Advising Workbench sees increased student participation
Traffic on Advising Workbench software tool nearly doubled in March, allowing advisers to focus more meetings with students on career advancement instead of grade point average.
All majors and minors in the 2011-12 bulletin and after were added by the end of the fall semester.
The site had 45,215 total student hits last month from the 23,962 in February. The number of “unique hits,” which exclude multiple hits from the same account, jumped from 5,297 to 8,552.
“You don’t have to wait for your adviser to tell you that your GPA is too low for your major because you’ll know that already,” Hutslar said. “Then they can work with you on what needs to be done. We’ve heard from advisers that the conversations are more involved because the student already has so much information ahead of time so they can meet in greater depth.”
University Communications released a video last month advertising the software, which was sent out to students’ CMU email accounts.
Advising Workbench has been an ongoing project of the university since its introduction in 2013, and has evolved from an online advising tool to a means of interfacing with advisers and examining course and program changes.
“It’s not by any means meant to replace your advising sessions, but to enhance your advising sessions so that you have a clear view. When you meet with your advisers you won’t spend half your appointment figuring out where you’re at,” said University Communications Coordinator of Content Solutions Darryll Stinson. “You can dive deeper into your academic progression.”
The workbench now includes a notes tab, which stores adviser suggestions in lieu of using pen and paper to write students notes. Advisers can also recommend students to specific centers and offices, offering location and other important information through the student’s workbench page.
Faculty advisers can substitute courses for students online instead of sending a form to the Registrar’s Office. This makes the eventual audit and graduation application process more efficient, Hutslar said.
Advising Workbench recognizes when a particular course fulfills more than one requirement, which can streamline future scheduling.
“We’re reviewing everything that went through the curricular process,” Hutslar said.
Workbench also grants students the ability to take a semester-by-semester look at their academic history and gives an up-to-date list of the courses that are required for the majors, minors and programs that the students are involved in. Students can find their GPA for each semester to evaluate their academic progress or lack thereof.
Students are encouraged to report any bugs or inconveniences to administrators through the feedback link.
“It required a tremendous amount of programming and it’s extremely complex,” Hutslar said. “There’s a feedback link in the system and if students or faculty or staff advisers find an error, we want them to let us know.”
Westland sophomore Ashley Green used the workbench to change her future degree in english from a bachelor of arts to a bachelor of science in one appointment with an adviser. Green is now scheduling her audit, and encourages other students to use workbench.
“It’s my main source for planning,” Green said. “It’s a lot easier than having to pull out my bulletin. It helps being able to see everything at one time.”
Workbench can be accessed on the Central Michigan University website, and is found on the My Account page.
