Advisor Spotlight: Jeff Citty

foreword by Deb Mayhew 
  

 

Congratulations to Jeff Citty, who has just successfully defended his doctoral dissertation!  As chair of the UAC campus affairs committee and chair of communications for the Engineering Advising Council, Jeff is a very active member of our UF advising community.  In 2009, NACADA recognized him as an Outstanding Advisor, and this year he will present at the national NACADA conference in Denver.  Jeff is also the director of the Engineering Freshman Transition program, which has significantly increased freshman retention. His undergraduate internship at Disney gave Jeff a strong foundation in management, which is evidenced today in both his leadership skills and the Disney memorabilia that is spread throughout the Engineering Student Affairs offices.

Jeff, why don’t we start off with some background on you?

I am a native Floridian, born and raised in Tampa.  I am married and have two wonderful children, Matthew (9) and Meghan (13). I am passionate about helping students and parents work toward common educational, personal and professional goals.  I am a huge Gator Fan.  I attended UF for my undergraduate and graduate degrees and began working for UF in 2001 in Student Financial Affairs.  After several years in financial aid, I obtained my Master’s degree and decided to become a part of the College of Engineering’s student affairs team where I have been working for the past eight years. During this time, I decided to return to complete my Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Administration and I am set to graduate this fall.     

Your current advising position is not altogether conventional.  What else do you do besides advising?

I like to classify my position as a hybrid advising/program director position.  In this role, I have the privilege of advising prospective engineering and undecided engineering students year round, but I also direct the Engineering Freshman Transition Program (EFTP).  This bridge program allows incoming engineering students to come to campus Summer B and take a set schedule of courses that has been proven to retain engineering students at a higher rate through the first year.  The classes include reviews in calculus, chemistry, AutoCAD, computer programming, engineering design, and student success.  These courses allow us to build upon students’ strengths and prepare them to tackle the fall semester with confidence.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Among the most satisfying experiences for me as a student affairs professional, has been advising and mentoring students on an individual basis and watching them develop and achieve their goals and graduate. I find that I always look forward to the individual conferences that I hold with students several times during the semester because I believe this kind of one-on-one interaction to be essential to their overall development as young adults. 

Is there anything that you don’t like about your job?

Counseling a student out of engineering. As an advisor, I want all students to succeed in their goals; however, engineering is sometimes not a good fit and holding those conversations with students can be difficult.

How is it, working with engineering majors?

It is truly amazing! Engineering students are creative, interesting, intelligent, and driven to excel. I enjoy watching these students come in to UF with ideas about what they what to do with their education and watch them turn them into reality.

Tell us a little known fact about yourself.

I am a Disney fanatic!  I did my college senior internship at Blizzard Beach and I just fell in love with the place.  If I am not in Gainesville at a Gator game, I am most likely at Disney.

What’s your favorite movie?

I am a big movie fan and my favorites change a lot, but here are a few:  Harry Potter series, Borne series, Iron Man, and the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
 

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Lots of things:  Working out; yard work; golf; shooting some hoops, tossing the football, playing acoustic guitar, reading, and riding roller coasters!

Advising Meets Technology (Part I): Challenges and Benefits

by Jill Lingard

Dr. Bernard Mair

At the August 29^th UAC meeting, Dr. Bernard Mair, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies, issued a charge to the advisors in attendance.   In a climate of dwindling State appropriations, Mair challenged us to maximize efficiency with the resources we have.  He suggested that part of that process will involve identifying areas of advising that could move online without sacrificing the relationships we build with students.  Dr. Mair described three developments he hoped to see soon:  

• Utilization of an electronic student check-in system in advising offices
• A university-wide electronic advising appointment scheduling system
• Strategies from all UF colleges on how they will advise students remotely

Erica Byrnes

Some UF colleges currently use an electronic check-in system for the students who visit their advising offices.  In addition to freeing up some receptionist time, Erica Byrnes, Associate Director for Advising in WCBA’s School of Business, sees tremendous value in the reporting capabilities of these systems.  “We can analyze student traffic patterns—over a day, a week, or an entire semester.  We can also see the common themes that students come in to talk about at various times.   And the system gives us precise data on exactly how many students each advisor sees for any given time period.  All of this data informs how we provide adequate coverage in our advising center to ensure the needs of our students are met.”

