WNCC 2010 Self-Study Report - Western Nebraska Community ...

elative to the type of degree or professional certification being sought, ranging from 12 hours for
an Associate of Applied Science degree to 33 hours for an Associate of Arts award.
Student Advising
In an effort to ensure that students complete the required courses for their degree programs,
students are given detailed advice about what courses must be taken to meet the generaleducation
and discipline-specific requirements for their programs. Normally, first-semester
students are advised by an Academic Advisor who works in the Student Services area. After
completing the first semester, students are assigned to a faculty advisor based on their interest or
proposed major. However, many students continue to go to their original advisor, since they are
comfortable with the person who got them started and have established a connection.
The relocation of the advising and support staff members to the main building at Scottsbluff was
instituted to enhance the access of students to those services because some students did not
cross the parking lot to make appointments in the Williams building; in addition, the complete
design encompasses a plan to allow advisors to become better acquainted with different academic
division instructors and courses so that particular advisors can become more familiar with specific
academic areas.
Ideally, the closer working relationship between academic advisors working in the Student Services
area and the teaching faculty members facilitated by the relocation will allow the advisor to
transition the student to the assigned faculty advisor more easily. Physical proximity allows for a
student to be escorted to a faculty member’s office, and the initial advisors can more
knowledgeably recommend faculty advisors to take over the guidance of the students’ educational
careers, having become more familiar with instructors and their specialties.
Advising is an area which the College intends to focus upon in the near future. Few students
actually transition to the faculty advisor assigned to them, and many faculty members do not feel
comfortable advising because they get little or no formal or continued training. Since research
clearly shows that faculty member-student connections are correlated with retention, a system to
improve the connections between students and instructors through advising opportunities is an
important institutional challenge to address.
As well, the most prevalent emphasis area declaration is general studies, which makes it hard to
advise students with much specificity. Although a curriculum exists which provides guidance for
electives and required courses for degree completion in general studies, it is difficult for advisors to
help students uncover their interests or ability areas in order to select elective courses. The
institution does have a Career Center at Scottsbluff, but it is difficult to get students to go there for
consultations. Students at Sidney and Alliance have access to similar services through the
Student Services representatives located at the other campuses.
Particularly in emphasis areas that have few electives because they feature strictly sequenced
coursework, faculty members who teach in the discipline field advise students from their first entry
into the school through the completion of their course of study. Examples of this type of tailored
advising can be found in the Criminal Justice studies area, Business Administration, Office
Technology, IT, and both PN and AD-N programs. Members of the Division of Business have even
created a program-specific advising handbook, just as the Division of Health Occupations’ faculty
Western Nebraska Community College Page 139