DEGREEWORKS TRAINING FOR ACADEMIC ADVISORS by PaulaBorras

DEGREEWORKS TRAINING FOR ACADEMIC ADVISORS AT KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY

Course created by the LeadHers Team

25 April 2023

ANALYSIS SUMMARY

CLIENT INTRODUCTION

The Norman J. Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences Undergraduate Advising Center (RCHSS UAC) at Kennesaw State University has been instrumental in changing the modality of academic advising from paraprofessional student advisors to professional advisors within the past seven years.

UAC is the largest advising unit working with the largest college, RCHSS, at Kennesaw State University. The UAC works with a total of twenty-three unique majors, spread across nineteen academic advisors. One objective the UAC advisors work on each semester is a graduation review, to help students check if they are “ on track” for graduation. An advisor completes a review of students with ninety or more credit hours within the advisor's purview using the software DegreeWorks, which shows the requirements a student has already completed, the classes and credit hours in progress, and the requirements, classes, and credit hours that are needed to complete the degree. In previous years, this review has been completed via a word document, but the Director of the Undergraduate Advising Center would prefer to utilize the DegreeWorks “Plans” system function, which allows for integrated graduation plans within the software.

LeadHers is an instructional design agency based in northern Georgia that uses their shared knowledge of the ADDIE method and commitment to human-centered design in helping clients with their training needs. Our diverse educational and professional experiences allow our team to approach each design project in an informed yet creative way while always keeping the client's needs as our top priority. LeadHers serves clients both locally and remotely, no matter their field or industry.

LEADHERS TEAM

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

PURPOSE STATEMENT

The purpose of this training is to help Academic Advisors implement comprehensive graduation planning using an online platform for the advisor's population of students, who have completed 90 or more credit hours.

INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS

BLOOMS TAXONOMY

LEARNER AUDIENCE PROFILE

Learner Group

The learner group is 19 Academic Advisors in the Norman J. Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences Undergraduate Advising Center

Within the learner group, there are 4 subgroups based on majors

Characteristics

Average Age: 32

Age Range: 22 to 55

79% of the learners are female, 21% of the learners are male

All learners have at least a bachelor's degree

Average Level of Education: master’s degree

79% of the learners are Caucasian, 21% of the learners are African American

English is the primary language

Numbers

There are a total of 19 learners, but these learners break into 4 smaller groups based on majors they work in:

4 people work with History, History Education, Journalism and Emerging Media, Media and Entertainment, Organizational and Professional Communication, Philosophy, Public Relations

4 people work with African American Studies, Asian Studies, Criminal Justice, English, English Education, Modern Language and Culture, and Sociology

5 people work with Anthropology, Interactive Design, Interdisciplinary Studies, International Affairs, Geography and Geospatial Sciences, Political Science, and Technical Communication

6 people work with Psychology

LEARNER AUDIENCE PROFILE

Location

The location of the learning environment depends on the modality of the training.

If the learning is via Instructor Led Training, the learning environment will be a classroom at Kennesaw State University. The 19 learners will train together for the common graduation requirements and break into their smaller groups to discuss their individual majors. Online training will be offered asynchronously via Kennesaw State University’s learning management system by the deadline created by the Director of the Undergraduate Advising Center. Learners can take the course on their work or home computers.

Experience

Average time on the job is 3 years; with the range from 1 month to 7 years Approximately 58% of the learners have completed graduation plans previously, but not via on online platform

Attitude

Continued employment is a motivation, but the primary motivation is to help their students successfully graduate within 4 years. The learners are generally accepting of using computers and new ideas Additional training in this subject is helpful to advisors who have worked at the Center for less than 2 years, but the learners with experience of more than 2 years do not feel the need to complete the training unless mandated

Skills Related to Delivery Mode

Knowledge of how to use a computer is required

Knowledge of the DegreeWorks software is required

Knowledge of the Navigate software is required

REQUIRED RESOURCES

INSTRUCTOR LED TRAINING

REQUIRED RESOURCES

INSTRUCTOR LED TRAINING

REQUIRED RESOURCES

ONLINE TRAINING

REQUIRED RESOURCES

ONLINE TRAINING

PROBABLE DELIVERY SYSTEM

Option A – Instructor Led Training: 8-hour training

The instructor-led training will consist of reviewing each of the sections (State Legislative, General Education, and Major Requirements) in degree management software, DegreeWorks, the advisors need to know when creating a graduation plan for the advisor’s assigned student group. This review will involve activities and interactions. Advisors will engage in discussion about example experiences and best practices for creating a graduation plan. The advisors will be asked to fill out a sample graduation plan by hand for a student in their specific major breakdown (a straightforward example for new advisors and a challenging example for advisors with more than 2 years of experience) and within their smaller advising group, discuss the positives and improvements to the plan. Within the smaller groups, they will be asked to develop a graduation plan based on a provided real-life scenario. The small group will explain their scenario and their graduation plan suggestions to the large group. The instructor will guide the advisors through a sample graduation plan on the “Plan” function in DegreeWorks and explain the software usage. Team Leads will discuss best practices for creating an online graduation plan. Each advisor will be provided with a student to create a sample online graduation plan and review the plan with their small group. The training will close with a post-assessment to review the advisor's knowledge about the degree requirements and how to access the graduation plan on DegreeWorks as well as an evaluation of the training day.

PROBABLE DELIVERY SYSTEM

Option B – Online Asynchronous Training: 2 hours

The advisors will be enrolled in the training course within Kennesaw State University’s learning management system, Desire to Learn (D2L). All materials and training modules will be available online at the advisor's own pace, with self-assessments to check learning. Advisors are expected to complete the training within the first month of the Fall semester. The learning modules will contain activities, scenarios, and practice examples focusing on each of the degree requirements. The advisor will branch into their specific major requirements to list and analyze their degree requirements and practice common scenarios provided by the experienced advisors during the analyze phase. The advisor will view a video walkthrough of the DegreeWorks “Plan” function as well as an interactive activity to learn more about the software. The advisor will have the ability to review previous learning sections as needed. The advisor will complete a graduation plan and it will be reviewed by the Director. The advisor will be asked to review the training based on its functionality and knowledge applications.