Had to locate information in several places
Advisors located on two floors
Hours of advisors’ availability
Opportunities
Build relationships with other advisors
Cross training on course offerings
Develop course rotation knowledge
Overall
Flexibility
Inconsistent

18. Engagement and Discussion – JOIN OUR POLL
To:
Message: GOUWP822
Visit:

19. So we want to know, in your own opinion:

21. So what are some of the good things about your training plan that you think others would like to know about. Now is your time to share!

22. Previous Advisor Training
Training Plan
Not comprehensive
Checklist-based
Common Pitfalls
No consistency in training
Best Practice
Offered flexibility

23. New and Improved Advisor Training

24. New and Improved Advisor Training
Responsibility
Relationships
Resources

25. New and Improved Advisor Training
Training Plan
More comprehensive
Detailed
Common Pitfalls
Timeline
Best Practice
Offered flexibility

26. New and Improved Advisor Training
Amy’s Goal to Improve Training
Process
Documenting all Advising related processes
Advising is more of a practice than a process
Best Practices/Collaborative Resources
To support process; created collaborative resources
Goal to have information all in one place such as D2L
PCOE Project: Professional Certificate in Online Education
Best practices/collaborative opportunity

27. New and Improved Advisor Training
How?
Worked with Instructional Designer
Created teams and scheduled monthly meetings
Why?
Utilized Desire2Learn--same as online classes
Provides additional training
Methodologies
Relied on lessons learned from the PCOE Course

28. New and Improved Advisor Training

29. Assessment

30. Assessment Fine Tuning Understanding the Need By manager By new hire
Next steps

31. Summary

32. Questions/Comments/Observations…
Lori Wedig – Amy Foley –