2013-2014 Meeting Minutes

October 2013

Meeting Date: 

October 16, 2013

ACA Monthly Meeting

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

SAC Ballroom North

 

8:15      Breakfast

Matthew Haynes, ACA Vice-President, leads the meeting. He welcomes members and speakers to the meeting and gives a special thanks to the McCombs School of Business for hosting.

8:30      Welcome

Rob Poynor, ACA President

Rob offers his thanks to ACA Exec and McCombs. He calls for ACA to have an awareness of its impact. He shares personal stories from meeting Lovelys Powell and Jo Anne Huber and of coming to Texas from Arkansas, encountering new traditions and values. He discusses the inspiration he received from David Foster Wallace’s graduate address at Kenyon College, in which Wallace says that people have two choices: to resort to their default mode or to engage meaningfully with others. Rob challenges ACA members to engage meaningfully and bring the same energy to each meeting with a student. Rob asks members to think about how students change the world, and, by extension, how advisors change the world. He thanks ACA members for their work with students and for participating in ACA.

8:40      Katie Stephens

Katie first speaks about the new Business website for nonbusiness majors (http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/nonbusinessmajors). The website offers a choose-your-own-adventure style format for students to explore the various business programs. Second, she speaks about the Master of Science in Finance Program (MSF). She discusses advantages of MSF, description of MSF students by major (currently 20% of MSF students are UT alumni), key admission requirements and the graduate select admissions option, and contact information.

8:45      Keri Ledezma

Keri speaks about the Master in Professional Accounting Program. It is a one year program ranked the #1 graduate accounting program in the U.S. Accounting is relevant to many people, as it is the language of business. She discusses curriculum, careers, placement, admissions (it is fall admission only), application checklist, and contact information.

8:55      Hillary Patterson

Hillary speaks about MSIROM: Business Analytics. This program is new; it started this year with 52 students. She discusses why the program developed, what makes the program different (it is the only STEM-certified program in Business), who enrolls, makeup of the class of 2015, curriculum, and contact information.

9:05      Scott Good

Scott speaks about the Master of Science in Technology Commercialization Program. He discusses program highlights (it is a one year intense program), knowledge and skills the program develops in students, curriculum, opportunities for students to compete in business plan competitions, and application requirements.

9:15       Dr. J.J. Riekenberg and Mary Lou Poloskey

J.J. and Mary Lou briefly speak about the Business Foundations Program (BFP), an undergraduate certificate program. J.J. provides an overview of what BFP is and why students should do BFP (all students need jobs, and business can benefit them no matter what the job). No application is necessary for BFP (there is open enrollment), and day and evening classes are available. Mary Lou discusses two new BFP Summer Institutes: Industry and Health Care. The courses for these institutes take place in the summer only but are available by Extension also.

9:20      Rachel Allen

Rachel speaks about the Undergraduate Real Estate Program (UREP), an undergraduate certificate program. She provides a program overview, curriculum flow chart, and bar chart of students by major in the program and discusses the rolling admissions process. Students must take FIN 320 or FIN 357 before applying to the program. UREP offers its students many career events.

9:30      John Butler

John briefly speaks about the Undergraduate Energy Management Program (UEM). He discusses the application process, curriculum, and program benefits and contact information. Students must take GEO as a prerequisite. Students take 12 hours over the summer and participate in an energy summer camp. The goal with UEM is to create a certificate similar in spirit to what Business is doing with UREP. The program is great for students who are interested in “landmen” careers.

9:35      Announcements

Matthew Haynes announces the R.O.A.D. Brown Bag Lunch taking place tomorrow at noon in Batts 5.108. This is an opportunity for ACA members to share experiences from the 2013 NACADA Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Gina Higby, FUNdraising Co-Chair, announces the goodie bags and survival kits available for purchase.

Sara Schulz, ACA Historian, announces the “30 for 30” project to commemorate ACA’s 30th anniversary. Members should send Sara member spotlights for the ACA blog.

Justin Brady announces the new Nursing advisor, Brian Losoya.

Ana Dison announces the new Women in Engineering Program advisor, Cassidy McFarland.

Rose Mastrangelo, Awards and Recognition Committee Member, announces NACADA Awards nominations. The deadline for submissions is November 22.

Lovelys Powell announces the new advisors in Business, Jay Guevara and Blake Willms.

