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MUW recognized
for best practice |
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By Jill D. O'Bryant
Rhonda Thomas, MUW
director of academic advising, goes over
information with Ginnie Wilson, a freshman
from Como. (Photo by Chris Jenkins/MUW
Office of Public Affairs)
Mississippi University for Women was awarded
$5,000 by the State Institutions of Higher
Learning Board of Trustees for winning
second place in the Best Practices Program
for its entry on “Increasing Advisor
Knowledge and Information Access.”
“I am very pleased that MUW has been
recognized for its advisor program,” said
Dr. Claudia A. Limbert, president. “Our
faculty and staff have worked hard to
enhance advising to benefit our students.”
The IHL Board, which announced the winners
at its board meeting this week, began the
Best Practices Program in 2005 in an effort
“to highlight efforts that create efficient
and effective practices initiated at
institutions.” MUW has placed in the Best
Practices Program three years in a row.
A first place award of $10,000 and a second
place award of $5,000 were
awarded in the categories of academic
affairs, student affairs, technology and
finance/business and administration. Judging
was by peer groups.
Dr. Patricia Donat, associate vice president
for academic affairs and author of the award
submission, said, "We decided to submit our
system
of advisor training for this award because
personalized, knowledgeable,
accessible advising is one of the hallmarks
of MUW. The one-on-one
mentoring provided by faculty members is
essential to supporting student
success both inside and outside the
classroom.”
Dr. Sandra Jordan, provost and vice
president for academic affairs, added,
“Retention literature stresses the
importance of effective and timely advising
to student success in college. Advisors play
a key role in helping first-year and
transfer students adjust to their new
environment. College campuses can be
confusing places, so good academic advisors
help reduce student anxiety and confusion.
MUW has taken several steps to ensure high
quality academic advising by
developing problem-based advisor training,
creating a comprehensive
advisor manual and making resource materials
available for advising
transfer students.
Training sessions are scheduled annually for
all new faculty members and academic
administrators, and an online, interactive
version of materials is available for more
experienced faculty to review.
A comprehensive advisor manual, including
information on best practices, academic
policies and procedures and campus resources
and referral information, also is provided
to academic advisors.
To support the advising of transfer students
who may be using credit earned from a
variety of institutions to meet degree
requirements, electronic links are provided
to various websites and access is given to
Banner’s Transfer Course Articulation Form,
which provides information about course
equivalencies for all courses articulated by
the institution.
“In addition with helping students make
decisions about which courses
to take, good advisors are student
mentors...helping students define career
goals, providing accurate information,
discussing options and referring students to
campus support resources,” Jordan said.
“College student success improves when
students connect to their campus community.
Effective academic advising, conducted by
well-informed and caring professionals, is
central to student success and
satisfaction.”
These initiatives began in 2003 with the
online advisor training added
in 2007. The costs for implementing this
program were minimal, which is
a goal of IHL in the Best Practices Program.
For more information about MUW’s programs,
please visit
www.muw.edu.
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