The Four-Semester Plan

To start, my apologies for not writing for a while!  On October 7th, my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world, and I have been at home enjoying time with baby Andrew.  Don't worry! I have also been in touch with students and staff in the office, so things are moving along smoothly.

Before I left, I wanted to discuss "Four Semester Plans." In this blog, I will do so as it is an extremely important piece of advising during a student's semester! This entry is actually more timely than most may care to know; it's this time of the year that many students who have not seen their advisor, or have not begun working on four-semester plans, usually have trouble putting one together.  Luckily, it's a fairly easy process.

For students in their first semester at the University, academic advisors require just a few, fundamental activities:

1. Meet with his or her advisor twice during the semester
2. Complete an "Exploration Exercise"
3. Complete a "Four Semester Plan"

In this blog, I will discuss  "The Four Semester Plan," a requirement of all students in LTSC each semester. What is a "Four Semester Plan"? It's just what it sounds like--a student's academic plan that (1) displays what courses a student will take in the time they are with LTSC, and (2) a demonstration by a student that he or she understands how to contextualize academic departments' "Four Year Plans" and synthesize a schedule on their own by which a student might work into (or experience a few classes) different majors on campus.

Understanding how to complete a "Four Semester Plan" seems to give students a bit of trouble the first time around. I believe this is for a few reasons. A main reason is that for many students, it's a first try at an academic plan in which no outside person is hand holding or supplying constant feedback during its creation. Is it difficult? Not at all. At its most basic, to make a four semester plan, students simply need to locate academic department (majors) plans online and see how they might fit their own schedule to mimic what a student already in a major might be taking. I'll explain how it works below.

A. We ask that students locate the LTSC form for completing the Four Semester Plan. It's located on our website at www.ltsc.umd.edu (see below). Under the banner "LTSC Forms & Important Links" on the right side of the page is a hyperlink to the .pdf form "Four Semester Plan."

B. The second step is to print out a copy of the student's "unofficial transcript" and copy in the courses for which they are currently enrolled, or for which they have AP or transfer credit recorded, on to the plan's first semester box and in the CORE graph (see below).  An unofficial transcript can be found on Testudo:  http://www.testudo.umd.edu/apps/uotrans/.

 * A quick explanation. Each semester is denoted by a year/month code. In this case, the semester for which this student is registered is Fall 2011.  Why?  11 denotes 2011. If it is 2012, it would be 12.  The next two numbers show semester:  08= fall; 01=spring, 05= summer I; 07=summer II; 12=winter term.  In the example, it's the Fall 2011 semester, 1108.  Fall of 2013?  1308.

C. The next step is to simply fill out the form with all information required at the top, the first semester from the unofficial transcript and anything that counts as CORE! Easy!

D. In this case, we see the student wants CCJS (Criminal Justice) as his first choice of major. We'll use the "LEP sheet requirements" and "Four Year Plan" from CCJS as a basis on filling out the rest of the form.  You'll note that students will see the same requirements are needed to get into the major as students in the majors are already taking. This student will also look at the four-year plan for Economics majors, but we won't do so here.

1. From the LEP (www.lep.umd.edu) webpage. Look under "Transfer" as students at Maryland are considered "internal transfer students":

2. From the Four Year Plan in the CCJS Department: 
(http://www.bsos.umd.edu/media/51250/ccjssgp-v2.pdf)

  
E. Now the plan will look something like what is below! In this case, the student will have completed all needed requirements for CCJS by the end of his or her third semester. This means he'll be able to declare at that point. If he doesn't declare by the time registration rolls around, an advisor will ask him what he intends to take the fourth semester, or look to see that the student has permission to take the major courses in which they are declaring.


Note that ECON is also listed in the chart, as well as any remaining CORE courses. No further planning is required for ECON because it's a non-LEP major, and a student can declare that at any time.

The LTSC "Exploration Exercise" and "Explore Your Major Week"

For students in their first semester at the University, academic advisors require just a few, fundamental activities:

1. Meet with his or her advisor twice during the semester
2. Complete an "Exploration Exercise"
3. Complete a "Four Semester Plan"

In this blog, I will discuss and explain the "Exploration Exercise," and I want to especially point out a terrific opportunity that was sent out to all students over last weekend through email. It's also on our homepage. At the end of the blog, I'll also address how appointments are going so far this semester!

