Freshmen Advising

Committee Membership

Martina Stewart - University College
Peter Trombi - College of Science
Tracey Arlen - College of Business
Leslie Park - University College
Rich Garcia - Center for Ethnic Student Affairs
Carolyn Bliss - LEAP Program
Johnathen Luster - Office of orientation & Leadership Development
Darci Berg - College of Fine Arts
Dianne Leonard - College of Engineering
Salley Emmit - Honors Program

Upcoming programs/projects

Over the next year the freshmen advising committee will be working on the following programs and projects.

Implementing mandatory advising for freshmen

How you can get involved

If you would like to get involved with the Freshman Advising Committee or if you have ideas or suggestions, please contact:

Dianne Leonard ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Leslie Park ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

What is priority advising and registration?

As a means to encourage new freshmen students to seek advising prior to registering for their second semester, the committee developed a program to give priority registration for 1000 and 2000 level courses to new freshmen that meet with an academic advisor.

During this appointment, the advisor and student talk about how the student’s first term is going. Advisors help students to make connections to different campus agencies to assist the student in reaching his/her educational goals. The advisor and student also talk about what courses would be appropriate to take during their second term.

Sample Letter Sent to New Freshmen

In the fall and spring terms all students who are eligible for Freshman Priority Registration are sent a letter describing the program. Here is a sample of the letter as a PDF file.

How to check to see if a student is eligible for priority registration

You can check to see if a student is eligible for Priority Registration by looking at their service indicators. All students eligible for Priority Registration are assigned a Positive Service Indicator. Here is a PDF file describing how to check for a Freshman Priority Registration service indicator.

How to give a student priority registration

Once you have determined that a student is eligible for priority registration you assign them a registration appointment through PeopleSoft. Here is a PDF file with instructions on how to assign the registration appointment.

Important Dates for Spring 2008

ADVISING
Letters Mailed to Students on February 20 2008
Advising appointments begin on March 3, 2008
Priority Registrations begins on April 9, 2008

Campus-Wide Discussion on Goals for Working with New Freshman

Seventy campus advisors came together to discuss our role in working with new students on campus. Below are the five goals that we came up with. It is our hope that by reviewing these goals, we can more consistently advise students at the University of Utah.

The following goals were established by campus advisors at the Fall Freshmen Advising Program on September 23, 2003:

Make student feel comfortable and welcome by getting to know them as individuals, and connecting them to resources on campus.
Help student develop goals and a road map to degree completion taking into consideration their interests and abilities; explain graduation requirements and how to use a DARS.
Assist students in developing an appropriate class schedule for next semester; help student understand course placement and pre-requisites.
Encourage involvement (internships, research, student groups, service, etc) as a vital resume builder.
Teach students to become responsible for their education by informing them of University policies and procedures, and resources

Recommendations for the freshman advising appointment based on goals for working with new freshmen

Advising during Freshmen Priority Registration
Based on advisor input on the goals of the freshman advising program the following are some topics to cover during your appointment with a student wanting Priority Registration.

Check service indicator, make sure student is eligible!
Getting to know the student – how are things going at the U?
- How are classes/what classes are you taking? (make sure they did not register for all CR/NC classes by mistake)
- What is your favorite class, why?
- Have you met with the professor during office hours?
- How much are you working?
- If living away from home, how is that going?
- What has been the best thing about college so far?
Explain frosh priority and advising
Show student a copy of the secured student access page
- Point out things like: registration dates, view holds, where to run a DARS, financial aid information
- In future, how to check registration dates/why it’s important to register on time
Grading Options/ Withdrawal Policy – if appropriate
Class schedule for next semester – options
- Explain Major requirements
- If students do not understand general education/bachelor degree requirements explain those or refer student to University College
Explain Leave Of Absence – if necessary
Encourage campus/department involvement & using resources
Show dates for registration/give priority

List of campus-wide advisors (phone numbers)

Departmental Advisors Phone List

Student Resources Sheet

PDF File

This sheet can be printed out and handed to students. It is a partial list of campus resources that can assist students.