As for moving the appointment scheduling process online, some colleges have researched external options like Starfish and Time Trade, but have run up against security issues these companies’ practice of storing student records off-site.   The College of Health & Human Performance has used its own ‘home grown’ online appointment scheduling system for several years.

Sarah Eberhart

“As advisors, we love our online calendar because it gives our students flexibility to schedule, reschedule, and cancel appointments without having to call, email, or come in to our office during our operating hours,” explains Sarah Eberhart, an advisor for HHP’s department of Tourism, Recreation & Sport Management.  “We open our calendars for the entire term, so a student can go in now to review our availability until finals week.  It's great for proactive students since they can schedule an appointment weeks in advance if they like.” 

In our November newsletter, we will discuss Dr. Mair’s third challenge by exploring some of the ways UF colleges and programs are integrating technology into the academic advising process.

SFA Trains UF Advisors on Financial Aid Policies and Petition Process

by Kari Ward

On August 3^rd, academic advisors attended a financial aid presentation hosted by Alicia Keaton, the entertaining new Associate Director of Student Financial Affairs (SFA).  Alicia’s presentation addressed the federal government’s recent revision to their Standards of Academic Progress (AP) Policy.  Effective this fall, new national AP standards aim to get students back on track quickly and prevent those who are not successfully matriculating from acquiring unmanageable debt.  In the presentation, Alicia also spent time training advisors on the financial aid petition process and how to complete the academic advising section of the new Academic Progress Petition form (a.k.a. financial aid petition).  She also gave us a handout that highlights changes to Bright Futures.

Alicia explained that, at the end of each semester, SFA will evaluate students’ records to determine if they meet the new AP criteria, which include the following:

• undergraduate students earning a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA;
• successfully completing 75% of courses attempted; and
• completing the degree within 150 hours (or 160 hours for students whose degree programs require >120 hours). 

Students who do not meet AP requirements will receive a warning from SFA via email, but they will still be eligible to receive aid the following semester and will not have to submit a petition.  Students who do not meet AP requirements at the end of the following term are no longer eligible for financial aid and must petition to have their aid reinstated.  If their Academic Progress Petition is approved, they will be placed on probation and are expected to follow the academic plan advisors create for them.  SFA will terminate students’ financial aid if their petitions are not approved or if they do not meet the terms outlined in their petition by the end of semester.

To petition, students will use the new Academic Progress Petition.  One of the most notable changes to the form is the new chart on the last page which gives very specific guidelines on the issues students need to address in their personal statements and the kinds of support documentation that must be included with the petition.  The new form also includes petition deadlines which were added with the intention of facilitating the petition review process for SFA and to also allow students time to submit additional documentation whenever that’s needed.  The form also requires academic advisors to play a more active role in the financial aid petition process.  Section III of the form has been expanded to allow advisors to provide SFA with greater insight into how students are performing.  For step-by-step instructions on how to complete Section III of the new Academic Progress Petition click here.  To view the entirety of Alicia’s presentation, click here.

Kep’s Korner

by Glenn Kepic

It seems that as soon as fall drop/add ends, I always begin thinking about the NACADA Annual Conference!  I know several of you will be heading to Denver for the conference and I look forward to seeing you there.  For those of you unable to attend, you can follow much of the action on the NACADA blog site. 

With NACADA on our minds, I thought it would be nice to share a couple of “feel good” articles about advising.  First, please read past NACADA President, Jayne Drake’s piece on The Role of Academic Advising in Student Retention and Persistence from the July/August issue of About Campus.  Next, take a look at this fun advising blog from Richard W. Lariviere, President of the University of Oregon.

Switching gears a bit, I am wondering if any of you are interested in contributing to the growing field of academic advising research?  If so, have you considered applying for the NACADA Academic AdvisingResearch Support Grant?  According to the grant application information, “NACADA research support is intended to facilitate research related to academic advising. Quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methodologies are welcome, as is research from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Successful proposals will clearly describe the development, implementation, analysis, and reporting of rigorous inquiry that investigates academic advising’s impact, context, or theoretical basis.”  The deadline for first round consideration is November 1, 2011.

