Annual Report 2020-2021
Centre for Academic Advising and Student Success
Contents 01 Year in Review 02 Strength in Adaptability: Mount 101 and Mount Mentors
03 Academic Advising Highlights 04 Transfer Student Support Important to Student Success
05 Learning Strategist Services 06 Right Start Program Report 07 Supplemental Instruction Recap 08 Targeted Support from the Writing Centre
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Year in Review
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With the COVID-19 pandemic surging on locally, nationally, and internationally, all CAASS services and programs remained virtual for the 2020-2021 academic year. Like our colleagues across campus, we worked eagerly from our homes to support students in this new context. Kindness, compassion, and understanding guided our work. Mount 101, MSVU’s online transition program for firstyear students, was invaluable in the shift to online learning. A new module, Exploring the Virtual Mount, and a new program, Your Virtual MSVU, were created to help students identify what to expect from online classes, how they could succeed in those classes, and how they could access support from their own homes. The virtual CAASS experienced a significant increase in student communication and acted as a key connector to other departments and services during online operations. Academic advising interactions increased by 21% over the previous academic year and 65% since the CAASS opened in August 2018. Additionally, CAASS staff members participated in the university-wide Personal Advisor initiative through which every undergraduate student was connected with a staff or faculty member for the year.
Regular, proactive outreach ensured all students were connected to campus and informed of valuable information and deadlines. The Mount Writing Centre introduced new targeted support in the areas of improving basic writing skills, first generation student support, creative writing, and increasing support for International students in collaboration with the International Education Centre. Learning Strategist workshops were held virtually and were adapted to reflect the online learning environment. Additionally, social media was more important than ever to engage students across our services. Tik Tok Tuesdays, an initiative launched by the Mount Mentors, was a hit. You will see some of the posts we used to connect with students throughout the year at the end of the report. In August, the CAASS team returned to campus. With COVID-19 protocols in place, we were excited to welcome students in person for the first time in eighteen months, just in time for the new academic year.
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Cindy Huelin, Transfer Student Coordinator Clare Goulet, Writing Centre Coordinator Jessica Ferguson, Academic Advisor
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Erin Tomlinson, Manager, CAASS
James Jollymore, Learning Strategist and Student Success Coordinator
Alexia Major, Admin. Assistant, CAASS
Heather Maxwell, Academic Advisor
Marisha Caswell, Transition Coordinator and Program Manager
Mount 101 and Mount Mentors
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Strength in Adaptability
5 msvu.ca/mount101
Using Mount 101 to Prepare for the Uncertainty of 2020/2021 By: Dr. Marisha Caswell The decision to offer all classes online in the Fall 2020 semester meant that students would be adjusting to a new university and unfamiliar environment, even if they had already attended MSVU. As a transition program, Mount 101 is meant to help prepare students for university, but in 2020, the question became: how could we use Mount 101 to support everyone at MSVU as they transitioned to the virtual university? To make this happen, I consulted with people across the university to identify common student concerns and to ensure that I had correct information about changes to services, resources, and supports for students. I compiled this information and used it to develop a new module for Mount 101 (Exploring the Virtual Mount) and a new program (Your Virtual MSVU), which was designed to support all students as they transitioned to studying online during the 2020/2021 academic year. Both Exploring the Virtual Mount and Your Virtual MSVU contained information that helped students identify what to expect from online classes, how they could succeed in those classes, and how they could access support from the comfort of their own homes. For many students, knowing what to expect decreased a lot of the anxiety they had about studying online. As one student commented, “I had no idea how I was going to be doing online classes or how they worked and now I feel more comfortable with the platform.” These programs also gave us a chance to highlight the extensive work that faculty members undertook to develop an effective online class.
DID YOU FIND THIS PROGRAM USEFUL? No 9 (6%)
No 58 (11%)
Yes 130 (94%)
Yes 448 (89%)
Your Virtual MSVU
Exploring the Virtual Mount
Responses 139 (21% Response rate)
Responses 506 (64% Response rate)
It minimized many of the worries that I previously had about online learning. I now feel a lot more secure and confident that I can succeed in my courses in September.
