Innovation Academy Update

by Dr. Jeff Citty

Many exciting and creative ideas are bubbling up from the Innovation Academy’s (IA) suite of programs and services: 

• First, IA’s Fall Connection courses and study abroad opportunities are in full swing, as we prepare for the IA students’ arrival in Spring 2013.
• Currently, we are planning to monitor IA students’ Fall Connection academic progress through communication from faculty members teaching the Fall Connection courses along with communication from the students. This will include announcements of important dates and deadlines, as well as contact information. 
• Additionally, we are planning a kick-off celebration called “Launch into IA” on January 4th, the Friday before class begin, in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom. Further details will be coming in the next few weeks. 
• We are also in the development phase of a multidisciplinary team-based fall internship program for IA students’ sophomore fall semester.  Again, stay tuned for more details on this. 
• The next phase of the three-step orientation process--Gateways--launched on September 24th with the first on-line module in Sakai.  New Student Programs will release the additional two modules on October 8th and 24th. Students who have technical difficulties should be directed to the UF Computer Help Desk at 352-392-HELP.  All other questions can be directed to newstudentinfo@dso.ufl.edu or to 352-392-1621. 
• Lastly, we have created college level email listserves so that colleges are able to email IA students with college-specific information.

Recruitment and admission for the next year’s class began on August 1st and the IA interest is showing some growth over last year’s numbers with some assistance from the IA flyer. We have approximately 4% more applicants this year than at the same time point last year, but we are still early in the application process. Click here if you are interested in obtaining an IA flyer for your office

IA FAST FACTS

334 IA students confirmed enrollment in IA

312 IA students completed the two day Preview session

225 IA students completed housing contracts for Beaty East

173 IA students enrolled in Fall Connection courses

7 IA students are studying abroad

3 IA students featured on our website in the “Student Spotlight”

2 IA majors have been added--Computer Science & Digital Arts and Sciences

Please continue to check the IA website for more exciting information.  My thanks to all of you for your assistance in helping make the Innovation Academy successful at UF.   Go Gators!

Advising Health and Legal Professions Students

This column examines common misperceptions about pre-health, pre-med, and pre-law students.

Advising Pre-Health Students

by Christine Richmond

The freshmen are here!  Where did the summer go? While students were off studying abroad, doing internships, or taking classes, we were all busy with Preview presentations, catching up on our to-do lists, and preparing for fall.  The freshmen are here and, as always, there are a few thousand who dream of a career in the health professions. We love their enthusiasm, their eager faces, and their excitement of being a Gator.  But with freshmen come questions, and lots of them.  One of the most common questions we get during Preview is “What is the best major for pre-health?”  It’s funny how many different misconceptions are out there.  Some students think they have to be a biology major to have the “best chance,” while others think they need something out-of-the-box so they stand out to admission committees and don’t “look like everyone else.”  So what’s the truth?  What a student majors in really does NOT matter.  Statistically speaking, there is no greater chance of admission for science majors, humanities majors, or social science majors.  These all have roughly the same admission rates based on the number of applicants.

Still, we do have some advice for pre-health freshmen who are deciding on a major.   If they choose a science major, it’s important for them to have a well-rounded curriculum that includes some non-science courses.  I tell students every day that medicine is a lot more than science -- there’s a social side, a humanistic side, and an ethical side to health care. They need to prepare themselves to work with diverse groups of people who will be their future patients.  So courses that teach them about different cultures, religions, languages, or societal issues can be valuable. If you want some ideas to share with your students, see our handout of pre-health course suggestions.  Conversely, if they are non-science majors, we recommend that they take some upper-division science courses beyond the prerequisites if they can.  Students should ask themselves:  What am I truly interested in learning?  What would I major in if I weren’t pre-health?  What might fit in with a back-up plan if I change my mind about going into healthcare? 

We all know students tend to do better in course work that interests them, so encourage them to explore the wide variety of options UF has to offer and find a major that they’ll love. Also, please encourage any pre-health freshmen you see to watch or attend the Pre-Health 101 and MCAT 2015 workshops. These contain important information that they all should be aware of. Students can now register for and view workshops on the pre-health website from the comfort of their own room.

Did you know?

We have a new Pre-Health advisor on our team!  Mandi Santos joined the AAC in the spring and has been busy training to see pre-health students all year. She’s now fully on-board and is seeing all levels of pre-health students. We’re so excited to have her!