Stay tuned for a full report on this year’s NACADA annual conference, which is less than a week away!

How Well are We Advising our HSAA Students?

by Deb Mayhew, Chair, Undergraduate Advising Council

In recent years, new university students who have already completed two years of college credit hours have been the topic of much discussion among university administrators and the academic advising community.  The High School Associate in Arts (HSAA) degree is awarded to students who complete a 60-hour program of college level coursework while still in high school. Once a rarity, the HSAA has grown in popularity as students look for ways to make themselves stand out to admissions committees and parents seek opportunities to reduce the cost of a university education. In Fall 2011, UF admitted 468 HSAA students, up from 55 students in Fall 2006. This relatively new and unfamiliar student population raised new questions about what was needed to promote their academic success in the university environment. In Spring 2011, Dr. Bernard Mair charged the Undergraduate Advising Council with answering three questions:

• Were current admission practices the best way to admit these students?
• What should we do at Preview to promote their academic success?
• Were freshman-age students developmentally prepared for upper-division course work and a fast-track to graduation?

The admissions model for HSAA students has evolved in the past few years. Currently, HSAA students can be admitted to UF as freshmen or transfer students. If they make the freshman cut, they are treated like freshman. If they don’t make it, they are referred to their prospective colleges as transfer students. While most colleges hold to the transfer admissions criteria for these students, there are some programs that allow an extra degree of freedom in accepting these students. In programs that hold fast to completion of critical tracking courses, some HSAA students find themselves locked out of their desired major.  To prevent this from happening in the future, the UAC plans to increase communication to parents and students through the UF advising website, providing information that HSAA students should use in course planning if UF is the goal. 

The Preview program, in collaboration with UF’s colleges, has developed a good model for providing effective academic advising to these incoming students.  For the past two years, Preview has offered a special HSAA session and this year both freshman and transfer admits attended. This allowed the freshman age “transfer” students to participate in the regular Preview program (vs. the truncated transfer Preview they attended in the past). It also provided the opportunity for these students to meet with an advisor from their intended college since Preview advisors cannot reasonably be expected to advise students for upper division programs.

The question of student development was a tough one. While there has been a pervasive feeling that HSAA students must need support, efforts such as special sections of SLS 1102 and individual college programs produced no clear results. A look at the numbers offers some insight. Since Fall 2006, 238 HSAA students have graduated from UF.  While fewer than 6% of them graduated in four semesters, nearly 46% attained their bachelor’s degree within six terms. More than one-third of them (33.8%) take at least as long as traditional freshmen to complete their degrees.  Apparently, not every HSAA student wants to leave the university in a shortened time frame.  While time-to-degree results are less than dramatic, retention rates are good. Of the students in this data set, 89% had graduated or were still enrolled.

Based on retention rates, there is no indication that HSAA students have needs that are different from any other UF undergraduate. With many freshmen starting college with up to 45 hours of credit through other acceleration mechanisms, the advising community is already adept at providing guidance to students who begin at various levels. There are certainly questions other than those we addressed here, and further investigation may point us in new directions, especially if the numbers of HSAA students continue to grow. In the meantime, encouraging students, parents, and high school counselors to plan ahead, connecting these students to their academic advisors during summer orientation, and offering the same advising and coaching support that is already available on our campus seems to be working well.

Meet Dawn Shores, UF’s New Tourism, Recreation & Sport Management Advisor

Hi everyone!  I am a native of Florida, from the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area.  I attended USF in St. Petersburg for my BA in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences (Psychology and Anthropology).  While attending USF, I worked in the Counseling & Career Center.  Working on campus exposed me to higher education and motivated me to pursue a graduate degree at Bowling Green State University.  I received my MA in College Student Personnel from there in 2005.  My graduate assistantship was at Tiffin University (a small, private university in a town of ~8,000 people-- let’s just say “culture shock” for the first few months, but a great place) working mostly in advising and recruiting. Another highlight of my graduate experience was working for a summer at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.  It was a great experience to learn about the higher education system in the UK.