"Exploration Exercises" are just that...activities in which LTSC requires students to explore the UM campus and find out more about possible majors. It's not something they can do from the comfort of their dorm rooms; it's an activity that requires them to literally and physically move about the campus. These exploration activities may range from taking an introductory major course, attending an information workshop, taking UNIV100, meeting with a department advisor, shadowing a professional in a particular field, or meeting with a career advisor in the Career Center. Students work with their advisors to determine which type of exploration activity will be appropriate for their situation.

It's a simple exercise, but one students often put off or find difficult to complete for untold reasons. For a shy or bashful student, seeing a departmental advisor may seem challenging. However, his or her LTSC advisor is absolutely willing to help that student develop some questions with which he or she might "kick off" a conversation. Once started, most advisors will take over the conversation as they know what students are looking for. With Career Services, it may simply be a matter of darkening the door of the office. (The elevator to their office in Hornbake literally opens right at the reception counter!) Once there, Career Center staff know exactly how they can assist stduents and will guide them through the process.

In my UNIV100 course, for instance, a course that assists students with making the transition from high school to college, the class has just been divided up and given a presentation assignment in which they will all gather information on resources from around campus and present it to the class in creative ways.This activity forces students to work together, reach out and visit campus offices, synthesize material and present it to their cohort who can use the information for themselves.


Any exciting opportunity occurs next week in which any student can easily get information. It's called "Explore Your Major" week, and all students have been sent information about it. Here's the email all students in LTSC received over the weekend:

                LETTERS AND SCIENCES EXPLORE YOUR MAJOR WEEK!

                 Monday, 10/10/2011 - Friday, 10/14/2011

Explore Your Major Week is a LTSC event that brings together representatives from numerous campus departments or Colleges who host workshops for LTSC students interested in that major or college.  This is a fantastic opportunity to find out more about admissions requirements (LEP's), degree requirements, the change of major process, minors, possible career opportunities and other information.

Do you know what major you plan to pursue?  Still Searching?? There is an event for you!

  

Visit the LTSC website, www.ltsc.umd.edu for the dates and registration information for each event.  Registration is mandatory and space is limited.  Register now!

Special Interest Sessions:

-Are you interested in Law School?

-Are you interested in Studying Abroad??

-Are you interested in accessing the great opportunities in Washington DC through the Federal Semester Program?

 *PLEASE GO TO THE LTSC WEBSITE, WWW.LTSC.UMD.EDU FOR SPECIFIC PROGRAM   

                AND REGISTRATION INFORMATION*

-The A.J. Clark School of Engineering

-The College of Arts and Humanities

-Biology (& specializations), Bio-Chemistry, Chemistry, & Bio-Diversity & Conservation

-The College of Education

-The Philip Merrill College of Journalism

-The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences: Anthropology, Criminology & Criminal Justice, Economics, Geography, Government and Politics, Hearing & Speech, Psychology, and Sociology

-School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation

-The School of Public Health (Kinesiology and Family Science)

-Agricultural & Resource Economics

-Environmental Science and Technology

-Plant Sciences, Turf & Golf Course Management, Urban Forestry, Landscape Management, & other fields

-Landscape Architecture

-Individual Studies Program and the Federal Semester Program

-Communication

-Asian American Studies (minor)

-Art Education

-Israel Studies (minor)

-American Studies

-German Studies

-Philosophy (major and minor)

-Persian Studies

-Jewish Studies (major) and Religious Studies (minor)

-Women's Studies and Black Women Studies

     

     Registration is mandatory and space is limited.  Register now!

PLEASE GO TO THE LTSC WEBSITE, WWW.LTSC.UMD.EDU FOR SPECIFIC PROGRAM AND REGISTRATION INFORMATION*

(continued)
Again, this is a great opportunity because office around campus make this event special for LTSC students! Our hope is that students will take full advantage of the opportunity.

As you can easily see, there are many ways to explore difference majors around campus. It's simply a matter of a student making time in their schedule and looking outside of their dorm room or classes to find just what makes Maryland...Maryland!


Student Appointment Updates...

