2016 CALS Advising & Teaching Workshop

Tuesday August 23rd, 2016

The CALS Advising Handbook is available on our website here:

Introductions

Advising: How to be a successful advisor

  1. Post/list office hours or your availability for meeting.
  2. Reply to advisee e-mails within 48 hours (recommended).
  3. Document, document, and document what you have discussed with the students.
  4. Show the student what a 4 year program would probably look like, keeping in mind internship and study abroad plans.
  5. Follow your natural instinct if you feel that the student has issues that need Dean’s Office assistance (Rose).
  6. Create a webpage for your advisees. (example:
  7. Have a plan for increasing students’ responsibilities in advising process.
  8. Encourage students to use University resources and Career Services.
  9. Supplemental study sessions. Have your students take advantage of them, especially with the more demanding science courses.

Advising Links

  1. Electronic advising files—shared drive
  2. Advising Handbook:
  3. Student Portals in MyUVM:
  4. CATS Reports (official transcript)—Curriculum Tracking System
  5. “What if” option
  6. Exception form
  7. Senior Record Check—The CALS Dean’s Office is still requiring Senior Record Checks. The departments will receive these.
  8. Declaration of Major Form, Declaration of Minor within CALS Form:
  9. Follow up with Rose—students need to be proactive

Electronic Student Files (Shared Drive)

  1. Electronic student files can be accessed via the shared drive on your UVM computer
  2. If you have trouble accessing the shared drive, please contact and he can help configure your computer.
  3. Utilizing electronic files is not mandatory, however you may find it useful to go paperless.

NCAA Eligibility

  1. Blake Simon, Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance

Advising International Students

  1. Example: International, USPP (US Pathway Program), GGP (Global Gateway Program)
  2. Resources for faculty advising international students
  3. Innovations in Faculty Support for International Students:
  1. NACADA: Advising Chinese Students:
  1. Drexel University Faculty Handbook on Advising and Teaching International and ELL Students:
  1. Communication Tips:
  1. Summary of Best Practices for Retention:
  1. Universal Design for Learning:
  1. If you have specific questions, please contact the Global Gateway Program:
  2. Margaret Coan, , 802-656-3815

Teaching Recommendations

  1. We highly recommend that if you teach a first year course, you have quizzes early in the first four weeks to give students a benchmark with which to judge their progress. Studies show this positively contributes to student success.
  2. We highly recommend that all first year classes have an Academic Alert System to notify students who are performing unsatisfactorily in class. Students should be encouraged to discuss warnings with the professor of the class and with their advisor.
  3. For all first year students – do advisors feel that we should put a hold on their account if they have not met with their advisor at least once. This is so they cannot register for classes.
  1. Final grade deadline
  2. Final grades must be turned in within 72 hours after your final exam. If you don’t get them submitted, it affects graduating seniors, studies committee results, class standing, and university honors. This is a huge deal (this could result in a lawsuit), so please meet the deadline!
  1. Students who appear their grades—discussion

OR

  1. Click on: “College of Agriculture and Life Sciences”
  2. Click on: “Regulations”
  3. Scroll to: “Appeal”
  1. Multiple Exams—final schedule
  2. Professors need to make sure that there is adequate time between the last exam and the final.
  3. No exams should be given in the week before finals.
  4. Professors cannot change time/ room location of final exam.
  5. No student shall be required to take four or more final exams in one 36-hour period.
  6. For more information on the university’s final exam policy please visit:
  1. How incompletes are given—discussion
  1. Let the students know how they are doing. If there is an issue with a particular student, have the student speak with the instructor first, then their advisor and then last resort is the CALS Dean’s office, where the student will speak with Rose. Unless it is an emergency, then they can go directly to Kate Finley Woodruff.
  1. Commencements: All faculty are strongly encouraged to attend
  2. No December Commencement this year
  3. December reception date TBA
  4. May Commencement: Sunday May 21st, 2017

Success in the Classroom

  1. Syllabus – contract for your course
  2. Do not change it unless there are extenuating circumstances.
  3. State your grading system (i.e.: what the grade is based on) very clearly.
  4. Post it as part of the syllabus.
  5. Encourage transparency in grading, e.g. rubrics.
  6. Grade calculations must state if grading down and why.
  7. Set clear goals.
  8. State definite assignment due dates and consequences for not meeting the deadlines.
  9. Classroom management policies
  10. Students needing special accommodations, such as ACCESS students, must inform their instructors the first week of classes.
  11. Addressing classroom disruptions
  12. Inform your expected behaviors for class on the syllabus, for example:
  13. Ground rules for discussions
  14. Questions about exams
  15. How to communicate with you and/or your TAs
  16. Appropriate language, words, emails, classroom etiquette
  17. Age of electronics—cell phones, computers, etc. in the classroom
  18. Put UVM Police number (802-656-3473; 802-656-FIRE) in your cell phone
  19. Register with UVM Police for CAT alerts

