Academic Advising
Overview Statement
I define my advising role at WOU in several ways, each of which will be addressed in this section. (1) My official assigned advising roles are in pre-dental/dental hygiene and microbiologybiotechnology. I I inherited the former by virtue of whom I replaced; I maintain both an on-line advising website (provided for this file) and semi-annual contact with nearly all Oregon-based dental program admission offices/officers. (2) Any student who requests a recommendation letter, in my professional opinion, also counts as an advising responsibility because I only write letters for students who discuss their career interests with me, provide me with transcripts/resume materials, and take at least 2 courses from me (1 of which must be upper division). (3) Research advisees, whether as independent students or GERMS participants, also count as advising responsibilities, in large part because nearly all overlap with point (2). (4) Miscellaneous advising-related activities, such as mentoring dental practica, facilitating interviews, or voluntarily running a bioethics course for pre-health professionals.
1. Official/Assigned Advising
Since coming to WOU (including my first year here in 1997-8), I have advised 10-30 students each year. Of these 5-6 are pre-dental (most Biology Majors), 5-6 are pre-dental hygiene (nearly all non-majors), 5-6 are interested in specific careers or graduate training in microbiology/biotechnology, and 5-6 are mystery people who either never show up or, when they do, have nothing to do with my advising realm (i.e. were mis-assigned by Central Advising). My pre-dental students have shown a high degree of success, with about 75% placed professional programs within 1-2 years. Until recently, however, my pre-dental hygiene students have not shown a high degree of success - mostly because the OHSU's 2002 decision to eliminate their hygiene program increased competition to the point that students with anything less than an A were not considered. And, unfortunately, pre-dental hygiene students are, in general, poorly prepared for the demands of science at WOU. Recent expansions of Dental Hygiene programs (e.g. Eastern, OIT, and Pacific) are helping this problem greatly - as is my blatant advise to students that nothing less than an A or B is acceptable. In some cases, this does mean that students leave WOU - but I see no other way to manage chronic failure and severely unrealized self-expectations. About half of my drop-out hygiene students pursue lower level training programs in dental assisting.
Successful Hygiene Advisees
Holli Love - Mt. Hood Community College Program, 2005
Misty Sommefelt - Mt. Hood Community College Program, 2005
Julie Evans - Klamath Basin/OIT Program, 2005
Successful Dentistry Advisees
Mathilde Resnick - NYU, 2006
Theresa Fenton - OHSU, 2006
Erin Estep - OHSU, 2006 (started with me, switched to medicine, switched back after graduating)
Brandon Turley - OHSU, 2004
Luke Gambee - Mesa Arizona, 2003
Successful Microbiology/Biotechnology Advisees
Melissa Austin - OSU Microbiology Graduate Program, 2002
Peter Williams - LC Resources/BASi Northwest Labs, McMinneville, 2003
2. Recommendation Letter Recipients/Outcomes
2006: Evangel Lander - nursing school advanced masters program pending
2006: Catherine Dahl - dental school application pending
2006: Nathan Howell - dental school application pending*
2006: Nathan Howell - Salem Hospital lab position*
2006: Mathilde Resnick - NYU Dental School
2005: Maria Quezada - pre-medicine, transferred to PSU, received internship and scholarship*
2005: Monica Smith - WSU Botany Graduate Program*
2005: Tyler Treharne - OSU Pharmacy School
2004: Becky Glodt - WOU MAT Program
2004: DJ Ellis - OSU MAT Program
2004: Melissa Boschee - Oregon Department of Agriculture Lab Technician*
2003: Peter Wiliams - LC Resources/BASi Northwest Labs, McMinneville, 2003*
2003: Carrie Wales - PSU School of Community Health
2003: Viral Patel - OSU Pharmacy School
2003: Rogan Rattray - OSU Microbiology Graduate Program
2003: Danny Lodge - OSU School of Engineering
2003: Natalie Muren - Willamette Laboratory Technician
2003: Sean Vigil - Medical School at Newark, New Jersey*
2003: Amber Robbins - Linfield Nursing Program
2003: Sara Crosky - Medical College of Wisconsin
2002: Melissa Austin - OSU Microbiology Graduate Program
2002: Kelly Shipley - WOU MAT Program
2002: Jessica Bahari-Kashani - U. Minnesota Medical School
2002: Jessica Cameron - Colorado Dept. of Health*
2002: Bobbi Doyle - WOU MAT Program
2002: BJ Wylam - WOU MAT Program
2002: Mandy Ziglinsky - Secondary Science Teacher, Mount Angel*
*Also research advisees from summer programs or independent study projects.