Kristen Anton announces the new CSACC advisor, Melanie Robinson.

9:45     Meeting Ends

 

November 2013

Meeting Date: 

November 13, 2013

ACA Monthly Meeting

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Santa Rita Room, Texas Union

8:15      Breakfast

Matthew Haynes, ACA Vice-President, kicks-off the meeting. He welcomes ACA members and the speakers.

8:30      Welcome

Rob Poynor, ACA President

Rob says hello to the ACA members.

8:35      Erika Frahm

Erika speaks about The University of Texas at Austin Staff Council (UTSC). She starts by introducing herself. She has been at UT just over 10 years and previously worked in Biology. She currently oversees the CareerSmart Program. Erika then provides an overview of what UTSC does. There are 72 districts at UT to represent staff, the people “who make this place run.” UTSC conducts an all-day retreat in the summer to plan for the year ahead, focusing on what is universal, what is actionable, and what can have the biggest positive impact. UTSC currently has 5 committees: Communications, Staff Ed Benefit, Sustainability, Shared Services, and Special Projects. She asks the UTSC representatives in ACA to stand; 4 ACA members do. Erika fields questions from members and directs members with future questions to the issues forum on the UTSC website.

8:43      Emily Watson and Erin Thomas

Emily and Erin speak about the Bridging Disciplines Programs (BDP). Emily begins by introducing the BDF staff. She then provides an overview of the certificate programs and who can participate: BDP is open to all students, all majors, and the certificate programs are transcript-recognized. She gives a breakdown of student representation in BDP by college and clarifies that students must apply to BDP, so they need to have a reason for pursuing a certificate program.

Erin reviews the BDP handout, which gives an overview of the certificate programs as well as program snapshots. BDP currently has 11, soon to be 12, different certificate programs. Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies, the 2nd newest certificate program, is the only certificate program for which students can receive 2 certificates. The newest program is Public Policy. Next, she reviews the 3 eligibility requirements: 1) students should be degree-seeking undergraduates; 2) students must have a minimum of 2 semesters remaining to apply (which can be helpful for students who are thinking of doing a double major but do not have time to do a double major); and 3) students must have a 2.0 minimum GPA (although students can write a statement if their GPA will be a red flag on their application).

Emily reviews the 2 types of BDP coursework: 1) foundation courses (basics, BDP 101); and 2) stand courses (interdisciplinary, allow for specialization). BDP 101 is a one-credit hour class that introduces students to a topic, a great option for 1st and 2nd year students. Students can take BDP 101 before applying to a BDP certificate program.

BDP has 2 components: 1) coursework; and 2) Connecting Experiences. Erin discusses the Connecting Experiences aspect of BDP. Connecting Experiences focuses on experiential learning and help students integrate BDP with a major. She gives a few snapshots of what students have done for Connecting Experiences.

Emily concludes by discussing how students apply to BDP. There are 2 application deadlines per year (October and March). Students must complete an application and an essay. BDP advisors meet individually with students to review applications before the applications are submitted to the faculty panel. To get started, interested students should attend an information session (Tuesdays 11-2 and Wednesdays 3-4 in FAC 4). They should meet with an advisor and take a BDP 101. For more information, contact bdp@austin.utexas.edu or 512-232-7564. Emily and Erin field questions from ACA members.

9:09      Dr. James Henson

Dr. Henson discusses the new online Government (GOV) 310L. He explains that online GOV 310L is an opportunity to experiment with a new mode of technology and instruction. The course takes place through Canvas (utexas.instructure.com). He introduces himself; in addition to working on this online GOV 310L project, he runs the internship program in Government and runs the Texas Politics Project, which creates an open access, online Government textbook. The online course project began with online PSY 301, with Dr. James Pennebaker and Dr. Samuel Gosling. Dr. Daron Shaw and Dr. Eric McDaniel teach the online GOV 310L course. Dr. Henson pulls up the course, actually taking place at the time, to show ACA members how the class works and give them a chance to experience the class as it is happening. The idea behind online GOV 310L is to make the large classroom environment better by making available to students distinguished guest speakers, interactive activities, visual demonstrations, and materials/resources and make the class experience more personal than sitting in a large classroom. Dr. Henson explains that this class is different from other online classes in terms of quality and interactivity. The class is filmed live in the studio in between Batts and Mezes. Two sections of GOV 310L will be offered in the spring; he is not sure what will happen in the summer; in the fall, PSY 301, GOV 310L, and GOV 312 will be offered. The plan is not to make online GOV 310L and 312 the only GOV class option but to help keep the in-person GOV classes smaller. The same material for the online courses will also be turned into non-UT courses. He says that ACA members can use this information to help students re-consider going elsewhere to complete GOV 310 and GOV 312. Dr. Henson fields questions from ACA members.

