College of Science Office of Student Services Mission

Mission of the Office

• Improve recruitment and retention
• Provide support for mandatory advising to insure that requirements are met and programs followed to ensure timely graduation
• Provide support for student choices in selecting career tracks
• Improve record keeping, database management, and gather data for assistance in curriculum development and assessment efforts
• Work in tandem with the Associate Dean to improve the application package for professional and graduate school applications
• Track students and exert concerted effort toward early attention to circumstances that hamper student success
• Serve as the line of communication for all matters requiring mass mailings, targeted student groups, and future students
• Assist in the development and maintain of literature for programs, departments, and the college
• Serve as the starting point for solution of student problems or expression of student concerns

Services for Students

• Answer questions about the College of Science and University policies
• Provide information on graduation requirements
• Assist in selection of courses toward graduation
• Remove mandatory advising holds
• Provide information on academic programs in science
• Provide information on careers in science
• Coordinate assignment of faculty career advisors
• Coordinate mandatory academic advising for all four years with career advising by faculty career advisors
• During each advising visit examine progress toward graduation in order to increase probability of graduation in eight semesters without accumulation of excessive coursework above the 128 hours required for graduation
• Advise pre-science students attempting to garner admission to CoS who were formerly advised by University College
• Insure that Pre-Health Care students in developing a schedule that enables them to complete the required Science Block before they take the MCAT, OAT, PCAT, or other admission exams
• Collect information and documentation for the CoS database to be used in writing a more personal and tailored cover letter of recommendation for our applicants to professional schools
• Assist students in obtaining overloads (where appropriate)
• Provide required college and university forms
• Assist with add/drop through the end of the add drop period
• Provide information and warnings about probation and suspension
• Advise probationary students and assist in the development of a schedule for returning suspended students
• Prepare academic improvement plans and assist in the coordination of academic progress of probationary students to good standing
• Contact probationary students to adjust schedules to a maximum of 14 hrs by selecting courses to be selected for required drop
• Submit administrative withdrawals to the Associate Dean (e.g. students who enroll in the second course of a sequence without making C or better in the first)-A standing list of courses to be analyzed will be established with help from Chairs
• Maintain and manage the online advising website resulting in real time answers to questions posed by students during the five day work week
• Assisting with New Student Orientation
• Refer students to counseling when needed (mental, health, personal, financial) by the proper university office
• Teach UNI 101

Student Recruitment

• Prepare, maintain, and duplicate recruiting brochures for the college and departments
• Maintain a recruitment prospect list
• Reply to e-mail inquiries to the CoS page asking for information on programs and careers
• Participate in telephoning opportunities for student recruitment held by admissions
• Send recruitment literature to targeted populations of graduating seniors both within WV and out of state

Student Retention

• Provide encouragement in achieving academic success
• Track students for graduation in order to identify problems early that can be corrected in order for the student to graduate in four years
• Based on reports from faculty of students with poor attendance students will be contacted and advised to drop by the drop date rather than receive F and to follow up with a meeting to identify strategies for success
• Early intervention and intrusive advising of students referred by faculty, identified from the mid-term D/F list, or identified in the CoS Database who are not yet on probation but whose GPA falls below 2.2  through direct contact and development of a staged plan for academic improvement
• Refer students to tutoring services in BSC, MTH, and University College
• Contact non-returning students in summer who are not registered for fall to encourage them to finish the degree
• Contact suspended students who are eligible to resume their education to return and finish the degree
• Contact students eligible for academic forgiveness (5 yrs after leaving the institution with poor grades)

Services for Faculty

• Take care of academic advising details
• Cooperate and coordinate with the Faculty Career Advisors
• Provide materials to use when giving students career advising
• Compile "failed prerequisite" lists at request of faculty, and contact affected students to informed hem they will be dropped
• Contact students enrolled in closed classes to arrange for them to drop and add to another class

Services for Academic Departments

• Track graduates during year 1 and year 5 following graduation to provide data for five-year program reviews
• Administer exit questionnaires to students who leave the COS
• Compile student profile data
• Summarize student evaluations, on request
• Update and publish brochures
• Assist with updating and designing COSSS and Pre-Health Care websites
• Maintain the COS online calendar on the COS Website

Assessment Services

• Develop assessment tools to improve services
• Collect data for annual assessment reports, on request from chairs or faculty assessment specialist
• Collect data for program reviews, on request from chairs and faculty assessment specialists
• Maintain an assessment program for COS advising to be used in ten-year accreditation review

College

• Represent college and university at recruiting and promotional events
• Provide relief at the front desk in Dean's office when the receptionist is absent
• Meet and greet future students and their parents