Advising Notes

 

Academic Advising Notes Process

Advising notes are important to monitor a student's academic success and are vital when a student changes advisors or their major.  Advising notes improve transparency and efficiency in advising and open communications between ETSU offices as it relates to our students success.

Acadedmic Advisors and many support services offices maintain student interaction records as Appointment Summaries in EAB Navigate.

Please follow these notation guidelines:

 

General Guidelines

  • Write appointment summaries as soon as possible (details and memory)

  • Write appointment summaries as if the student, parents, or the general public will read them

  • Be brief and succinct but be specific and include key details. Use bullet points or lists as needed
  • Document facts and observed behavior rather than opinions, guesses, judgements, or feelings

  • Parts or all of post-appointment emails to students can be copied and pasted as summaries for efficiency, but not all emails need to be added as notes or summaries
  • Create advising summaries which are academic-related, but omit personal or sensitive content

What to Include in Appointment Summaries

  • Recommendations, advice, referrals and action plans discussed for student success
  • Notes to help future advisors understand the advice given to the student

  • Fact-based academic-related information shared by the student
  • List of approved courses and alternatives
  • Student/Advisor relationship building notes/reminders
  • Possible consequences of not following advice
  • Referrals to campus resources
  • Positive student behaviors

What to Exclude from Appointment Summaries

  • Details about sensitive or personal referrals (health, disability, etc.)
  • Details about other personal or sensitive concerns the student has (legal, relationship, family)
  • Student’s comments about faculty, instructors, professors
  • Subjective opinion or judgement or negative student behavior

FERPA:

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of a students educational records.  It defines when and what information from a students educational record may be released to anyone out of ETSU. 

It is important to know that advising notes, whether hard copy or electronic are part of a students educational record to which the student has a right to access and which can be subpoenaed.

https://www.etsu.edu/reg/records/ferpa.php

For more information: https://www.etsu.edu/advisement/advisors/advisingnotes.php

Share