9:35      Alanna Bitzel and Justin Brady, with Beth Andre

Alanna and Justin, PDD Co-Chairs, and Beth Andre, APSA Co-Chair and ACA member, speak about PDD. Justin provides an overviewof what PDD is and when it is taking place, Thursday, February 13, 2014. He asks PDD committee members to stand and be recognized. He encourages ACA members to submit proposals,explaining that the audience for the proposals is broad (academic support professionals in the Central Texas areas), and that proposals should help academic support professionals think about how to enhance their work, not simply supply information about an office/program. Alanna and Beth distribute a handout Alanna created to guide discussion. Alanna explains that the handout can help members brainstorm with the other members at their tables about potential proposal ideas.

9:47      Announcements

Curtiss Stevens, Program Coordinator, in the International Office makes 3 announcements. First, the deadline for faculty-led programs is December 1. Second, there is an International Office Open House taking place on Wednesday, November 20 from 2-5 at their new office, 2400 Nueces Street. Third, UT’s Study Abroad program has moved up in the ranks to be #2 in the country.

Emily Schroeder, FUNdraising Co-Chair, announces the FUNdraising Potluck on Wednesday, November 20 from 11:30-1:30 in GDC 2.104.

Sarah McKay, Awards and Recognition Co-Chair, announces the deadline for NACADA Awards Nominations, next Friday, November 22.

Eric Carter, ACA Holiday Party Co-Chair, announces the ACA Holiday Party in December. The committee should send out more information about the party later this week.

Sara Schulz, ACA Historian, encourages members to submit ideas for member spotlights for the ACA blog.

Jessica Hust, ACA Treasurer, reminds members to pay their dues if they have not already.

Julia Chinnock, ACA President-Elect, announces Peer Advising Advantage: Creating Meaningful Connections webinar, put on by PLAN and ROAD, taking place tomorrow, Thursday, November 14 from 1-2:30 in MEZ 1.306.

9:50 Meeting Ends

 

January 2014

Meeting Date: 

January 30, 2014

ACA Monthly Meeting
Thursday, January 30, 2014
8:15-10:00am
Glenn Maloney Room, SSB

 

8:15      Breakfast and Social Time

Sponsored by ACA

8:30      Welcome

Rob Poyner welcomed the membership back from winter break and the first 12 class days.  Noted that the By-laws are in need of some revision and more information on that will be coming soon.

8:35      Veterans Affairs Outreach & Student Veteran Services

SSB 4.104
512.471.5017

Jeremiah Gunderson, Coordinator of Student Veteran Services, spoke about their office being the “hub of a wheel,” a place for student veterans to go to help find the appropriate services and resources to connect with.  There has been an increase in the number of veterans and family members using educational benefits nationally and UT has seen a 277% increase in benefits requests since 2008.   UT has recently been ranked 2nd best school for student veterans in the nation.

The SVS office’s mission is guided by the book Those Who Have Borne the Battle: A History of America’s Wars and Those Who Fought Them by James Wright and finds it important to remember that “veterans need navigators,” having spent mush of their time in the service following orders.  The office mainly helps with:

Healthcare Concerns & Referrals
Residency Status
Job Search
VA Benefits (of any type)
GI Bill
Hazelwood Act

Jeremiah stressed that many student veterans are not aware of their office and encouraged the membership to refer any student veteran to them.  The SVS website also has lots of resources for all student veterans at any stage in their college career.

Jeffrey Moe, Student Veteran Outreach Coordinator, also spoke about the VITAL (Veteran Integration To Academic Leadership) Initiative that seeks to recognize the important skills and strengths that veterans develop and help relay those to the workplace and academic arena.  He also addressed the unique mental health concerns that student veterans face.  In a recent national survey of 525 student veterans, 46% reported some form of suicidal ideation, 34.6% reported severe anxiety, 23.7% reported severe depression and 45.6% reported symptoms of PTSD.  The final statistic is especially unique to student veterans and can cause many difficulties in the classroom environment.

