LA PARTE MÓVIL.

4.6. Advising and Career Counseling. There shall be available a clearly explained and accessible academic advising system for students, as well as readily available career and placement advice.

Required Documentation. The self-study document should include the following: 4.6.a. Description of the advising and career counseling services, including sample

orientation materials such as student handbooks.

All departments in the School provide academic advising services that help ensure that students receive information they need to successfully complete the program. Services include group orientation sessions at the beginning of the academic year, orientation handbooks, periodic small group meetings and ongoing advising from faculty, staff, peers and alumni. Below is a description of each service:

1. Academic Advising Services

Admitted students are invited to an Admitted Students’ Weekend, during which time they tour the campus, meet with MPH faculty and staff, participate in classes and interact with current students. They are apprised of the curriculum, advised of financial aid and scholarships, introduced to student services, career services and field education staff, and exposed to resources in the local community. To date, an Admitted Student Bulletin Board posts ongoing information about housing, jobs, proficiency exams and orientation schedules to help prepare students for their arrival in the fall semester.

2. Orientation

During the week preceding the start of the fall semester in which they enroll, entering students are required to attend an orientation program for new students. During the orientation,

students are given a flash drive “handbook,” which provides essential information about

academic and other requirements, expectations, resources, timetables, policies and procedures. Students receive this information orally, as well as via presentations by faculty and staff. Areas covered include research expectations, IT access, library resources and usage, student group information, career services, professional development and curriculum. Both incoming and current students may also access this information on the School’s intranet, Inside Brown. A copy of the orientation packet may be found in the Resource File.

At the time of orientation, all incoming MPH students are matched with a public health faculty advisor. Based on information given by students in their admissions application, the Associate Dean for Public Health assists the Director of Student Affairs in assigning each student an advisor with similar professional goals and interests. Students have an opportunity to meet their advisor during orientation. All faculty members are knowledgeable about the program’s

curriculum, specific courses, practicum opportunities and career options.

3. Advising

The Brown School has a comprehensive advising system designed to monitor and support student academic performance on an individual basis, considering each student’s career and professional goals, individual characteristics and other unique, situational factors. It is

organized around the needs of the student as an adult learner. The roles and responsibilities of advising are:

180 | P a g e Washington University in St. Louis, Self-Study, Chapter 4, July 7, 2011  Curriculum/career planning

 Problem-solving academic situations  Advocacy and support

 Field liaison visits

 Professional development

Advisors work with each of their students to design and implement a sound education plan. The advisor reviews and approves course selections each semester, taking care to monitor that curriculum requirements are being fulfilled and that course selections and field placements fit into the student’s educational plan. Advisors post regular office hours when they will be available to meet with students and are helpful during orientation, registration periods and at mutually appointed times. Faculty and staff throughout the School use email, web pages, Blackboard and phone, as well as personal contact to communicate with students.

While each student’s academic advisor plays an important role, advising at Brown has many components. These include, in addition to the primary academic advisor, the MPH Office, the Office of Admissions, the Office of Field Education, the Office of Career Services, the Office of Academic Affairs, classroom instructors and practicum instructors. The advising system is designed so that the academic advisor is informed when a problem or potential problem is identified. Serving as an integrative member of the advising system, the academic advisor takes responsibility for developing (often with input from the student and other School professionals) and coordinating an appropriate response.

Similarly, the academic advisor is the person to whom the student with concerns will go to identify and to seek help with a problem situation. In conjunction with the Director of Student Affairs, referrals may also be made to University services in a number of areas:

 Student Health and Wellness Center provides confidential physical and mental health services

 The Office for International Students and Scholars supports international students with services regarding passports, visas, travel and employment regulations

 Quadrangle Housing assists with apartment searches, leasing issues and roommate identification

 Office of Financial Aid offers comprehensive information about scholarships, loans and other financial matters

 Cornerstone provides tutorials on time management and writing skills

 Disability Resource Center coordinates accommodations for students needing assistance with in-class learning and assignments

Usually, students retain the same advisor for the duration of their program; however, students do have the right to select another faculty member as their advisor if that person’s expertise and interests are more compatible with those of the student. Students who are not satisfied with the advising received contact the Director of Student Affairs, who will make a formal change. 4.6.b. Description of the procedures by which students may communicate their

concerns to program officials, including information about how these procedures are publicized and about the aggregate number of complaints submitted for each of the last three years.

