FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 17, 2008

MUW recognized for best practice

By Jill D. O’Bryant

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- 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.