Advice for Students Who Plan to Take a Leave of Absence

Many of our students are planning on leaving the University for an extended period of time. This handout includes advice and a checklist for students.
Leave of Absence PDF File

Holds that will prevent new students from registering*

Student Health:: Need to show proof of immunity to measles, mumps and rubella during first semester of attendance (585-6009)
Admissions:: Missing final transcript from High School (581-3096)
Missing final transcript from transfer school (581-7286)
Missing High School course requirements; must complete within first 30 hours at the U (581-3096)
Income Accounting:: Balance due on account; owe tuition (581-7344)
Residential Living:: Financial Debt (581-6611)

Mandatory Advising:: Meet with an advisor (581-8146)

*These are the most common holds. There are other holds that may prevent students from registering or accessing campus services.

Academic and Social Goals Checklists for New Students

Academic Goals PDF File ~ Social Goals PDF File

These handouts can be useful when assisting students identify and set academic and social goals.

Secured Student Access Example Sheet

PDF of a student's page in the Campus Information Systems

This is useful to print out and show a student where to look for their grades, class schedule, etc.

Calling Campaign to Unregistered Freshmen

Each December, the Freshman Advising Committee coordinates a calling campaign to new freshmen that have not registered for spring semester. University of Utah advisors who work with new freshmen make the phone calls.

The main goals of the calling campaign are to:

Provide advising assistance and referrals to students if they were interested in registering for next term
Send students who are planning to take time off an informational guide, Advice for Students Planning to Take a Leave of Absence
Answer any questions students may have about their university experience

Calling Campaign Report for Fall 2007

I. Introduction

In December 2007, for the seventh year, the Freshman Advising Committee coordinated a calling campaign to all new freshmen who were attending fall 2007, yet had not registered for spring 2008 as of early December.

The main goals of the calling campaign were to:
Provide advising assistance and referrals to students if they were interested in registering for the next term
Send students who were planning to take time off an informational guide, Advice for Students Planning to Take a Leave of Absence
Calls were made by advisors in University College and in the following programs/colleges: Business, Mines, Fine Arts, Science, Engineering, Health, Honors, and LEAP.

II. Results of Calling Campaign

This year, 505 students that were attending fall 2007 had yet to register for spring 2008 as of early December. Not all departments participated therefore data was only collected on 485 of those students. Figure 1 outlines the number of students we spoke with 157(32.4%), we left messages with 210(43.3%), had already registered 34(7%) and we were unable to contact 84(17.3%). The students we were unable to contact primarily had disconnected or long-distance numbers.

Figure 1

Figure 2

The Figure 2 graph shows that of the 157 students we spoke with, 81 (51.6%) had decided not to register and 76 (48.4%) were thinking about registering. 58 (76.3%) of the students who were thinking of registering did register for spring 2008 as of January 15, 2008.

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As seen in Figure 3, 40 students (52.6%) who were thinking of returning indicated that a hold was one of the reasons preventing them from registering. Of those 40 students who indicated they had a hold preventing them from registering, 29 students (72.5%) had the mandatory advising hold. Advisors were able to explain the purpose of the mandatory advising hold and invite students in for appointments to get the hold removed. Advisors were able to talk with students about class and major selection, and make appointments for those who required more assistance. Advisors were also able to make referrals to other appropriate offices to get remaining holds cleared. A sample of the 'other' reasons why students hadn't registered include: student waiting for finals to be over before registering, and student waiting for work schedule first before getting registered. Students were able to select more than one reason as to why they had not registered.

Students Thinking of Registering
Figure 3

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The Figure 4 graph depicts the reasons students had decided not to return to the University. The handout Advice for Students Planning to Take a Leave of Absence was mailed to those students who were taking time off and intended to return to the University. Examples of reasons why students have decided to leave the University that were mentioned in the 'other' category included: too long of a commute, class sizes are too large, getting married, received scholarship else where, moving closer too home, and waiting for residency.

