Summer Session

Good day fellow advisors,

I hope your end of term processes have wrapped up nicely and that you are looking forward to the next academic year. Of course, there are still many students on campus who are taking Summer Session courses! The following are some helpful resources that can be shared with students year round, but will be particularly helpful for those that find themselves on campus this summer:

•         6 research tested ways to improve memory: http://bit.ly/1gWGZ6f

o   I always discuss sleep and exercise with students when we talk about study time and mid-term or exam preparations. The following article shows MRI brain scans that perfectly illustrate how 6 different research-tested methods improve memory, including incorporating foods that have been proven to improve memory scores.

•         The Student Counseling Centre is offering a variety of workshops this summer – please see their brochure here:

o   Counseling workshops include: Managing Your Mood (MYM), More than My Body (body image group),

o   Career Counseling workshops include: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Strong Interest Inventory (SII), career planning (2 sessions)

•         The Academic Learning Centre continues their Writing Tutor program out of Dafoe Library throughout the summer for students who need assistance with editing their assignments.

•          The Academic Learning Centre also has a rich cache of English language resources for any English as Additional Language (EAL) students that you advise.

•          Summer Session via Extended Education is offering Math Boot Camp for any students that are coming to university in the fall and want to strengthen their high school math skills before they register for university level Math courses: http://umanitoba.ca/summer/programs/feature.html (scroll down)

•          University 1 has a fantastic “How Do I…” page that has shortcuts to many commonly asked questions at the U of M, from how to purchase a gym pass to how to obtain a locker.

o   U1 also has a great ExamSurvival Tips webpage with lots of information on best study practices for finals: 

Have a fantastic summer, and good luck during the busy registration period in July!

Cheers,

Nicole Gareau-Wilson

Undergraduate Academic Advisor

Happy New Year! 

It is once again January, the start of the winter term and of another calendar year. Advisors are busy wrapping up fall term assessments and also preparing for the term, and year, ahead. The Revision Period can be such a frenetic time that I wanted to pause for a moment and remind everyone about some of the great resources and workshops going on campus this term:

UMSU Student Groups: Do you have students who are looking to get more involved on campus, make friends, and build their resume? UMSU has 110+ student groups to choose from! You can find a listing of groups here.   

U of M Help Centres: There are so many great Help Centres on campus, many of which are staffed by graduate students and offer free services. Click here for the locations of the Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics, Science (SSA) and other Help Centres on campus.

Khan Academy: This free online Math resource pretests students to determine gaps in mathematical understanding; this information is then presented visually in graphs. Khan Academy then creates practice problems to target these specific gaps, and students can watch their progress on these graphs. I get a lot of positive feedback about this site from my Engineering students! www.khanacademy.com

Academic Learning Centre:

Our amazing Academic Learning Centre (201 Tier Building) has many great resources on their website, including all full list of the current term’s academic skills workshops and online workshops.  

ALC Winter Academic Skills Workshops:

Fridays, 2:30-3:30, 108 Drake (preregistration not required):

Friday January 31: Preparing for Midterms

Strategies for preparing for multiple choice and essay exams

Friday February 28: Reassess Your Learning Strategies

Improve academic performance after midterm exams.

Friday March 7: Learning Strategies for High-Content Courses

Learn large amounts of information effectively for the long run, especially in courses such as BIOL 1410, BIOL 1412, PSCY 1200, NURS 1260, and NURS 3290.

Friday March 28: Preparing for Final Exams

Tips and proven practices for preparing for final exams.

Tuesday April 8: Preparing for Final Exams

Tips and proven practices for preparing for final exams

Engineering (EITC E2) 110, 1:00-2:00

ALC Online Workshops: 

• taking class notes
• reading textbooks
• organizing your time effectively
• writing multiple choice tests
• writing an academic paper
• reading journal articles 

      The ALC also offers a Tutor Registry, where students can find a tutor or volunteer to become one.