Advising Pre-Law Students:  A Peek into the LSAT

by Sara Mock

It’s very common for students to think that they need to pursue a variety of law-related courses during their undergraduate years to effectively prepare for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), the half-day standardized test which must be taken for admission to most law schools; however, the LSAT is not like a mini bar exam; in fact, it requires no legal knowledge.  Instead, the test measures logical analysis and analytical reasoning skills considered important for the study of law.  It’s composed of five 35 minute multiple-choice sections (although one section is experimental and not counted for scoring purposes). The test sections are divided into reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning. There is also a required writing sample that isn’t scored; however, copies of this sample are sent to the law schools that the student applies to.

Would you like to take a peek at the LSAT to see why it is, for many students, such an anxiety-inducing component of the law school application process?  If so, visit the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) website for some sample questions with answers and detailed explanations.  The website also provides additional tips to help students prepare for the LSAT.  As always, please let anyone on our pre-law advising team (Liz Kazungu, Sara Mock, Nick Mrozinske, and Lou Powers) know if you have any questions.  We’re happy to help!

Ask an Advisor

by Dana Myers

Our “Ask an Advisor” column allows UF advisors to share their viewpoint and experiences regarding advising or life in general. We recently asked some advisors to answer the following questions:  With the upcoming election, discussions of politics are everywhere.  Do you feel comfortable with, or even enjoy, discussing your political opinions?  If so, does it vary by context?  Would you ever discuss your political orientation with students?  If you don’t feel comfortable discussing your political opinions, would you mind telling us a bit about what makes you uncomfortable?

I am very comfortable with discussing all of my political opinions with my friends and colleagues and rather enjoy the discussions. However, if I get the feeling that a colleague is very sensitive or uncomfortable talking about his or her political opinions, then I will usually refrain from political discussions. I feel that political opinions are personal and I would not discuss political opinions with a student unless the student specifically asks my opinion.  Wanda Washington, Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Public Health and Health Professions

My husband and I are on opposite political sides and have learned to “agree to disagree,” so I rarely talk politics at home or work.  My top five StrengthsQuest values include Empathy and Harmony, so I tend to be of the “can’t we all just get along?” mentality!  In my First Year Florida class, we talk about the importance of taking civic responsibility and voting, but do not discuss specific parties or political hot topics.  Sarah Eberhart, College of Health & Human Performance
 

 Yes, I'm actually quite passionate about political issues and I feel very comfortable discussing them.  With students, however, I don't really think it's appropriate.  They will have plenty of time to form their own political opinions in college and as academic advisors I don't think it's our role to try to influence them.  Our Governor, on the other hand, is a different story. There's someone who could use my influence.  ;-)  Kevin Austin, Theatre and Dance, College of Fine Arts

Even though I coordinate this column, I’m going to go ahead and throw in my input on this one!  I find that I sometimes really enjoy listening to others express and debate their political opinions; however, I usually like to lay low in terms of disclosing my own opinions.  Not that I don’t necessarily want others to know what I think, but rather, I’ve found that when I do disclose (usually with close friends and family), arguments tend to ensue… and I can quickly get a bit too riled up!  So I’ve learned it’s better for me to sit back and try to learn from others’ discourse and keep my political opinions to myself.  I adhere to this with students as well, unless I’m specifically asked (which I never have been...).  Dana Myers, School of Art and Art History, College of Fine Arts

Advisor Tool Box

by Kari Ward

Paper FortuneTeller:  A Must-Have Tool for Advisors

Paper fortune tellers (think grade school) are a fun and interactive tool for engaging your students. I recently repurposed one that belonged to my second grader and discovered that they really come in handy for those tough advising questions, like “Should I major in history or psychology?”, “Should I take Man’s Food or Wildlife Issues?”, or “Should I drop this course or keep it?”.  If you decide to create one of these, you might use fortunes like “you must search for the answer within,” “go see your professor,” “check with financial aid,” or “only time will tell.”  In our next edition:   Probation Advising with Magic 8 Balls.

Educause

EDUCAUSE® is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education through the use of information technology.  Publications on their site explain, in layman’s terms, the facts about emerging forms of technology that are being used in higher education (and elsewhere).  Topics include massively open online courses (MOOCs), social media, course management systems, etc.  So if you’re curious to know about “flipped classrooms” or about the impending migration to online textbooks, then this site is for you.

