Direct Admit Program

Identify your DA Population: Use the Curricular Apps' Direct Admit List(s) at https://curriculum.college.indiana.edu/apps/index.html to identify directly 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 18, 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 direct admits to the meeting(s) using the DA 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, directly 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 Direct Admit 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 DA 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
• HPPLC 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

Beginning fall, the College will place a V03 Academic Advising hold on all new direct admits to the College. This hold will work the same way as the current hold on new transfer students and will prevent registration for spring until removed. In part, the new advising hold for direct admits is a response to the IUB 2030 Strategic Plan. One of the success metrics for Goal 1 of the Strategic Plan (IUB will provide an exceptional academic experience for all undergraduate students and uniquely prepare them for the careers of the future) is to “[i]ncrease annually the percentage of students who meet with an academic advisor at least once a semester.” The new hold is also intended to proactively address the increasing rate of academic difficulty among our first-year students. Finally, and most importantly, the advising hold is intended encourage early engagement with academic advising and an initial conversation about each student’s academic and life goals.

In order to manage the increased demand for academic advising likely to result from the new hold, it is important to establish the expectation that direct admits (and new transfer students) will make an appointment to meet with a College advisor early in their first semester at IUB. These meetings 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.