Jeffrey offers individual counseling for student veterans and also works with many other offices to help them succeed, including Services for Students with Disabilities, Student Emergency Services, Student Judicial Services and many VA health care facilities.  He also coordinates with faculty and staff on professional development and consultation regarding specific issues student veterans face.

8:55      Undergraduate Writing Center

FAC 211
512.471.6222

Alice Batt, Undergraduate Writing Center Coordinator, stated that employers say writing is the top skill they are looking for in hiring.  The UWC has existed at UT for 20 years and meets one-on-one, face-to-face with 10,000 undergraduates a year.  She stressed that they are not a “fix it shop” but rather talk with students about how to improve both the specific piece they bring in but also their writing skills in general.  They do assist students will grammar, but they emphasize helping students learn to find and fix their own errors, rather than simply marking to paper for the student.

The UWC is open Mon-Fri during long semesters and summers.  They have a new online appointment scheduling feature as well as assisting students on a walk-in basis.  The center is happy to provide accommodations to students needing a distraction-free environment or extended time or other accommodations.  They are also offering a Friday afternoon workshop series, each week addressing a common issue or question students have about writing.  They also offer presentations on a number of topics.

Finally, Alice mentioned that a large number of the student workers are undergraduates and they encourage students from all disciplines to apply.  They hold an open house in October for more information on applying and then student workers take a class in the spring semester to prepare.

9:10      Archer Fellowship Program

Dareth Finn, Marketing and Alumni Relations Manager, and Rose Mastrangelo, Program Coordinator, spoke about the Archer Fellowship Program, which is part of the UT System Office of Federal Relations.  The program hosted the first cohort in Spring 2001 and now has programs for undergraduates in Fall and Spring and graduate students in Summer.  Dareth discussed the three components to the program:

Fellowship
Participants live together in townhomes
Alumni network after completion
Scholarship
Students earn 15 hours of in-residence coursework
CMS347D, CMS373D, GOV370L, GOV662L
Internship
Students complete a 40 hour/week internship
Not placed, must find their own, but Archer Center will help and support the process

The program is looking for students from all majors and political viewpoints who are interested in public policy and public service.  Eligibility requirements include:

3.0 GPA
Previous work or internship experience
Leadership experience
Upper Division standing (by time of participation)
GOV core classes completed (by time of participation)

The application deadline is in February (Feb 17this year), interviews will be conducted in early March and admissions notifications will be sent out in mid-April.  There is some funding available to help with the cost including scholarships and Financial Aid.  Students should talk with Rose if they are concerned about the financial feasibility; there is help available.

Interested students should attend an info session and start taking actions that will make themselves quality applicants (keeping up with current events, looking for work or internship experience, getting to know professors, other).

9:30      Professional Development Day

Beth Andre and Justin Brady reminded the membership about Professional Development Day coming up February 13.  The keynote speaker will be Dr. Beverly Chiodo, a professor at Texas State.  The registration information will be sent out again later today.  The registration page has all of the presentations and their descriptions for the membership to start planning which sessions they’d like to attend.  The cost is $25 to attend, which includes breakfast and lunch, and payment options can be selected when registering.

9:35      Moment of Reflection

A moment of silence was taken in remembrance of staff members we have recently lost.

9:40      Announcements

ROAD reminded the membership of the webinar to be held later today from 1-2:30pm in in BAT 5.108.

Kristen Anton announced the ACC to UT Marketplace that will be held in February.  She has sent an email looking for volunteers from each college or school to participate.  Contact her with questions.  She also introduced Sara Oaxaca, the advising intern in the Vick Center.  Sara will soon be available to meet with students who are exploring majors.

The FUNdraising Committee reminded the membership about the Meet & Greet Happy Hour on Feb 6 at Gabriel’s.  The event is designed to honor new advisors and all members are invited to attend and get to know the newer members of ACA.