UF Counseling and Wellness Center (CWC) Self-HelpResources

The CWC has an “app-like” student resource page, where students and advisors can access available resources on issues that commonly affect students.  Topics include academic concerns, procrastination, test anxiety, veterans, and money issues.  Each topic page features four resource categories:  CWC resources (like on campus workshops and groups), UF Resources, Exercises, and Information Sheets.  I could see myself and others using the CWC info sheets for advisor training, as part of a student’s action plan, or as a general handout. See “How to Approach a Professor for Help” for a sample.

Advisor Spotlight: Farewell to Jill Lingard

by Kari Ward

Having served the university and its students for 23 years, Jill Lingard has decided to refocus her energies and concentrate on her volunteer work with environmentally-focused, non-profit organizations.  Jill began her career here in Admissions in 1989, worked as an academic advisor in the College of Engineering from 1996 to 2001, and spent the last eleven years in the Heavener School of Business as the Associate Director for the Online Business Program. Jill, your friends at UF wish you well in your new endeavors. If you give your new career the same devotion you gave to all of us over the years, you’ll have North Florida’s waterways spic and span in no time!  Many thanks to you for being our inspiration and our champion!  [Why am I feeling the urge to sing "Happy Trails to You . . ."?]

Jill and her Dad, Bil Lingard

You hiked the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to New Hampshire.  You went skydiving with your students.   And now you’re walking away from a secure job that you enjoy.  What is it in you that makes you do such crazy things, Jill?

Something in me is attracted to the potential of experiences in which outcomes are undefined, but where my actions make a direct impact on those results.  I’m comfortable with ambiguity and enjoy not knowing from day one ‘how it will all work out.’  I also enjoy exploring my physical and mental limits.  To me, nearly all fear is of the unknown.  If I’m willing to stretch myself and get to know an unfamiliar experience, the fear nearly always dissolves.  By the way, I think this trait is what drew me to the job I‘ve had for the past decade, so it’s not just about climbing mountains or jumping out of planes.  Launching an online degree like ours had never been done before, and I was very drawn to all the possibilities of that process.

Jill at her going away party with friends from her old stomping grounds in Admissions

You’ve told us that you’ll be continuing your volunteer work with Paddle Florida and Current Problems in your new life.  Can you tell us more about these organizations and how you got involved with them?  What kind of work have you done with them in the past and what will your new role be?

When I returned from my attempted thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail with a fractured hip, my mobility was severely limited for a few months.  But paddling was something I could continue to enjoy.  When I heard about Paddle Florida’s inaugural week-long trip down the Suwannee River in 2008, I jumped at the opportunity and have been a fan ever since.  Our paddling experiences brought us into contact with folks doing cleanups of North Central Florida’s waterways, which is the focus of Current Problems.  In 2010, Paddle Florida was granted non-profit status with the mission of supporting water conservation, wildlife preservation, springs restoration, and waterways protection through paddling trips staged in each of Florida’s five water management districts.  In addition to the ongoing cleanup efforts, I will assist both groups with grant writing, marketing, and PR work.   

Jill, goofing around with longtime co-worker and friend, Joe Rojo

What are you most looking forward to in your new life?

Refining and applying my writing skills to causes I believe in and working with an amazingly talented and dedicated group of citizens who have similar interests in Florida’s ecosystems.

What will you miss the most about your old life at UF?

Whether they’re 18 or 60, in front of me or online, I will miss being able to impact college students.  What an honor it has been to be able to influence people as they’re engaged in the process of ‘becoming themselves.’  I will also miss my colleagues tremendously.  They’ve become a second family to me and I will make every effort to maintain those relationships. 

The Online Business Program is your baby.  You built it from scratch, starting in 2001, and since that time over 800 students have graduated with their business degree.  What does this mean to you? 

Due to geography, fulltime jobs, or family obligations, the vast majority of those 800 graduates are students who lacked access to a UF degree before our online program launched in 2002.  It has been deeply rewarding to open up educational access to these students.  I get to see the meaning this has written all over the faces of their family members at commencement. 

What piece of advice would you give to student affairs professionals who are responsible for creating and managing programs?

