New Students

Identify your new students: Use the Curricular Apps' Direct Admit List(s) at https://curriculum.college.indiana.edu/apps/index.html to identify newly admitted students in your department(s).

Overall Goal: To establish a positive connection with students and demonstrate your accessibility and commitment to supporting their academic success. 

Planning: Friday, August 23, 8:00-11:00 a.m., is set aside for group advising meetings in the Welcome Week calendar. Meetings typically run about an hour, but can be longer if there is an extensive program. 

Meetings may be in-person or remote. If your department is planning an in-person meeting, it is advised to reserve space well in advance. Information presented in the meetings should be available to students in an asynchronous format. 

Invite your new students to the meeting(s) using the New Student Meeting Invitation Email Template. You may choose to include new transfer students as well.

Some departments may use this as a chance to introduce faculty and may want to include some form of hospitality. Hospitality funds are not available from the College for this. 

Learning Objectives: By the end of the meeting, newly admitted scholars should be able to:

• Identify their academic advisor(s)
• Know how to schedule an advising meeting using the Student Appointment Scheduler. (SAS)
• Find information about drop/add, waitlists, and minimum credit hours to retain full-time status
• Navigate One.IU to find iGPS planning tools and their Academic Advisement Report
• Navigate the College website and Student Portal 

Agenda: While timing, visual aids, faculty involvement, and activities will vary by department, please address the following information. This information, and more, is covered in the New Student Handout Template

• Introductions
  • Introduce yourself and other key members of the undergraduate office (Director of Undergraduate Studies, other advisors, and office assistant, e.g.)
  • If your group is small, there may be time for brief student introductions. If the group is on the larger side, consider planning an ice-breaker activity
• Academic advising in the College
  • What do you do? (Examples: Help students identify opportunities at IU, understand major/degree requirements, plan enrollment through iGPS, and make referrals to campus support services)
  • How do you do it? (Examples: Appointments, drop-ins, individual and group emails)
  • Why do you do it? (Examples: Degree planning, on-time graduation, getting the most out of the undergraduate experience)
  • Expectations: make and keep appointments, follow through on referrals, ask for and obtain assistance when needed
  • Confidentiality of records
• How to schedule advising appointments; explain drop-in options, if any
• E-mail as the official mode of communication at IU
• College website and Student Portal
• Degree planning and progress tools accessible through One.IU
• Schedule adjustments: Drop/Add and Late Drop/Add
• Full-time status: at least 12 credit hours; avg. 15 cr. hrs./semester for graduation in 4 yrs./8 semesters. Banded tuition covers up to 40 credit hours, Fall and Spring semesters combined. This adds flexibility to enroll in pre-fall and intersession classes
• Final Exam times: recommend students check the Final Exam Schedule [link to: https://registrar.indiana.edu/calendars/exam-schedule.html] to ensure they do not have time conflicts during final exam week. Remind students of the policy regarding four or more exams scheduled for the same day.  It is the students responsibility to resolve any final exam conflicts either by coordinating with the appropriate faculty or dropping and adding classes.
• HPPLA information for new students: https://guidebook.hpplc.indiana.edu/nso-planning/new-student-orientation-planning-tools.html
• Departmental events open to freshmen; departmental or other announcements relevant to your DA population

A template for this fall’s meeting is provided here.  You are welcome to edit/copy/put into your own slide deck format or styling/etc!

Please make sure to include the information from the following slides during the Welcome Week meetings:

• Slide 3: What is Academic Advising?
  • To help us set expectations early
• Slide 5: Have a general advising question? Stop by College Drop In Advising
• Slide 15: Connect with Resources for Success!
  • This will include a new Canvas course for first year students, I will send the link out once it is live and ready!
  • Connect students early with Accessible Educational Services and tutoring.indiana.edu
• Slide 16: Coming Soon in Fall 2024!
  • Feel free to add any departmental or major specific events in August/September!

Beginning Fall 2024, all new students are expected to meet with their advisor each semester. Initial meetings with new students should be focused on the student’s academic and life goals. They may include more transactional discussions (e.g. schedule adjustments, tutoring resources, etc.), but they should not be limited to those discussions. Questions that you might want to ask include:

• What prompted their interest in their current major?
• What were their favorite subjects in high school?
• Are they thinking about adding a minor, certificate, or second major?
• Are they planning to engage with co-curricular or extracurricular activities? Which ones?
• Which class or classes are they enjoying most? Which, if any, are they concerned about?
• How are they adjusting to life on campus?

These early advising conversations will not replace enrollment planning discussions during CSR, but they will provide a richer context for those discussions. Understanding each student’s broader goals and interests will help us to guide them to courses reflecting their interests and enriching academic experiences beyond the classroom.