Many new advisors were announced:
Yma Revuelta introduced Laura Wick, new to Engineering
Rhonda Waller introduced Thierry Kehou and Sierra Anderson, new to Study Abroad
Megan Conner introduced Anneke Chy, new to International Relations & Global Studies

9:50      Group Photo taken

Professional Development Day: Feb 13, 8:30am-3pm, SAC Ballroom; Networking event to follow at 3:30pm

Next Meeting: Mar 5, 8:15-10:00am, SAC Ballroom

 

March 2014

Meeting Date: 

March 5, 2014

ACA Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
SAC 2.412 Ballroom North

 

8:15      Breakfast

8:30      Welcome

Rob Poynor, ACA President, kicks-off the meeting. He welcomes ACA members and the speakers, giving a special thanks to the School of Nursing and the University Leadership Network for co-sponsoring the meeting. He also thanks the PDD Committee, asking committee members to stand and be recognized.

8:35      Cindy Gladstone

Cindy Gladstone, members of the Awards and Recognition Committee, announces the NACADA nominees: Alanna Bitzel for Outstanding New Advisor, Linda Mayhew for Outstanding Advisor, and UTurn for Outstanding Advising Program. She asks each nominee to stand and be recognized.

8:40      Dr. David Laude

Dr. David Laude, Senior Vice Provost for Enrollment and Graduate Management speaks about changes to registration slotting. He begins by providing an update on the four-year graduation rate, providing a brief historical look at graduate rate in the last 25 years and explaining that ACA members should adopt the perspective that four-year graduation means success. He encourages ACA members to serve as student advocates and stand up for student rights. Dr. Laude then moves on to discuss registration slotting. He argues that it is clear that the students who are closer to graduating are the ones who should sign up for classes first. He explains that, regarding priority registration, the new system will eliminate entitlements for student groups that do not need them but will preserve priority registration for those who do (e.g., students with disabilities, student athletes, ROTC, etc.). As a result, priority registration will be cut by 40%. He wraps up by discussing graduation, saying that if the university is serious about four-year graduation, then it must be serious about graduation. Starting next year, students will identify a year in advance that they will graduate, and the university will create courses for them and schedule them accordingly to help them graduate. Dr. Laude concludes by taking questions.

9:14       Dr. Linda Carpenter

Linda Carpenter, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs in Nursing, discusses recent changes in Nursing, contextualizing the changes within the growing need within the past ten years for nurses to have master’s and doctoral degrees. She reviews internal transfer, undergraduate admissions, alternate pathways to degrees, the new four-year BSN degree plan, study abroad, the honors program, technical requirements, clinical compliance requirements, and BON license eligibility. Dr. Carpenter concludes by taking questions.

9:43      Dr. Rebecca Wilcox

Rebecca Wilcox, Program Coordinator for the Office of Undergraduate Research, speaks about the office and research week. She begins by providing an overview of the office. She pulls up the website on the screen and explains that she conducts three weekly information sessions that are aimed at a broad audience. The office offers course credit to undergraduates interested in doing research and conducts one-to-one advising with students. She asks that if ACA members know of students interested in doing research to let her know so that she can reach out to them for research week or if colleges are interested in hosting an event or table for research week, April 14-18. Dr. Wilcox also mentions the Longhorn Research Bazaar happening on April 16, explaining that the deadline for submissions will be extended to at least March 17. She concludes by encouraging ACA members to contact her for more information and materials.

9:55      John Newton

John Newton from the University Leadership Network (ULN) speaks about the program. He first provides an overview of ULN: it is for students with unmet financial need who experience barriers to graduating in the four-year period. He then explains that ULN is starting an internship program that will allow students to work on campus and gain transferable skills. The internship program is an opportunity for offices on campus to receive student help at no additional cost. Each student in the internship program receives a $500 per month scholarship. John concludes by saying that will send out more information to the ACA listserv and announces that the deadline for completing a proposal to sponsor an intern is March 31.

10:00   Announcements

Gina Higby, FUNdraising Co-Chair, announces the ACA Potluck.

10:00 Meeting Ends

 

April 2014

Meeting Date: 

April 9, 2014

ACA Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
SAC 2.412 Ballroom North

8:15      Breakfast

8:30      Welcome

Julia Chinnock, ACA President-Elect, kicks off the meeting. She welcomes ACA members and the speakers, giving a special thanks to the School of Undergraduate Studies for sponsoring the meeting.  Julia also passes along a request from Services for Students with Disabilities to be proactive in getting students to request graduation accommodations soon. Linda Millstone is the contact for commencement accommodations.