Students may communicate their concerns to MPH program officials and the Dean through a number of vehicles. One is the biannual Dean’s Forum, in which students have an open forum to

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raise the range of concerns they may wish to bring up. Second, the Associate Dean has routinely held forums (every semester) to meet with the MPH students. Third, MPH students are

encouraged to bring issues and concerns to the administration through an open-door process. Finally, the Student Handbook contains information about the process for students to submit formal grievances for failing grades, and for harassment or discrimination (outlined in detail in Criterion 1.4). The School’s leadership takes student concerns and grievances very seriously and has a well-developed process for addressing them, outlined here. However, in AY 2009-10 as well as AY2010-11 no grievances were filed by MPH students in the Brown School.

4.6.c Information about student satisfaction with advising and career counseling services.

Advising Satisfaction

There are many and varied ways within the School for students to provide feedback to faculty and staff. Students are encouraged to direct concerns about the curriculum to their advisors and to meet with them individually and in groups. The Dean holds all-student group meetings each semester; the Associate Dean for the MPH program holds meetings specific to public health students. Meetings are advertised on the School’s internal web page and are mechanisms for students to express concerns, ideas and questions about their program experiences.

Students are also asked to evaluate each of their courses at the midterm and at the end of each semester. Typically in the fall semester, students are asked by the MPH administration to complete a survey that includes questions about advising satisfaction. The MPH office evaluates and distributes the survey results to appropriate faculty/staff. Finally, graduating students complete an Exit Survey, which includes questions about satisfaction with their advisor, the advising process and Career Services. Survey samples and results are included in Section 1.2. In fall 2010, the MPH office administered a survey to students that included requesting feedback on the advising system. When asked to rate the advisor’s performance as excellent, respondents from the incoming 2010 class ranked the advisor’s performance as excellent at 80% while the incoming 2009 ranked performance at 55%. We attribute this increase to changes that were made to the AY2010-11 academic year, which included meeting the advisors during

orientation and working with new faculty to explain the curriculum and Brown School procedures.

Career and Placement Counseling

The Brown School has an established Career Services Office. Staff include the full-time director and assistant director, half-time administrative coordinator, a career specialist (six hours per week), a career consultant (two hours per week) and three students workers (five to ten hours per week).

Career Services provides the following services for MPH students. Staff coach students one-on- one to craft interview agendas and responses, correspondence, introductions and resumes that clearly state their skills, knowledge and accomplishments; identify career options; and utilize various search strategies. Career Services provides students with information on employers through recruiting presentations, two to three job fairs per year, its Symplicity information management system and advising. Jobs are posted in Symplicity and announced through a weekly e-newsletter. Workshops and job search teams occur periodically through the year with an intensive Job Search Kickoff at the end of the first year. Students receive information on

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researching public health careers in the summer before orientation and attend career panels during the orientation’s Career Development Day, employer and fellowship presentations and individual counseling sessions. Students can access a table of fellowships on the School’s internal website.

Career Services staff members collaborate with the Office of Field Education, Office of International Programs, Office of Admissions, the Alliance for Building Capacity, Gephardt Institute for Public Service and Washington University’s other career centers. The Brown School’s Communications Office, Office of Information Technology and Library provide support and resources.

Professional Development Funding for MPH students is administered through Career Services. MPH students can submit proposals to receive modest funding, which helps defray the cost of attending a conference to present or participate, travel to an interview for a competitive fellowship or participate in an overseas volunteer program.

4.6.d. Assessment of the extent to which this criterion is met. Strengths

 The MPH program has a clearly explained and accessible academic advising system for students and readily available career and placement advice.

Challenges

 The program has observed some challenges in the strength and quality of its advising system during the first year of operation of the program but instituted significant changes in advising to improve the quality of the advising experience. Student

evaluations show that these changes had a significant positive effect on the evaluations of the advising system.

Future Plans

 The program will continue efforts to reach out to public health employers to enhance the placement of MPH students.

 The program continues to explore changes in the advising system that will improve its quality for MPH students.