Finally, I wanted to again mention scheduling appoinments with advisors. All advisors have now reached out to their students with emails, introducing themselves and asking students to come in for their first appointments. Some advisors' schedule are full now for up to a week or two in advance. It's okay for a student at this point to have to wait a week to see his or her advisor, but now it's mostly important for them to keep their appointments! With advisor caseloads, it's impossible to see everyone at once; advisors want to give students one-on-one attention. As the semester passes by (we're already in our 5th week!) things will get busier and busier and schedules will fill. We hope students realize how important it is to schedule early and show up for their appointments! It makes the end of the semester so much easier.

 As always, if you have any questions or want a certain subject addressed here, please let me know!

To Declare or Not to Declare...Undeclared or Undecided?

As everyone has learned from earlier posts, Letter and Sciences' students actually break down into several different groups including "Undecided," "Undeclared," "Non-Degree Seeking" (students who already have BA degrees and may be trying to get entry into medical school, for example, by taking a few extra courses), "Golden ID" (retired community members who can take a course for free during the semester), and "High School Concurrent" students (high school students who are exceptionally bright and are allowed to take one course at Maryland while still attending high school).

In particular, I want to discuss "Undeclared and Undecided" students in this blog. These are the bulk of our advising caseload students in any given semester. 
 
"Undeclared" students are those that have a particular "Limited Enrollment Program" (LEP) in mind; they have already decided on a major, so it's just a matter of earning access to the major, thus making them "undeclared."  

What is an LEP?  
LEPs are competitive majors at the University of Maryland that control enrollment numbers to maintain program quality. Once a student has earned 45 credits, he/she must have successfully completed a specific set of courses called "gateway" requirements in order to enter one of the programs. See my earlier blog for more specifics:What is a Limited Enrollment Program?

DECLARE or NOT DECLARE?  Students who have met all the prerequisite course and GPA requirements are asked to declare their chosen LEP major as soon as possible and by all deadlines set by the Admissions Office or those of the major department themselves.

All students MUST declare a major at Maryland before they reach their 60th credit. If a student fails to declare his or her major before the end of his or her sophomore year (year 2), they will be blocked from making any changes to their upcoming registration--or be blocked from registering at all until they have declared a major. Students who seek a Limited Enrollment Program are constantly reminded to have an "alternative" or "parallel," non-LEP major in mind at all times in the event they do not gain entry into their first choice. Many students remain stubborn at looking beyond their primary major choice; but, if that choice is an LEP, LTSC advisors will insist students have an alternative major in mind.

"Undecided" All of this bring me to my main concern of this post...the "undecided" student. Students in LTSC who are truly undecided in their majors need to make efforts on several fronts during their freshman and sophomore years.

A. They should use CORE (General Education) requirements to "explore" different majors and/or course material. In a perfect world, a student could continue doing this until he or she finally decided which major was a best fit for him or her. However, the University, advisors, parents, the State of Maryland and students themselves all want students to graduate in four years, whenever possible. Obviously, there are big financial and personal issues attached to this goal. The institution has no desire to keep students in school longer than necessary, as seats in courses and rooms in housing are always issues. It's of utmost interest of all concerned to have students graduate in a timely fashion. The hard truth of the matter is that CORE exploration is only valid for a small bit of time, and students must do much more than just explore classes in making their "major" choice. This is just one piece of the puzzle.

B. LTSC requires that all students complete an "Exploration Exercise" each semester they are not declared, especially when they are undecided in their major. From everything we know about these students (remember Millennial students?), and even among their many, many strengths, they can sometimes be horrible decision makers. Only by gathering as much information as possible can students finally feel comfortable at making a decision in regard to major. For this reason, LTSC asks that students seek out that information on their own. This means navigating the campus, collating vast pieces of information and working with their advisor to arrive at a final decision. From taking certain 1-credit courses, to visiting professors, to seeking help from the Counseling Center, to visiting the Career Center, students are completely responsible for making connections on campus, gathering information, and speaking to their advisor about what they've found. This is a huge developmental step for our students, and we work hard to make sure that even when it seems difficult, they reach out for more information!