After graduating, I was hired by Tiffin.   Most of my time there was as Director of Undergraduate Admissions.  After deciding I wanted to get back to advising and student development, I accepted a position at Bowling Green as the Assistant Director of the Honors Program and I also worked in CLAS advising fine art students.  After surviving eight winters in the Midwest, I decided to return to Florida.  I really enjoy working in advising and was very interested in obtaining a position at a residential campus.  My job in Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management at UF is a great fit for my skills and interests.  I am enjoying working with my colleagues in our college and am looking forward to meeting more people on campus!

CLAS Exploratory Committee Seeking Advisor Contact Info

by Liz Kazungu

Creative Commons licensed photo from Paul Peracchia’s Flickr photos

The Exploratory Committee within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is working on a pilot project this academic year to find ways to better serve the needs of UF’s exploratory students.   One of our initiatives is to improve our referral system for non-CLAS majors of interest.  The committee has decided to compile a list of specific major/college contacts for all colleges at UF. This list will be utilized with exploratory students to ensure purposeful advising as we direct them towards exploring and preparing for their top majors of choice.

Since CLAS houses exploratory students, we are often the first people they talk to when exploring majors.  During our advising sessions with these students, it would be helpful to have the contact information of a point person from each college so that we can refer students exploring non-CLAS majors to him or her. Please send your contact information or any questions to lkazungu@advising.ufl.edu.

Advisor Tool Box

by Kari Ward

It’s Not About You
Here’s an article that appeared in the New York Times Opinion Pages.  In “It’s Not About You,” columnist David Brooks considers millennial students and how they’ll find their true calling.

General AdvisingTechniques
This University of California Riverside website offers a quick list of basic advising techniques and general practices.  Great for new advisor and a good refresher for the more experienced.

NACADA Blog

The NACADA blog offers another forum for advisors to discuss their interests and concerns.  There’s lots of info on the upcoming Denver conference, so be sure to take a look!

Ask an Advisor

by Dana Myers

Our “Ask an Advisor” column allows UF advisors to share their viewpoint and experiences regarding advising or just life in general. We recently asked some advisors to answer the following questions:

1.       How do you regularly get to work?  (i.e., walk, bike, drive your car, carpool, bus, etc.)
2.       Have you ever considered a different mode of transportation? 
3.       What makes your trip to work enjoyable and/or productive? 


I typically drive to work.  I have only been living in Gainesville for the past few weeks, so I am still learning the best routes to get around.  I did check the bus system, but it seems overcrowded at this point.  Good music makes the commute bearable!  Dawn Shores, Tourism, Recreation & Sport Management, HHP

I drive my minivan after dropping off two of my three children at school. This is the only way for  me to get around, given the distance and need to cart my kids around.  Talking to them about their school day and then listening to the radio after I drop them off makes my trip to and from work more enjoyable.  Meggen Tucker Sixbey, Counseling & Wellness Center

I reside in Citra, which is five miles south of Micanopy, so the best mode of transportation for my daily 54-mile commute is to drive a gas efficient vehicle.  Recently, due to the rise in gas prices, I have considered going horseback down HWY 441; unfortunately, I don’t think  my orange decal would give me authorization to park the horse, thus,  I most likely would return to find a yellow ticket placed underneath the saddle.  My trip to work is very productive--I have been given an opportunity to receive a free workout. Yes, I’m blessed with the opportunity to walk half a mile every day from my sought after parking spot located in the garage across from the police department. This opportunity has allowed me to sweat off any stressful issues that I may have experienced prior to beginning my day. Henry Anderson, Fisher School of Accounting

I drive to work each day, though I will on occasion use the bus if I’m starting my day in the Union or if my car is in the shop. I did try carpooling when I first started working here but it was too inconvenient since there would be at least one day a week I would want to run errands or go to the store directly after work. The radio in my car broke five years ago so on my way to work I use the Voice Memos app on my IPhone to make a list of things I need to do for the day and I talk to friends and family on my way home (hands free!).   Rachel Nelson, CLAS