Study the market to assess potential demand for the proposed program.  Surround yourself with an excellent team of individuals who have complementary skills sets.  Build good relationships with all the external offices and institutions you’ll need to depend on to make this thing work.  Ensure students, not tuition dollars, remain the focus of why you come to work each day.  (Take care of students, and finances will fall into place.)  Cultivate a sense of humor.

Jill, with the Online Business Program Staff

In the two plus decades you’ve spent at UF, you’ve focused much of your work on building relationships with community/state college students and advisors.  Why were you drawn to this group?  Where do you see university-community/state college relations going in the future?

Florida’s community college system launched my own education and subsequent student services career.  I had a really wonderful experience at IRCC in the mid-80’s.  Having flourished in that environment, I was thrilled to work with a program in which our success depends in large part on the ability to cultivate relationships with community/state college students, advisors, faculty, and administrators.  It felt like ‘coming home’ to me. 

I believe community and state colleges will continue to play a crucial role in higher education because of their open access and affordability.  They’ve also been quick to meet the current demands for flexibility by developing online and hybrid courses and programs.  I question the viability of some of their recently developed Bachelor’s degree options, especially when they duplicate available options through Florida’s state universities.  But their role in providing lower division and technical education remains unquestionably important.

From L to R:  John Laibson, the new Director of the Online Business Program, Jill, and Dr. Albert Matheny

What do you foresee for the Online Business Program, distance learning, and higher education, in general?

Tremendous growth and increasing quality as more excellent institutions get into the game and interactive technology improves.  In another decade, I don’t think ‘going to college’ will look anything like what it did as recently as a decade ago.  We can all sit around and complain about that OR get busy shaping what the higher education experience will be.  It’s been great fun to be part of a team which has taken the latter approach.

Your love of the written word led you to a position on the Common Reading Program Book Selection Committee.  Out of the zillion or so books you've read for them, which one was your favorite?  Of the books you’ve read for your own pleasure, which one is your favorite?

I think my favorite ‘chosen’ CRP book was last year’s Outcasts United.  I’m not a team sports enthusiast, nor do I have a clue about soccer.  So my enjoyment of this book is a measure of Warren St. John’s ability to tell a much richer story.  For every year’s chosen book, the committee reads dozens more behind the scenes.  One of my favorites this past year for sheer hilarity was Mary Roach’s Packing for Mars.  Roach does a superb job in all her books of reaching non-science-types like me with her layman’s take on science topics.  Packing for Mars looks behind the curtain of what it’s really like to train for and live in space.  I enjoyed it so much, it led me to read the memoir of shuttle astronaut Mike Mullane (equally comical and engaging)—not a typical selection for this former English major!  Outside of CRP circles, my favorite author is Charles Frazier.  I loved every word of Cold Mountain and Thirteen Moons.   I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Frazier at a book signing once and my knees nearly buckled from star-struck awe. 

Jill and one of her favorite professors, Dr. Rich Lutz, and friend Julia Smith

Who is the person who has influenced you the most in your time here at UF?

I would have to say Brian Ray, for bringing me into a team of such innovative and dedicated individuals, giving me the opportunity to help build something very meaningful from scratch, and doing whatever was necessary to support that process along the way. 

What’s the biggest life lesson you’ve learned here at UF?

Focus on what’s working and do more of that.  Don’t dwell on the negative.  Fix it and move on.

What do you view as your greatest accomplishment?

I have stared at this question with a blank mind for several minutes now.  I guess I don’t think in terms of one greatest accomplishment or accolade.  Every student I’ve impacted who has walked across the commencement stage is a greatest accomplishment.  I’m not sure who said "You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give," but that sums it up nicely for me.

And finally, “If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?”

“Finally—you’re here!  Bill Maher saved you a seat!”

Social Media: A Marketing Tool for Higher Ed Professionals

by Kari Ward

The UF Online Business Program is preparing to enter the world of social media to market our program to current and prospective students.  To ready ourselves for this leap--and it’s a giant leap for Gen Xer’s like myself and Jill Lingard--we attended Academic Impression’s “Social Media Strategy for Higher Education:  Beyond the Basics” conference in Boston, Mass. this past March.   As the title suggests, the focus was not to teach student affairs staff the mechanics of how to use social media, but rather to teach us the proper approach to using social media.