Opportunities for Student Success: Overview

  1. ACCESS:
  2. Writing Center:
  3. Learning Co-op:
  4. Supplemental study sessions:
  5. Career Services:
  6. Student Health Clinic:
  7. Wellness, health problems, and others: work with Rose Laba
  8. Career and Experience Hub (Davis Center):

Academic/Financial Aid Reminders

  1. Curriculum Requirements
  2. Senior Record Checks will be sent to the departments before registration advising begins in the Fall
  3. English 001 or HCOL 085 will only meet the Foundational Writing & Information Literacy (FWIL) requirement for the University and CALS.
  4. Please see handout for more detailed information on FWIL (also available in the advisor’s handbook)
  5. Students must take ENGL 001/HCOL 085 in their first year
  6. If, for some reason, they are unable to take it in their first year, there will be special sections of ENGS 001 for upper class students
  7. There are also special sections of ENGS 001 for international students
  1. Sustainability Requirement
  2. Beginning with the entering first-year class in Fall 2015, all undergraduates must meet a General Education requirement in Sustainability.
  3. This requirement also applies to transfer students who are matriculating in Fall 2015
  4. For a list of approved courses:
  1. Diversity Course Requirement
  2. Students are required to take 2 diversity courses (D1: Race and Racism in the US; D2: Human and Societal Diversity)
  3. For a list of approved diversity courses please see:
  1. The webpage dedicated to CALS Forms, Procedures and Policies:
  2. Click on “Information for Faculty & Staff” at the bottom of the homepage
  3. Click on “College Forms, Procedures and Policies” on the right hand side
  1. Students are now required to have a 2.33 minimum GPA instead of a 2.0 for financial aid. For questions, contact Student Financial Services at 656-5700.
  2. Be aware that a withdrawal can affect Financial Aid depending on day/date of the withdrawal. Have students check with Financial Aid or Rose Laba.
  3. Appeal process for loss of scholarships
  1. Course Evaluations and Advising Evaluations now available online
  2. The course/instructor evaluation is no longer a paper process. It is online and can be accessed via smartphones and computers. This will opened for all course use three weeks before the end of classes. It will remain open through the last day of classes. Each semester you will receive an e-mail from the dean’s office reminding you a week prior to the survey going live. The survey is at
  1. Foundation course for first-year students: CALS 001, CALS 002
  2. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences takes pride in the academic and scholarly support of students in its College. An example of that effort is our first year Foundation courses taught by Public Communication professors with the support of upper class peer teaching assistants.
  3. A primary objective of these courses is to help students make a smooth transition from high school to college and to successfully engage in a higher education community. In addition, these two semester courses helps students build a strong foundation in public speaking and information technology competencies that are a key to their success at UVM and beyond.
  1. New Food Systems Major

Opportunities for Faculty Success

  1. Center for Teaching and Learning:
  2. The Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) explores, promotes, and supports excellence in teaching, with diverse technologies, at UVM.
  3. Courses on topics such as Blackboard, iClicker, PowerPoints, Designing Accessible

Course Materials, Hybrid Courses, etc.

Upcoming Events 2016-2017

  1. Alumni Reunion Weekend: September 23-25th, 2016
  2. Open Houses: Sunday October 9th, 2016 and Saturday November 12th, 2016
  3. Students come to UVM to get a broad perspective on what UVM has to offer. CALS is actively involved in the Open Houses and we need representation from each department at the events.
  4. January Orientation: Date TBA
  5. This event is for new first-year and transfer students coming to UVM who are starting in the spring semester. Faculty may be asked to advise students at this event.
  6. Admitted Student Visit Days: Dates TBA (February-April)
  7. CALS is actively involved in the academic portion of the visit days and we need representation from each department to be available to advise students.
  8. Commencement
  9. December Reception: Date TBA
  10. May Commencement: Sunday May 21st, 2017
  11. June Orientation, August Orientation: Dates TBA
  12. We need faculty representations from departments to advise and help register first-year and transfer students in these events.