Faculty Advising at Allegheny College
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Advising is a multi-faceted, professional activity based on research, standards, and best practices. Effective advising reinforces and extends the education students acquire in the classroom, helping them to take advantage of curricular and co-curricular opportunities, to understand academic requirements and college policies, and to prepare for career planning and lifelong learning. Research has also demonstrated that successful advising can significantly improve student achievement, retention, and satisfaction. While students are responsible for all decisions that they make at Allegheny, and should understand that not all things are possible, and that choices carry with them consequences; advisors are responsible for encouraging students to be responsible for their own education and for providing them with the guidance and structure to do so. Put simply, advising is a vitally important professional responsibility for all full-time faculty at Allegheny College
Allegheny College Advising Mission Statement:
Advising at Allegheny College holistically empowers students to seek coherence and meaning in their liberal arts educational experience, to develop agency in their individual educational journeys, and to build lasting connections to support their growth and success.
Student Learning Outcomes
Allegheny students should:
Know: Program requirements; graduation requirements and intent of the FS program (NB: or its successor program, if approved) and the Distribution Requirements (DR) in helping students achieve outcomes of College mission statement; availability of resources
Do: Articulate educational and early career goals; use campus resources; develop a social/support network
Value: Liberal arts education; multiple ways of knowing; importance of lifelong learning; role of advising in shaping educational plans; relationships with advisors
As a result of advising, students will:
- Articulate educational and early career goals through the iterative formation of an educational plan that integrates curricular and co-curricular experiences
- Use campus resources to support achievement of educational goals
- Assume responsibility for meeting academic requirements
- Develop the skills for lifelong learning, growth, and resilience in the face of challenges
- Recognize how engagement with multiple ways of knowing contributes to a liberal arts education
- Demonstrate personal and civic responsibility in local and/or global contexts
- Develop a social network and support system that includes peers, faculty, staff, and/or community members as advisors
Advisor Learning Outcomes:
Allegheny advisors should:
Know: Accurate information about college requirements, policies, procedures, and resources
Do: Build students’ understanding of curriculum; practice ethical/legal standards by respecting student confidentiality and diversity; regularly participate in development opportunities to remain current in advising practices and college policies/procedures
Value: Liberal arts education; multiple ways of knowing; importance of lifelong learning; role of advising in shaping educational plans; relationships with students
Advisors will:
- Provide accurate information about academic requirements, policies, and procedures to facilitate advisees’ decision-making and goal-setting
- Connect students with campus resources relevant to their individual needs and goals
- Articulate the value of a liberal arts education
- Establish respectful and inclusive communications as part of coaching/mentoring advising relationships
- Encourage academic, personal, and civic responsibility
- Maintain and expand their knowledge and skills related to advising
Academic Standards and Awards Committee
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The principal function of this committee is to make certain that students meet the academic requirements established by the faculty.
In advising your first-year students, be advised that all students with a GPA of 1.0 or below at the end of the first semester will be automatically suspended from the College and must successfully appeal in order to return.
If a student earns a GPA below 2.0, he or she will be continued on Academic Probation. In order to avoid being suspended at the end of the next semester, the student must be registered for at least 12 credits, must receive passing grades for ALL courses and must earn a semester GPA of 2.0 or better. If a student fails to do this, or receives an incomplete or a withdrawal in any course, they will be suspended from the college and must successfully appeal in order to return.
The committee meets at the end of each semester to consider the cases of students who decide to appeal academic suspension or dismissal. As part of this process, the academic advisor of a student appealing his/her suspension or dismissal is asked to submit a brief report detailing their experiences with the student. Comments of the advisor are, along with other relevant documents, used by the committee to determine if a suspension or dismissal should be upheld or overturned.
There is a useful “Academic Standing – Flowchart” page maintained by the Registrar that visualizes the various stages of academic standing.
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