C. Continue seeing their advisors on a regular basis. Advisors are non biased advocates for students; we're also great listeners and can often reflect back to a student what they've begun piecing together on their search. What do advisors do? Advisors know the ropes. They can explain how academic policy works and how students should navigate different issues that may arise. The point students toward the resources discussed above. They help students learn strategies which will make them successful. The empower students to make wise decisions. They care enough to be honest with students, and they'll let students know when plans do not look attainable; at the same time, they'll cheer a student on who needs the extra encouragement.

DECLARE or NOT DECLARE? As a rule of thumb, I ask my students if they are 51% sure about a major. If they say yes, and it's a non-LEP major they have in mind, I usually ask them to make the leap and declare the major. This process is typically started by visiting the departmental advisor in the major a student has interest. (It may start with attending a "Change of Major" program in the chosen field. Each department is different and students just have to explore which majors do what in terms of declaration.)  I feel it's important for students to declare earlier rather than later because (1) they'll have an academic "home" of sorts, (2) they'll be in contact with an advisor who is an expert at all the years in the major (remember, LTSC advisors are good for about the first two years in any major), and finally (3) students will have a sense of having made a choice and then discovering if it is a good one. In most cases, they can still change their mind later with proper planning.

If it's a non-LEP, I think students should take a CORE course in that major and then go for it, declaring as soon as they can. If it's an LEP major, then the process takes a bit longer...but, again, students should always be ready with alternative...just in case!

Academic Advisor Assignments for Students

All students in Letters and Sciences have assigned academic advisors. This academic advisor will become the student's point of contact for advising and a resource for direction to many other campus offices. It is a student's responsibility to stay in contact with his or her advisor during the upcoming semesters; however, advisors will from time to time send emails out alerting students to their responsibilities in regard to academic planning. All advising takes place through individual, one-on-one appointments. We do not offer walk-in service to students, as walk-in advising does not fulfill the need of students and advisors. It's much better for students to have a specific time with their advisor, where the advisor's focus will be completely on the students he or she may have in the office.

Who is My Advisor? (Assignment of Advisor Caseloads)
Academic Advisors call the group of students assigned to them "advising caseloads." It just means the specific group of students for which the advisor is responsible. The National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) recommends University advisors average about 300 students per academic advisor. Because of the nature of our students (first-year, undecided, etc.) our academic advisors have caseloads even smaller than the recommended amount. This means that freshmen students at Maryland in LTSC have even more access to their advisor than the national average...if students take advantage of the program. Advising in Letters and Sciences is mandatory. Planning is important!

Advising appointments early in the semester is key! Because students have some advising assignments to perform during the semester, and because schedules fill up extensively late in the semester, students who attend to advising responsibilities early have very little concerns when it's time to register for the following semester.

When Do I Hear About the Name of My Advisor?
On Monday, September 19th, caseloads will be set for the upcoming semester. Typically, the academic advisor assigned to a student will remain with them through the student's time in LTSC. Occassionally, a staff member may move on to another position at Maryland or beyond the University and that student will be reassigned to another academic advisor with our office. Regardless, it is at this point (when an advisor first introduces herself or himself) that a student "has an advisor" and can make an appointment to speak with his or her advisor when he or she wishes to do so.

During the week of September 19th, every advisor in LTSC will be sending emails out to their caseloads. The letter they send will look something like this:

Introduction Email

Dear Student,

My name is xxxxx xxxxxxx, and I will be your academic advisor in Letters and Sciences (LTSC).  Please read the entire email to ensure that you get all the necessary information.

All students in LTSC are on mandatory advising.  Depending on your status, students are required to meet with me at a minimum of one, two or three times.  Please read below to see which category you fall into as well as additional requirements:   

• ·         New to UM (freshman or transfer) and those with fewer than 30 credits:

o    At least two (2) appointments

o    Four semester plan, http://ltsc.umd.edu/FourSemPlan.pdf

o    Exploration activity, http://ltsc.umd.edu/exploration.pdf

§  If enrolled in UNIV100, CPSP118_, HONR100, GEMS100, HHUM105, HEIP100, HDCC105 you are exempt from this.   

• Continuing students (not in your first semester) and with 30 or more credits  

• At least one (1) appointment

• Current/accurate four semester plan.  See http://ltsc.umd.edu/FourSemPlan.pdf if you need to revise. 

