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Online Advising Site Helps Students Become Proactive

The development of a new student advising and academic skills Website has been a labor of love for Alma College faculty member Kay Grimnes.

Located within the academic section of the College's main Website, the online materials are the result of a sabbatical project that may ultimately prove to be a national template for providing an exhaustive one-stop location of information related to student academic advising and skill development.

Click here to view the online advising materials.

“I love what I’m doing — the out-of-classroom stuff that keeps students happy, focused and working hard,” says Grimnes, a member of the biology faculty since 1986.  “It’s hard to find any other college or university Website with this kind of thorough information related to student advising.

“I’m thrilled and excited about this project,” she says.

 

Kay Grimnes (far left)

Citing a personal interest in providing more resources for students, Grimnes embarked on a 2007 winter term sabbatical intent on researching and identifying student academic advising tools.

“I always have had an interest in helping students see what they need to do, to make them proactive,” she says. “And being proactive means taking action with knowledge. I began my sabbatical by reading many resources on advising and asking the question: What information should I provide students?”

Most of the information on the new advising Website is targeted directly to students as opposed to advisors. The text ranges from simple information to actual strategies and processes that help students make informed decisions about their education.

“For example, a student may consider dropping a course,” says Grimnes. “To drop a course, a student has to fill out a form. But that’s the end action. Students also need to understand the process that leads to the final decision of dropping a class and what the ramifications are for dropping a class.”

The Website includes information on selecting a field of study, declaring a major, changing an academic program, picking courses, creating a four-year plan that leads to graduation, how to study, and how to make the most of college.

“Being a responsible adult is a hard task,” she says. “My goal is to try to get students to think through the consequences of their decisions and to understand the processes that lead to final decisions. It’s helping students to become proactive.”

The Website includes sections on “The Alma Overview,” “Field of Study/Major Questions,” “Navigating General Education, “ “Success Manual,” “Especially for First Years” and “Especially for Sophomores.”

“The least developed site is information for advisors, but I ran out of time,” says Grimnes. “I will work on that in the winter. I want to do actual video clips of real student stories so that students can see that they are not alone and can make it through.”

Grimnes plans to continue to add resources and expand information on the Website.

“This project is rewarding to me and helpful to the institution,” she says.

 

 

Alma College provides a network of opportunities for students to become responsible leaders, including the Robert D. Swanson Responsible Leadership Speaker Series and the Leadership Fellows’ Program. The 2006 class of Leadership Fellows participated in an International Leadership Institute at Wroxton College in England in August 2007.

 

Student Profile

Jason Latz

Jason Latz
Graduation: 2008
Major: Education
From: Elsie, Michigan
Interests: Sports, Habitat for Humanity

Spring Term courses offer students opportunities to break out of the “Alma Bubble.” Off-campus study, especially in a foreign country, shows you how you relate to the rest of the world and how the rest of the world views American people, politics and policies. You can then integrate your real world experiences into your academic programs and your future career.