ACTION PLAN - University of Ulster

What can we do?
Get other departments and individuals on campus to provide what CASS is now
providing.
Continuous Counseling and Advising:
What are we doing?
!Provide a student intake.
!Meet with students a minimum of twice a semester for advising and check up.
!Use an intake form with over 75 counseling issues that can be marked.
!Have an open-door policy on seeing students if available.
!Do brief counseling as needed for our undeclared students
!Use referrals to appropriate facilities if more intensive counseling is needed.
!Send absence letters to students during the semester.
!Send letters to students in academic jeopardy at semester end and congratulation letters
for good work.
!Provide a career intake form to evaluate student progress.
Current Research/Information:
At many colleges, advising is offered until 6 or 6:30 at night. This allows non-traditional
students time to get advised if they work or have children. At another college, they
provide transfer students with a transfer student checklist online. It is a handy
information sheet to allow transfer students to easily check the information they need.
The other information found was on a center that housed advising, counseling, testing,
etc. in one place.
What can we do?
Suggestions: We are doing all that is necessary in this area except that we take too much
time away from our students with meetings and added duties that are not our
responsibility. Our worry is that with our increased student loads and more and more
duties that we may lose sight of our ultimate goal....to give our students open door service
with times that are convenient for them. We could also compile a comprehensive
academic advising handbook and offer advising suggestions to faculty as invited to do so.
Extended hours for non-traditional students would show that we value them.
Discussions Regarding Personal Responsibility(Locus of Control) in dealing with
sexuality, substance abuse, suicide, divorce, rape, wellness, stress, and relationships:
What are we doing?
!All of the above subjects are addressed in our Freshman Year Seminar (FRYS 101).
!Workshops have been provided on alcohol, stress, and relationships.
!Referrals to the Activity Center for more in depth wellness information.
!Undeclared students tour the activity center in FRYS.
!The intake form that students complete before meeting with a counselor covers all of
these subjects as areas of concerns.
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