Jill and Kari visit Boston

The central messages of the conference were that those in higher ed need to develop strategic plans for using social media and that social media should be viewed as a marketing tool, not as just another means for disseminating information.  Our presenters explained that real life businesses use social media to sell their brands, images that have been carefully crafted to appeal to customers’ interests, needs, and values.  The goal of these companies is not simply to advertise, but to actively engage and involve customers with their product.  Many businesses use Facebook to accomplish this.  They create a Facebook page, ask customers to “Like” them, and then make posts asking customers to share their opinions and personal experiences with the product.  This is old fashioned word-of-mouth advertising plain and simple, but with added advantages.  Today's companies can interact with customers from a distance, prompt them to discuss their product, and then chime in and "manage" the conversation.

And so, the conference presenters argued, higher ed professionals need to conduct themselves more like businesses.  We need to use social media strategically--to develop marketing plans with measurable outcomes, to create and sell a brand, and to get students talking about our product.  And just what is our product?  It’s what we advisors are forever trying to sell--the valuable advice, services, and programs we provide to our students.  So if you or your advising or student affairs office wants to meet students where they’re at—on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn—and you want to use social media purposefully and effectively to achieve an intended outcome, here are the main "take aways" from the expert presenters who spoke at the conference:

• People often view social media as a form of free advertising, but that’s a fallacy.  If you’re doing it right, social media is pretty labor intensive.  It requires significant planning and forethought; writing, filming, researching, editing, collecting, and organizing content; analyzing activity on your site to see if you’re meeting intended goals; not to mention the time it takes to manage, monitor, and post to your sites.  When considering social media use, you might ask yourself the following questions:  What are my goals?  How committed am I to maintaining my site?  How many hours per week can I dedicate to social media?  Who can help me with content and site management?  And is this the most effective use of my time?

• When creating your own academic advising brand, you’ll have to decide on the image you want to portray.  To help figure this out, you might ask yourself "What qualities are my students looking for in an advisor?  What kind of information do they want from me?  What are my values and how can I convey them?  What unique skills do I have?  How do I want my students to perceive me?”  Ponder your answers and then think about how you can convey those ideas to your students.  (For more information on how to create your own personal brand, see this wikiHow page.) 

• When you think about developing a brand, keep in mind that a brand is “a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or organization” and that your brand is not what you say it is.  It’s what your customers say it is.  So if you have a Facebook page, your objective should be to prompt students to share their thoughts about your services instead of you directly telling students how valuable your services are.

• Once you’ve defined your brand, you need to identify your audience.  Where are they?  Do they use Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, or some other social media site?  Who are they?  Current or prospective students?  Natives or transfers?  Or all of the above?  If the latter, how will you tailor your posts to make them relevant to these different populations?  What are they interested in?  Your students’ major will have direct bearing on the content of your posts.

• Which brings me to the subject of content.  How will you create content?  To insure your posts are timely and relevant, you could start by creating a calendar that features advising- or career-related dates and events, such as advance registration or Career Showcase.  Ideas for content that you can create yourself include photos of student organization events, orientation, and commencement; internship or job announcements that cross your desk; or homemade videos featuring you, your students, and their professors.  Of course, you don’t have to create all of your own content.  You can use outside sources, like event calendars; news items and press releases; annual reports; research stories; websites; published rankings; alumni profiles; or workshop announcements from UF, the CRC, or CLAS websites.  Just make sure you add value to outside content by explaining its relevance and relating it to your students’ interests and needs.

• When thinking about content, you’ll want to create posts that are interactive (in other words, posts that ask questions and inspire students to comment), visual (use lots of graphics, pictures, and videos), current, relevant, useful, and consistent.  Content that is overly repetitive, regurgitated, understood by only a limited audience, out of context, poorly targeted, and inconsistent won’t help you build a following among your students.  Having an interactive approach is especially important.  Instead of posting a basic reminder about advance registration, for example, you can generate conversation about advance registration by asking your students whether they have registered for any interesting electives next semester.  When creating posts, make your tone personal and genuine and demonstrate care and interest by responding promptly to students’ posts.  

• Last but not least, create a set of tangible goals and learn how to measure them.  For example, you could determine the number of people you want to RSVP to an event, visit your website, or apply to your program.  Then you can measure your desired outcome using Google Analytics.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, be sure to report your findings to your boss so that you can justify the amount of time you’re spending on Facebook! :)