Students Not Returning
Figure 4

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We asked students that were not returning for spring semester if they were planning on returning to the University in the future. The results are depicted in Figure 5. Of the 81 students that told us they were not returning for spring 2008, 66 (81.4%) answered our follow up question of whether or not they are planning on returning to the U in the future. 49 (74.2%) said that they were planning on returning to the U in the future.

Student's planning on returning to the U in the future
Figure 5

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III. Comparison to Previous Calling Campaigns

The chart below compares the number of students we contacted this year compared to the six previous years.

U.C./

Pre-Prof./ Health

Business

Engineering

Fine Art

Mine & Earth Science

Science

LEAP

Honors

TOTALS

Fall 2007

268/268

40/40

18/29^

43/44^

5/5

21/29^

60/60

30/30

485/505

Could Not Contact

Already Registered

Left Message

Spoke With

55

21

102

90

8

2

19

11

6

0

5

7

2

7

17

17

0

0

2

3

6

1

9

5

7

0

37

16

0

3

19

8

84

34

210

157

Fall 2006

366/366

42/42

26/37^

53/53

3/4 ^

11/18^

47/47

52/52

600/619

Could Not Contact

Already Registered

Left Message

Spoke With

82

42

136

106

11

6

13

12

1

5

8

12

7

8

23

15

0

0

0

3

0

1

4

6

7

0

22

18

4

8

7

33

112

70

213

205

Fall 2005

346/346

32/32

42/42

29/49^

2/3^

18/24^

26/26

~/37

631/695

Could Not Contact

Already Registered

Left Messages

Spoke With

94

66

162

100

7

5

13

7

4

7

22

9

10

4

10

5

0

0

0

2

7

4

4

3

19

5

32

30

0

0

0

0

141

91

243

156

Fall 2004

346/346

58/58

28/28

44/47^

3/6^

16/21^

50/50

25/25

570/581

Could Not Contact

Already Registered

Left Messages

Spoke With

78

55

105

108

9

7

30

12

1

7

8

12

9

18

6

11

0

0

0

3

0

6

8

2

11

4

18

17

7

8

0

10

115

105

175

175

Fall 2003

318/318

51/51

52/54

49/52

5/5

23/23

67/67

42/49

607/616

Could Not Contact

Already Registered

Left Messages

Spoke With

54

58

108

98

9

3

16

23

12

7

19

14

12

8

10

19

0

0

1

4

6

0

8

9

22

6

0

39

14

1

1

26

129

83

163

232

Fall 2002

358/467

87/91

34~/55

62/67

3/3

34/34

*

47/47

587/764

Could Not Contact

Already Registered

Left Messages

Spoke With

97

37

135

95

20

15

35

15

4

6

16

9

10

5

22

25

2

1

9

1

17

7

*

13

8

26

153

66

223

172

Fall 2001

419/437

77/77

80/96

51/60

2/5

26/26

120/120

~/60

771/881

Could Not Contact

Already Registered

Left Messages

Spoke With

98

108

116

97

23

24

13

17

17

25

15

23

12

6

5

28

2

7

8

3

9

120!

155

154

170

292

^one or more departments in this college did not returning data collection sheets
* Unable to differentiate LEAP student names from Freshman List in 2002. As a result, LEAP data was not distinguishable from department data for Fall 2002.
~ Computer Science did not participate in Freshman Calling 2002
~ Honors did not participate in Freshman Calling 2001, 2005
! LEAP used an independent data collection process for freshman students in 2001.

IV. Conclusion

By actively reaching out, we were able to demonstrate to students that the University cares about their experience and wants to help them succeed. Students who were thinking of registering for classes had the aid of advisors in assessing needs and finding solutions that facilitated their registration. Students who planned to take a leave of absence were mailed a handout with precise information on how to make a smooth re-entry to the University of Utah. These students were also encouraged to contact the Admissions Office before their leave. This will allow the University to obtain better data on retention factoring in those students who leave to participate in official assignments such as VISTA, church service, and military duty. Given the above benefits, the Freshman Advising Committee recommends that we continue with this program next fall.