If I had any questions before reviewing these pages, they were answered by the end!
Virtual MSVU helped ease some of the worries I had about beginning a full load of courses online.
As other universities across Canada were struggling to build online orientation programming from scratch, MSVU was able to use the structure found in Mount 101 to build a strong program that helped prepare students for the uncertainty of the academic year.
Mount Mentors
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Working as a team of six, the Mount Mentors provided support and advice to over 700 students and engaged with students studying across the globe. In addition to their regular targeted outreach, the Mount Mentors also developed programming designed to foster a connection with campus for students whose first year at MSVU was online.
Virtual Mystics Communities With the Virtual Mystics Communities, online didn’t mean alone! Participants in the six groups had a chance to meet students who shared similar interests at virtual events and workshops hosted by the Mount Mentors throughout the year.
Social Media The Mount Mentors developed a new series, TikTok Tuesdays and revamped our existing Mentor Monday video series to answer common questions and highlight resources for students. “They give great information and you can put a face to the mentors so you’ll feel comfortable reaching out.”
Virtual Crow’s Nest To provide MSVU students with a space to participate in student life online, Mount 101 and Campus Recreation created the Virtual Crow’s Nest. The Mount Mentors used this space to host workshops, movie nights, and drop-in sessions throughout the year.
My first year at the Mount was amazing. Although I did not experience the ‘full college experience’ that everyone talks about, the mentors along with Mount 101 made me feel like I did experience the joy of being a freshman.
Academic Advising
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Academic Advising Highlights Advising Workshops • Online Academic Advising Webinar for International Students • Declaring your Major, Minor and Concentration Webinar • Academic Advising for the Winter Semester Webinar • Early Advising and Registration, in collaboration with Recruitment and Registrar’s Offices • Summer Academic Advising Webinar
Since the inception of the CAASS in August 2018, academic advising appointments/interactions have increased by 65%. 21%
increase in academic advising interactions/appointments this year 3,429 interactions/appointments in 2020-2021 over 2,847 the previous academic year
Top Three Reasons for Appointments:
Academic Standing Statistics
1. Course Selection and Scheduling
• Of the students (73) who would have been placed on Academic Probation or Suspension who returned to MSVU in Fall 2020, 40% (29) increased their GPA to good standing category.
2. Program Planning 3. General Questions
msvu.ca/advising
• While the academic standing policy was not enforced again in 2020-2021, we found that the number of students who would have been placed on Academic probation or suspended is similar to precovid statistics. • Three sections of UNIV 0001, the University Student Success course, were offered and enrollment was voluntary. Forty-six students enrolled in the course.
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Transfer Student Coordinator
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Transfer Student Support Important to Student Success Anytime I had any questions, Cindy was always right there to help me solve any problems. She was able to guide me through which courses I need to take and when would be best to take them for when I wanted to graduate. “It was nice to know that someone was always there no matter what questions I had.
Amy MacDonald, CHYS Transfer Student
During my years at the Mount, I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of Cindy. She guided me every step of the way, and I am very thankful to her for helping me through this time.
When the Covid 19 pandemic hit, Child and Youth Study transfer student, Amy MacDonald, was already familiar with online learning. She’d been completing her program online since transferring to MSVU from Jane Norman College with a diploma in Early Childhood Education in 2018. Even with this familiarity, the pandemic posed a lot of uncertainties and Amy credits the strong relationship she’d built with Cindy Huelin, the Transfer Student Coordinator, as a key source of support during the pandemic and throughout her studies. As the Transfer Student Coordinator, Cindy helps transfer students in articulation programs from the beginning to the end of their academic journey at MSVU. She reviews applications, makes offers of admission, conducts transfer credit assessments, and provides academic advising and course planning. She also makes student referrals to other on-campus student services. It is a full-circle support model. “Transfer students coming from institutions with which the Mount has articulation agreements are in a unique position where half or nearly half of their programs are complete when they arrive at the university”, says Cindy. “They need to know right away how their transfer credits apply to degree requirements and what courses they have left to complete.”