• New exploration activity as discussed with your advisor

• Change of major plan (for those approaching 60 credits)

• ·         Probation or Dismissal students:

o    At least three (3) appointments – schedule first appointment by 9/28/2011

o    Updated four semester plan, http://ltsc.umd.edu/FourSemPlan.pdf

o    New exploration activity, http://ltsc.umd.edu/exploration.pdf

Please call 301-314-8418 to schedule your appointment as soon as possible; the sooner you see me, the better.  Bring with you the forms indicated above.  Please note that I do not make appointments via email and if you are unable to make a scheduled advising appointment, call and cancel your appointment in advance.  If you are 10 or more minutes late for your appointment you will be required to reschedule.  Please look for weekly advising emails that will include important dates, academic policies, winter/summer course information and available campus workshops.  

In the meantime, please email me any questions or concerns that you may have.  I look forward to seeing you very soon. 

With that letter, the stage is set. Students now have academic advisors, are aware they will have responsibilities for the semester, and should work on those planning steps early in the semester.

What Happens During Appointments?
Generally, students will have at least 2 appointments their first semester at Maryland. The first appointment tends to be one in which the advisor and student get to know each other, the advisor outlines what the assignments are to be completed by the student and any initial questions are asked and answered. It takes one half hour, and students are reminded that they can come back in as much as they wish and for as many times as they make appointments.

During the second appointment, students usually have completed a "four semester plan" and "exploration activity."  The advisor and student talk about the academic plans; and, in most cases, the advisor then clears a student's "registration block" so that student is able to register when his or her assigned time comes up later in the semester.

I will discuss these appointments in more detail in a future blog.

For now, the biggest thing an advisor wants to do is introduce themselves to their new students and ask that those students begin making their first appointments. It's often difficult to get many of these students in early, as they do not know the value of this piece of their planning while at the University.

The second thing a  student soon realizes is that Academic Advisors are NOT High School Guidance Counselors. Academic Advisors will NOT pick courses for a student, pick majors for students or complete any work for a student. Advisors will point out to a student the resources he or she will need to complete a "four semester plan" and "exploration exercise," but advisors do not perform this work themselves. Students must take this first step in being accountable for their academic experience and learn how to plan for future courses, make "major" decisions and pull together all the resources they need to so by themselves. It's assured an academic advisor will be available to assist students in synthesizing what students are discovering as they move through the journey, but at no time will the advisor take over the reigns of that process.



**NOTE** Students in UNIV100 may not necessarily be required to see their academic advisor twice through individual appointments, although the opportunity is always there for a student. Because these students see their advisors in class (UNIV100) each week, much of the advising work is already being done as a part of the course. **NOTE**

What is a "Limited Enrollment Program"?

For some freshmen,  admittance to the University of Maryland does not include direct admission to a chosen academic program. In these cases, students are assigned to Letters and Sciences advising until they are able to apply for a second time as an "internal transfer" (meaning from college to college) to the major of their choice.

What are Limited Enrollment Programs?

One of the questions we hear over and over again are about these "Limited Enrollment Programs." We call them "LEPs."  What are they? LEPs are competitive majors at the University of Maryland that control enrollment numbers to maintain program quality. Once a student has earned 45 credits, he or she must have successfully completed a specific set of courses called "gateway" requirements in order to enter a LEP. Typically, students in Letters and Sciences enter their chosen LEP (if they qualify) in the semester in which they reach their 60th credit. By taking, on average, 15 credits per semester, students earn their 60th credit by the end of their second academic year. It's important to note that students with AP credit are already ahead of the game when it comes to an average of 15 credits per semester. Remember that in making that "average," we don't assume AP credits, transfer credits or credits taken during any upcoming winter or summer term.

Out of over 100 majors offered at Maryland, there are 10 LEP programs on campus which qualify as Limited Enrollment Programs:  Architecture; Business; College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Biological Sciences, Biochemistry, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences and Policy-Biodiversity and Conservation); Communication, Criminology and Criminal Justice; Engineering; Government and Politics; Journalism; Landscape Architecture; and Psychology.



What are the rules for getting into the Limited Enrollment Programs?  