3. Summer Research Advisees - Undergraduates Only
2004-6: Nathan Howell, applying to dental schools
2003-5: Terry Manning, WOU Disability Services Coordinator, future Peace Corps Volunteer
2004-6: Jennifer Esparza, WOU fifth year senior - pre-medicine
2004-5: Will Drury, Bend Newspaper Web Design/Database Technician
2005: Morgan Huffstetter, WOU continuing - pre-medicine
2004: Jared Brougher, WOU MAT Program
2004: Elizabeth Jacobsumuhlen, US Customs Internship (last I heard in 2004)
2004: Jana Brooks, OSU Research Technician, likely applying to medical schools
2004: Maria Quezada, PSU continuing - pre-medicine
2003: Christina Vann/Lodge, Albany Hospital Lab Records/Technician
2002-3: Peter Williams - LC Resources/BASi Northwest Labs, McMinneville, 2003
2003: Melissa Boschee, Oregon Department of Agriculture Lab Technician
2002: Jessica Cameron, Colorado Dept. of Health
4. Miscellaneous Advising-Related Activities
(a) Mentoring Job Shadow Practica: I serve as the advisor for 1-3 Biology 406 job shadowing practica per year (i.e. each being 30 hours per 1 credit), most for pre-dental hygiene or pre-dental students. 75% of the students already know someone in the field and request work with them. 25% of the students request placement and so I maintain a local relationship with Dr. Turgesen and his staff in Independence, who have served my advisees well. 90% of these practica are graded pass/fail and so I receive/evaluate letters from shadow supervisors to input grades. 10% choose the graded route and I evaluate journals kept during the shadow experience. 10% of my dental advisees ask to do more than 1 credit, which always makes me a little nervous because it has the potential to look like credit/grade-inflation. For these individuals, I mandate that they design each credit based on complete different specialties - e.g. general practice, pediatric, orthodontics, etc. Although I tell ALL my pre-professional health advisees that this training is essential, I have recently been frustrated by an increasing number of pre-dental students ignore doing practica, despite having limited understanding of the profession.
(2) Interview Panels/Pre-Professional Review: Between 2000-2003, I attempted to spearhead an unofficial effort to promote practice interviews with a pre-professional faculty panel. Although I had good faculty interest and support, student interest was sadly minimal. In reviewing my recommendation letter list, only Sara Crosky jumps out as someone I remember interviewing (and, indeed, she was accepted to medical school). Given our strong pre-professional enrollment patterns, I am hoping to revitalize a pre-professional committee again this year, focusing on all steps of the application process.
(3) Bioethics Course: Compelled by a variety of advising-related factors, I decided to voluntarily run (i.e. not paid or FTE-credited) a 2 credit independent study/seminar course in Medical Bioethics for pre-professional students in spring, 2004. Dr. Galvan was also interested and so we divided the weekly topics in half and tackled everything from euthanasia to abortion to organ donation, using a case-study-oriented text used by several medical schools. Dr. Tamina Toray was also invited as a speaker on the topic of death and dying. A key assignment in this course was to develop and review personal statements, required for admission to most pre-medical/dental programs. The following students signed up for this course and many said it was one of their most meaningful course experiences at WOU: Terry Manning (WOU staff, still thinking about medical school), Jessica Powell (applying to medical school at this time), Nathan Howell (applying to dental school at this time), Maria Quezada (transferred to PSU, applying to medical school at this time), Jennifer Esparza (still completing coursework at WOU, still pre-medical), and Jana Brooks (lost contact after she moved to Washington DC in 2005, was - at the time - applying to medical school).