Advising Undecided Students: Personalized Services To Support The Decision-Making Process

Description  Overview "There are so many factors that play into why students are coming to college as "undecided." It isn't just because they can't decide what to study; much of it has to do with societal pressures to obtain a college degree and the hundreds of majors from which students can choose. Keep in mind that most careers don't require students have a degree in something specific." ~ The University of ArizonaIn this interactive webinar, we will explore the characteristics of undecided (undeclared/open/exploring) college students, discuss the advising challenges unique to this population as well as how to overcome them, and provide evidence-based best practices for helping these students with the decision-making process and thus retaining them to graduation. We will also explain the various roles that all members of the campus community can play in responding to the advising needs of undecided students. Moreover, we'll examine successful programs and initiatives from across the nation that are currently being used to respond effectively and cost-efficiently to the advising needs of undecided students – and how these programs and initiatives can be adapted to a variety of higher education environments. Equal emphasis will be placed on helping both institutions, as well as individual students, achieve their mutually-complementary objective: graduation and job placement. Objectives Review the general characteristics of undecided college students, with an emphasis on their advising needs Review the general characteristics of undecided college students from various subpopulations including first generation, veteran, minority, LGBTQIA, rural, urban and suburban, lower socioeconomic, transfer, international, immigrant, and nontraditional Investigate the role of leadership in identifying and responding to the advising needs of undecided college students Conduct a needs analysis to determine how well their institution is doing at identifying and responding to the advising needs of undecided college students Discuss what can be done before undecided college students arrive on campus, including how to partner with elementary, middle and secondary schools to achieve the best possible outcome for these students concerning their advising needs Assess and anticipate the evolving advising needs of undecided college students about academic preparation, social integration, mental and emotional health considerations, and financial support Investigate the available platforms and applications that can be used to facilitate the process of career exploration and academic advising with undecided college students Explore evidence-based best practices in coordinating comprehensive retention initiatives related to academic advising for undecided college students Examine mechanisms for keeping everyone at the institution on the same page concerning meeting the advising needs of undecided college students Critique real-life examples of effective and ineffective ways of responding to the advising needs of undecided college students Who Should Attend Academic Advising and Retention Career Services/Career Center Orientation and Advising Admissions and Recruitment Enrollment Management Alumni Affairs/Placement Services Academic Affairs/Advising Faculty Student Services/Affairs Registrar Student Financial Assistance Any educator interested in learning more about advising undecided students