For most of the majors, it's a straight forward process--students simply need to take the pre-requisite courses over two years, attain the major's specific GPA requirement and continue at Maryland, declaring into the major. During the process, the courses students take while in LTSC are almost always exactly the same courses students in the major are actually taking at the same time. Along the way, LTSC students are also taking CORE (general education) requirements as are students in the LEP majors already. (There are very few exceptions including ENES100 for Engineering or COMM107 for Business. Once in the programs, students will take those courses if not before.)

To see the specifics for any of the LEP majors, simply go to www.lep.umd.edu and view the .pdf documents for chosen majors. Be sure to look for the requirements under "Transfer Student" or "Internal Transfer Student." These outline what the student will be taking during their time in LTSC. If the major is not competitive, and the student meets the requirements, they'll gain access to the major.

Two programs are "competitive" in nature due to space availability in the programs, Business and Architecture. With these two majors, students should not only meet the GPA requirements set forth, they'll need to present other credentials including co-curricular involvement, leadership experience, and honors and awards. Letters of recommendation are also accepted for consideration for entry into the majors. For the Business major, students also submit a resume and letter detailing their accomplishments and experience with their applications.

From orientation on, students are told where to find information about LEPs and how to plan on accessing the major of their choice. If they plan correctly, and they attain the grades required, they get into the major. If students stay in touch with their advisors, and keep them abreast of any change of plans students may have, advisors will do their best to work with students on a timely declaration of major.

Advisors work hard with this group of students, and LTSC insists that all students have an "alternative" or "parallel," non-LEP major in mind as they move forward. In the event a student comes up on 60 credits without having completed requirements for the LEP, they must declare the alternative major while they continue their work.

As you see, it's a pretty straightforward process! If you have any questions, comment below!

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) or "The Buckley Amendment"

One of the more difficult and somewhat awkward issues LTSC academic advisors face with students, especially "Millennial" students in more recent years, is involvement of parents in a student's academic life. This is going to be a theme this year, so I want to address issues of privacy as early as possible. As I've outlined in a previous blog entry, we are now working with a generation which has, on the whole, had terrific and close relationships with parents and/or guardians. When these students begin the process of becoming integrated into the world of Higher Education (read " become college students"), experiencing what it's like to live on their own and take care of their own schedules, academic advisors are often caught between assisting their caseload of students in the transitional process and parents who want to be sure their children are on the right path academically.

One sticking point does come up in terms of student privacy rights. In fact, a federal law passed in 1974 forbids higher education administrators from discussing anything in regard to a student's relationship with the University with parents.

We often hear a parent say, "I pay for my son's education. I am entitled to know what's going on."  Or, "This young lady is my daughter, I have a right to know her grades. I want to talk to her advisor about her plans."  In reality, a parent has no rights when it comes to a student who has become a part of a school "beyond the high school level." Note that the law is not specifically tied to age--it is a combination of age and  a student's place of higher learning by which this law applies.

From the government's website: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html:

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are "eligible students."

• Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school. Schools are not required to provide copies of records unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge a fee for copies.
  
• Parents or eligible students have the right to request that a school correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to a formal hearing. After the hearing, if the school still decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student has the right to place a statement with the record setting forth his or her view about the contested information.
  
• Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):
  
  • School officials with legitimate educational interest;
  • Other schools to which a student is transferring;
  • Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;
  • Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;
  • Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;
  • Accrediting organizations;
  • To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;
  • Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and
  • State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.

Schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. Schools must notify parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a PTA bulletin, student handbook, or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of each school.
For additional information, you may call 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327) (voice). Individuals who use TDD may call 1-800-437-0833.
Or you may contact us at the following address:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202-8520

NOTE: The law is also referred to as "The Buckley Amendment."

For academic advisors, the law is simple: we can't speak with anyone outside a student about their relationship to advising and/or grades without specific consent from that student. For our students in LTSC who do wish to give consent for a parent or guardian to speak with us about their relationship with our office, those students can complete a "Waiver to Privacy" or "Waiver to the Buckley Amendment" kept in our office. Students must fill these forms out in person when doing so. We do not accept faxed or emailed copies, and we do not allow anyone to pick up a form and take it to a student and return it. Students must fill out the sheet in person. Also, students can set a time limit as to when the waiver kicks in and ceases. We find that many students will fill out the form but only release the information for one day, or as long as it takes for outside involvement with advising to be completed.