Cindy Huelin, Transfer Student Coordinator
For Amy, having a staff member completely devoted to supporting her and other 2+2 transfer students has made a big impact. This grounding support has led Amy to a clear path as she approaches the final semester of her degree. And she credits her decision to attend MSVU as one of the reasons she secured a job at the Millbrook Early Education Center.
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Learning Strategist
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Learning Strategist Services
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The demand for Learning Strategist appointments continued in 2020-2021 with the bulk of referrals coming from Accessibility Services, Counselling Services, and faculty. Since 2018, over 700 one-on-one learning strategist appointments have been booked.
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Online workshops were offered in the Fall and Winter semesters. The topics covered were: • Time management • Studying online • Prepping for exams • Focus and concentration
msvu.ca/LS
Right Start Program
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Right Start Program Report An early alert program aimed to support students who are experiencing academic difficulties early on in the semester so they can be connected with appropriate resources and supports on campus to help them get back on track. 233 referrals were submitted from 19 Academic Departments for 171 students. Of the 233 right start referrals:
Although the number of referrals received in 20202021 was lower than in the previous two years, the academic standing and student performance outcomes were positive.
msvu.ca/rightstart
35%
achieved passing grades in the courses referred
23%
dropped the courses referred
79%
remained in the Good Academic Standing GPA category in May 2021
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Supplemental Instruction
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Supplemental Instruction Recap Supplemental Instruction is a free academic support program that provides weekly, out-of-class, peer facilitated study sessions. SI helps students improve their academic performance in historically challenging subjects. All SI sessions were offered online via Blackboard Collaborate in 2020-2021. Innovation for 2020-2021: Since each session was held online, SI sessions had Moodle pages where SI Leaders could post activities and information about their sessions, increasing SI accessibility for students.
SI sessions were offered in the following courses: • Business 2221: Introduction to Accounting I • Business 2222: Introduction to Accounting II • Chemistry 1011: General Chemistry I • Chemistry 1012: General Chemistry II • Chemistry 2401: Organic Chemistry I • Math 2208: Introduction to Statistics I • Math 2209: Introduction to Statistics II • Psychology 1110: Introduction to Psychology as a Natural Science • Psychology 1120: Introduction to Psychology as a Social Science • Psychology 2209: Research Methods
msvu.ca/SI
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Mount Writing Centre
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Targeted Support from the Writing Centre
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msvu.ca/writing
Student writing help moved online during campus closure and continued uninterrupted the core service of 1-to-1 booked hour-long appointments, 6 days a week, supporting academic work across graduate and undergraduate programs. The Centre also held online class visits, embedded tutors in courses to support faculty with undergraduate research writing, and helped promote Mount student goals beyond academic coursework: students met tutors for help with grants, program, and scholarship applications. Our 2020-21 tutors were M.A./ PhD students or teaching faculty, with Education, Sociology, Communications, and English (Writing program) backgrounds. The Mount bucked the trend of North American writing centres by maintaining close to normal usage through campus closure.
New Targeted Support: Reading Week Writing Hour
First Generation Support
The Green Room
International Students
for students who want help with basic skills and don’t know where to start. Registered participants met for an hour daily to look at specific recurring issues, practice, and engage—a total of 100+ hours of direct student engagement with writing.
Senior writing tutor, doctoral and first-gen student Hailie Tattrie developed a FirstGen Support model to offer a welcoming space for students who are the first in their family to attend university.
An online backstage creative space during campus closure to support solo writers and active student writing groups; members accessed calls for submissions & contests, writing prompts, public readings, and help; the Green Room was used by graduate and undergraduate current Mount students, and alumni.
had targeted and well-used support for extra EAL needs with graduate writing tutor Xue Bai three mornings each week all year, with additional support at the IEC.
Social Media Engagement
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advising@msvu.ca
msvu.ca/caass
+1 902 457 6657