         

      

      U of M Tutor Registry: If you know students who need subject-specific tutoring, or if you know of academically successful students looking to build their resume, the U of M Tutor Registry can help each type of student! Click here to view the current PDF list of tutors, updated as of Jan. 27, 2014.

I really could keep listing resources, but I must return to my winter term to-do list. Keep an eye out for exam preparation resources for students in an upcoming blog post – have a lovely day!

--

Thanks to Nicole Gareau-Wilson, UMAE Membership Chair, for submitting today's posting.

Election Time

If you haven't already considered it, we are looking for some new blood to join the UMAE Executive. This year we are looking for a new Membership Chair and a new Vice-President.

If you're interested in working with the Advisor Exchange, get in touch with Kristin or Greg to discuss the nomination process.

Nominations are due in by October 17th and the election will run between then and the meeting on October 24th.

NACADA's Academic Advising Today

This monthly newsletter is yet another benefit of membership in NACADA. For those of you that haven’t seen this yet, please take a look.

The article by NACADA’s President Josh Smith is a very interesting take on articulating the role of Academic Advising and how we can play a role in a student’s overall educational experience (co-curricular activities, development of other competencies, etc.).

Also please take a look at the article by NACADA’s Executive Director, Charlie Nutt on how NACADA has recently devised a plan that will guide the organization going forward. The plan includes a vision for what NACADA is going to look like 10 years from now and how it will get to that point - regardless of organizational leadership. I would like us to have a similar discussion (on a smaller scale, of course) about the Advisor Exchange, our evolution, and the role we might play here at the U of M down the road.

Enjoy these, and the other articles by clicking here:

http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Academic-Advising-Today/View-Articles/2013-June-362.aspx

Some ideas and issues to ponder...

As a member of the Academic Advising Review team, I am involved in a number of discussions about ways we can work to improve academic advising on our campus. The discussions often turn to the importance of the Advisor Exchange and how we might be able to play a role in the grand scheme of things - and the most impactful and effective way of involving the Advisor Exchange group to discuss and implement new ideas and programs.

Here are a few questions that, as a group, we need to consider:

1. What do you see as the role and purpose of the Advisor Exchange?

2. In your opinion, what would a formal reporting line mean to our group? What are the pros and cons of becoming a group with someone to report to? (there are both!)

3. What are your views on Advisor training and development? Could the Advisor Exchange play a part in developing an advising training program? An advising handbook?

 These are just a few of the many questions that our group will need to consider over the next couple of months. I hope to have a special meeting dedicated to these ideas in the next month or so. I hope that you will think about the above and provide some feedback that I can take to the Advising Review team for discussion.

Came across this great TED talk today. Thought I'd share it with you:

Stats really can be fun...

I attended the Richard Wiggers talk this morning (February 8th), and I have to say that I was most pleasantly surprised by the presentation. The outline describing the presentation led me to the Tim Horton's line-up for a second dose prior to the 10 am start, but as Dr. Wiggers began by describing the research that his organization (HEQCO) has undertaken, it became evident that we were all going to learn a lot from what he had to say - even if the statistics and research primarily focused on Ontario PSE institutions - the information was easily transferable to our province. On top of the compelling Canadian research we were able to learn about, Wiggers entertained us with a laid back style, mixed with some of his personal experiences that left me grinning on more than a few occasions.

There were many great takeaways from the talk this morning. One idea born out of the talk that I plan to undertake is to find out more information about the "kind" of students we currently interact with in Science. In turn, I hope to find out who the students are that we need to do a better job of reaching, informing, and helping.

This is another example of our Vice-Provost (Students) bringing in an excellent speaker to the U of M and inviting the Advisor Exchange to take part. If you attended the talk this morning, I would encourage you to send Susan a note of thanks for once again including us in another excellent PD opportunity.

What did you think about the talk? Are you going to take any action as a result of what you heard? Please share here...