Changes Ahead: Supporting your College Student
By: Jill Culley, Center for Student Academic Success, Academic Advising and Assistance
In just more than a month, our advisors here in the Academic Advising and Assistance office, in tandem with our partners in the Center for Student Academic Success, will welcome your students to campus for New Student Orientation! We are so excited to finally put faces to the names we’ve come to know well on paper through their course scheduling process.
The Center for Student Academic Success (CSAS) comprises three different areas that all work to support your student before they arrive and during their time at Gonzaga. Academic Advising & Assistance creates your student’s first semester schedule (more info about this process follows below), and while they are here, we provide academic support with advising and guidance to help students who may find themselves struggling academically at any point in their career here. The Disability Access office helps to provide reasonable accommodations for students with documented learning differences or medical conditions that impact their access to education. Students can request accommodations at any time, though we encourage students to put these in place as early as possible. The third area of CSAS supports students after they’ve started at Gonzaga. Learning Strategies Management provides free peer tutoring, coaching, and learning support through workshops or one-on-one sessions with a professional, as well as coordinates the use of an all-access Testing Center. To learn more about the Center, please visit www.gonzaga.edu/csas, or drop by during New Student Orientation. We are located in Foley Library, and would love to meet our new families! Continue reading to learn more specifics about your student’s schedule.
Your Student’s Schedule: A common question we receive from students and families alike is, “Why do you create schedules for your students’ first semester?” Academic Advising is committed to supporting our students as they pursue their academic success. Getting the best possible start on their education gets students on the right path, from the beginning. Advisors work closely with Deans and Department Chairs in the months leading up to enrollment to ensure each new student gets the courses he/she needs in their first semester, to be on track for their 4-year graduation. As experts in the realm of Gonzaga’s more than 75 academic majors and programs, we know what each student needs in their first semester, and how best to prepare them for whatever their academic journey may be, from Biology to History, Special Education to Business, and especially guidance and direction for those Undecided.
Your Student’s Part – the Academic Interest Survey: After your student was admitted and confirmed for fall 2016, your student took an online Academic Interest Survey, which provides us with answers to specific questions regarding their intended major, comfort level in certain types of classes, placement questions for Mathematics, English and Foreign Language, and any academic concerns he or she may have. Based on this information, we build schedules that meet Gonzaga University’s core, as well as requirements in specific majors. Undecided students will take core classes and introduction courses for which they’ve expressed interest. Schedules are built during the months of June and July, and adjustments are made for earned college, Advanced Placement, or International Baccalaureate credit earned, before schedules are released to students August 1st. Schedules will be in a state of flux up to this date, and likely will change, as we work to accommodate the scheduling needs of all of our students.
Schedule Changes: Some of our incoming students will be perfectly happy with their schedules – this is what we are striving for. Other students may have minor schedule change requests due to work or life challenges, while others may have completely changed their minds about what they wish to study (it happens!). Advising conversations, including schedule changes, can be made in these situations, but there are some limitations.
Here are a few guidelines for how the advisors in AAA will help your student make changes, and how you can help with conversations leading up to these:
- Due to limited course availability and space, we will not make schedule changes based on a student’s preference of time or professor. As an incoming freshman, it is common to have both early morning classes and/or late afternoon or evening classes. We have registered your student for the courses he or she needs to fulfill core requirements, and this is our first priority. Please have a conversation with your student about their schedule needs, versus their wants, and the difference.
- Federal Law prohibits us from having conversations about a student’s academics with anyone other than the student. Therefore, we can only take schedule change requests directly from the student, whether over the phone, by email, or in person. As a parent, if you have a question about your student’s schedule, please have your student contact us and relay this information to you. This is a great way to practice the conversations we hope you will have with your student, once they are here. Open communication between student and parent is your best way to be involved in your student’s academics.
- Everything we have enrolled your student for will count towards their graduation requirements. If your student thinks we have enrolled them for a course they believe they earned credit for, encourage them to talk with us! We will answer any questions they may have, make clarifications, and if necessary, can adjust their schedules.
- Encourage time management and organizational skills with your student. Have a discussion about their schedule, their anticipated study habits, and suggest they create a schedule to follow. Lack of time management can be one of the greatest barriers to a student’s academic success, especially without mom or dad there to keep them on task. Get them ready with a plan before they enter, then check in with them periodically to see how they are doing. Encourage adjustments if their plan isn’t working, and remember that college will be much different from the rigor of their high school courses. Adjustments should need to be made as a result. If your student needs help, encourage them to come to the Center for Student Academic Success, Foley Library 122.
- Asking for help is hard to do, but is paramount to your student’s success. Encourage your son or daughter to talk with professors during office hours, to seek campus resources when needed, and to follow suggestions of mentors and peers. There are many resources at your student’s disposal, but they must learn to seek them out.
We look forward to working with your student through their time at Gonzaga. Until then, enjoy the rest of your summer with your new college student, and start having those conversations now.