We understand parents want to be involved. We're happy about that, and we're experimenting with this blog this semester to give parents more information about what's going on. In a perfect world, advisors also want students to make the transition of becoming responsible for themselves when it comes to academic planning and taking care of advising business in a timely fashion. (It's really not difficult or mysterious.) We want students to be responsible  for themselves. However, if it comes down to a time that parents and students decide they should both be directly involved, be sure your son or daughter understands they must sign over that privacy right before we can have any discussions with parents.  We're happy to assist everyone when that time comes.

Twas the Day Before the Start of Classes...

Well, today I am having our office assistants help prep over 900 letters to be sent out to our students' parents/guardians, giving them information about our office's advising timeline for the semester and inviting parents to be involved in a project for the fall semester I've dreamed up.  What am I doing?! Why did I think this was a good idea? Am I really ready to stand between our new students and their parents--begging their parents to let us help their students grow up by asking students to take new responsibility for themselves as they enter the University and plan for their academic future? Ironically enough, at the same time I send parents a letter informing them about the semester's advising schedule and the goal mentioned above, I'm asking parents to be in touch with their students about advising and their students' responsibility toward advising and planning academic futures.

Why?

The idea behind this semester's blog is simple--inform parents and guardians about what we're doing in Letters and Sciences (LTSC) when it comes to advising and see if we can get even better results than we currently do (which are already very good) in terms of having students see us in a timely fashion, keep students on a good track toward graduation and, most importantly, keep them Maryland! Above everything--assist our students in declaring a major at Maryland.

It's important to note is what we do in Letters and Sciences. Our office advises students who are "undecided" or "undeclared" in their majors at Maryland. For "undecided" students, it's a simple premise. These students have no idea what they wish to major in at Maryland, and they need time to explore with our general education courses and explore many resources on campus which will help those students make informed decisions about a major. It takes a bit of time; but, most importantly, it takes commitment on the part of a student to really gather information and not expect anyone else to make the decision for them. It's a huge responsibility for these students. Most likely, they've never made a decision this big on their own before. We often call these students "Millennial students," and making decisions on their own can be a quite tough endeavor.

Here is a short article about Millennial students, if you've never heard of the generation characterized this way before. It would be interesting to know if you agree with the assessments and see these characteristics in this generation. In this article, the audience is higher ed teachers and professionals, but it's a good insight as to how higher education professionals may view these (your) students. Any comments can be made below!

This is a scholarly journal piece from  Michele Monaco and Malissa Martin in the "Athletic Training Education Journal" from 2007:  http://www.nataej.org/2.2/EJMonaco.pdf

I'll cover more on Millennials later in the semester.

The other type of student in LTSC are what we call "undeclared" students. At Maryland, most of our majors are open to any student who wishes to sign up and join a department. However, there are some who require prerequisite courses and a certain GPA to enter the major. We call these majors "Limited Enrollment Programs," or "LEPs" for short. These majors are Architecture, Business, an assorted group of Sciences, Communication, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Engineering, Government and Politics, Journalism, Landscape Architecture and Psychology. Each program has different requirements for student entry.  If students are not directly accepted to them as freshmen coming into Maryland, students have a second shot at applying for them by the time the student accumulated 60 credits, typically by the end of year two, their sophomore year. In the meantime, they're advising takes place in LTSC.

Here's a website for each Limited Enrollment Program and the requirements for entry: www.lep.umd.edu.  Advisors in LTSC work with students who are interested in these LEPs to make sure they are on track for a timely declaration of the major(s). For most of the programs, it's a simple case of taking certain courses and earning a specific GPA (see sheets). For a couple, Business and Architecture, the road is made slightly more difficult because entry into the major is competetive. It's not enough to just earn good grades for these majors, students have to demonstrate they are experienced, participatory and have good references.  Again, we'll cover more about LEPs later in the semester.

So, those are our students..."undecided" and "undeclared."  But no matter which may define our students, the beginning of the semester is all the same. They've come through orientation, advisors have worked with them to take appropriate courses, and now it's up to our students to get a strong start in their courses. Once they get going, we'll ask them to come in and see us to begin planning for the spring semester.