8:32      Sarah McKay

Sarah McKay, Co-Chair of the Awards and Recognition Committee, is accompanied by the members of the Awards and Recognition Committee. The committee members announce the student development scholarship winners and staff development scholarship winners. Each winner receives $300. The student development scholarship winners are Maria Pudioza, Leslie Ellen Cameron, and Adeline Burke. The staff development scholarship winners are Arelis Palacios from Study Abroad, John Newton from the University Leadership Network, and Justin Brady from Engineering.

8:44      John Newton

John Newton, ULN Campus Partner Program, refers to his presentation from last month, in which he discussed the Campus Partner Program. The application deadline for departments has passed, but he asks ACA members to keep the program in mind for next year. John explains that the program has 500 new students this fall. He thanks ACA for assisting with registration and negotiating course conflicts. He says that the Campus Partner Program will override students into the required zero-hour course and asks that advisors not put students into the course themselves. John concludes by explaining that the Campus Partner Program will participate in Day One of orientation for students not participating in summer bridge.

8:59      School of Undergraduate Studies

David Spight, Assistant Dean for Advising & Career Counseling, starts off the series of speakers from the School of Undergraduate Studies (UGS). He informs ACA that this is the second year that UT will have UGS students graduating and would like us to celebrate this success by seeing those students as all of our students.

Jennifer Morgan, Senior Program Coordinator from the Dean’s Office, speaks next, describing updates to the core curriculum for the 2014-2016 catalog.

Patty Micks, Senior Program Coordinator, First-Year Experience, talks about signature courses. She states that in the fall there will be 10, 500 seats in signature courses, so there should be plenty of seats available for students. Because the UGS 302/303 signature courses are designed for first-year students, she encourages students not to wait to register for one of these courses. Any upper division student needing a signature course should contact her office directly during the first registration period so that they can be placed manually into a signature course.

Jeanette Herman, Assistant Dean for Academic Initiatives and Director of the Bridging Disciplines Programs (BDP), begins by providing a reminder that research week happening next week. She then provides an update about flags: flags for the 2014-2016 catalog are available in PDF form on the website. She also introduces Deborah Miller, the new flag petitions coordinator, who is in the office Monday through Thursday. Jeannette concludes by explaining that Emily Watson from BDP will send out an email to ACA members regarding the new 101 courses, which are good learning experiences for students who are exploring.

Hillary Procknow, Program Coordinator for the Texas Success Initiative (TSI), provides an overview of a new TSI pilot program. A zero-hour course will be attached to RHE 306 and M 302 courses to support students in their credit-bearing courses. TSI students are students valued by the University for skills they possess (e.g., music and athletics), students in the top 7% of their graduating class in underserved high schools, and English Language Learners, students with poor test-taking skills, etc. She alerts ACA members that all TSI students have received communication from the TSI office and must meet with a TSI advisor. Zach Ward is the Academic Advisor.

Phaedra White, Senior Program Coordinator, Longhorn Scholars Program, Discovery Scholars Program, explains that the first year with the new Discovery Scholars Program is wrapping up, and the program will support students throughout their time at UT. She clarifies that Longhorn Scholars, which is no longer accepting new students, but still exists to support the Longhorn Scholars who have not yet graduated. Phaedra also describes the President’s Achievement Scholars Enrichment Scholarship. The application deadline was April 1, 2014. This is a $1500 scholarship that only first year students can access for students with high academic records at their high school and financial need; the scholarship money can be used toward internships, research, or study abroad.

9:33      Arthur Allert

Arthur Allert, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programsfor the Red McCombs School of Business, along with Leah Miller,Director of Academic Services, describe the upcoming online offerings of Business Foundations Program (BFP) courses. BFP will begin by offering a web-based Business Law, LEB 320F, course. BFP will eventually have an online section for all courses, but will not replace face-face classes. There will be an online and face-face for all courses. All online courses will count toward the BFP certificate program.

9:41       Robert Prentice

Robert Prentice, Chair of the BGS Department, provides an overview of Business, Government and Society (BGS), the newest department in the Red McCombs School of Business. He describes course offering and degree requirements.

9:49      By-Laws and Election Updates

Julia explains to ACA members that the ACA Executive Committee proposed changes, mostly minor, to the bylaws and submitted to the Advisory Council for review. The Advisory Council provided feedback, and the Executive Committee revised. The changes primarily involve updates to officer titles as well as allowing graduate students to become members of ACA. Julia will submit the proposed changes to the membership for review, and ACA will vote on in May.

Julia also explains that Alanna will send out an email to the membership soliciting nominations for officers. Elections will take place at the May meeting.

9:53      Announcements

Regina Hughes announces the Business Foundations Summer Institute, which takes place June 2 through July 31, 2014. Applications are still being accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Tuition for the program is due by May 1, 2014.

Sara Schulz informs ACA members that she is tantalizingly close to having 30 member spotlights for the “30 for 30” blog initiative and encourages members to submit profiles.

10:00 Meeting Ends

 

May 2014

Meeting Date: 

May 14, 2014

ACA Monthly Meeting

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Welch 3.502

 

1:00      Ice Cream

New Student Services (NSS) sponsors the afternoon snack.

1:05      New Student Services

Soncia Reagins-Lilly, Dean of Students, from NSS, welcomes ACA members and thanks ACA for having NSS to speak at the meeting. She introduces the speakers from NSS: Rosie Garza, Senior Administrative Associate; KJ Harris, Interim Co-director of Operations; Kyle Clark, Interim Co-Director of Programming; Esmer Bedia, Senior Coordinator; and Alex Kappus, Coordinator.

Kyle discusses the orientation theme, “Longhorn State of Mind,” and explains that the university core values are central to the opening orientation session. He then provides an unofficial update on major changes to orientation. Beginning in summer/fall 2015, freshmen wanting to transfer out of their admitted college will be able to do so. Students can discuss major changes with their advisor at orientation.

Next, KJ reviews the summer orientation schedule and pre-orientation modules. He provides an overview of the freshman and transfer orientation dates as well as the six pre-orientation modules that all students must complete.

Esmer describes the three-day freshman orientation schedule at-a-glance.

Alex describes the transfer orientation schedule at-a-glance and discusses the emphasis on engaging the class of 2018.

The group takes questions from the membership. Members ask about ALEKS requirements, location of the orientation sessions, content of the wing meetings, entry into UGS, and ways to incorporate “Longhorn State of Mind” in college orientation sessions.

1:40      Alanna Bitzel

Alanna, ACA Secretary and Nominations Chair, facilitates the ACA 2014-2014 Executive Officer elections. She explains that she will send out a ballot to all members in good-standing (i.e., dues-paid) to vote on all Executive Officer positions that have multiple candidates as well as the proposed changes to the bylaws. The text of all candidate speeches will also be posted on the ACA blog. She asks members who do not receive a ballot to get in touch with her.

Alanna then brings candidates up by Executive Officer position to give speeches. She begins with President-Elect. The three candidates for President-Elect are Kayla Ford, Noe Gonzales, and Matthew Haynes. Gina Higby and Emily Schroeder run un-opposed for co-Vice President. Josh Barham runs un-opposed for Treasurer. Lovelys Powell runs un-opposed for Secretary. Sarah McKay runs un-opposed for Historian. Eric Carter runs un-opposed for Communications Coordinator.

Alanna asks for a motion for members to accept the candidates for the un-opposed positions as the winners. Nathan Vickers makes a motion to accept the candidates. Multiple ACA members second the motion.

2:08      Sarah McKay

Sarah, Awards and Recognition Co-Chair, announces the winners of the NACADA awards. Alanna Bitzel won for Outstanding New Advisor, Linda Mayhew won for Outstanding Advisor, and the U-Turn program won for Outstanding Advising Program.

Sarah then announces the ACA Advising Award deadline, 5:00 pm on Friday, May 30, 2014. She encourages members to take the time to nominate and write a statement for a colleague.

2:10 Announcements

Kayla Ford, a representative on the university Staff Council, announces an event taking place at 3:30 pm on Tuesday, May 27, 2014 in the Avaya Auditorium; Mary Knight will speak on how funds are allocated at the university. The event can count as elective credit for the CareerSmart Program. Kayla encourages members to attend.

Sara Schulz announces that she is leaving the university in seven days. She has ten blog posts left to hit the 30 benchmark for the “30-for-30” series, and encourages members to submit blog posts.

Justin Brady announces that Lavender Graduation is taking place at 4:00pm today, May 14, 2014, in the SAC ballroom and encourages members to participate. After the graduation is an event from 5:30-6:30pm at the alumni center that is hosted by the LGBTQA Alumni Chapter.

2:15 Meeting Ends