Set Expectations and Be Transparentkeyboard_arrow_down

We’ve found that you can minimize stress for the student (and yourself) by setting clear expectations and being as transparent as you can.

Let students know:

• The best way to communicate with you. Email? Canvas? Scheduling appointments over Zoom?
• When you anticipate being online (and be up front if your schedule will be varied given the circumstances).
• Your anticipated response time. And it’s okay if you don’t know for sure.
• Whether you plan to triage email questions based on urgency or seriousness.
• Set guidelines for students if you plan to use a combination of individual appointments and drop-in hours via Zoom and/or the phone--for example, individual appointments are for longer, complicated questions, and drop-ins are for short, quick questions. (It can be hard for students to assess this, so it helps to have examples)
• If you are concerned about your response time, you can set up an auto-response email to set student expectations.

Create Efficiencieskeyboard_arrow_down

It’s possible that you may see an increased email volume when you move your advising practice online. Here are some strategies to help!

• Use boilerplate or template messages for common questions and topics. You can either create a Word Doc, OneNote, or even save email templates in your email browser. Then you can cut and paste the boilerplate and customize as needed.
  • It helps if you make these easy to find so you don’t have to hunt for them later!

    

  • A “digest” style email with answers to questions can provide reliable support.
  • Lean on existing resources. If answers to students exist on a website somewhere, point them there. Don’t reinvent the wheel!

• Be proactive when possible. If a student asks a really good question that you think others may have, you can head off a bunch of emails by sending out a proactive communication.

• Group advising. Utilize group advising to answer common questions--Zoom works well. If you use a Powerpoint or script you can send that out as a resource afterward. Microsoft Teams can be another way to support a group of students at one time.

• Schedule wisely. Block off time for responding to emails and tending to other required tasks outside of appointments.

• Use the Best Tool for the Job. Not all student meetings require Zoom--consider whether the phone and email is sufficient. Zoom is great for group meetings, or longer individual appointments where you need to discuss degree requirements or need to walk someone through a document or resource.

• Pace Yourself. There’s no need to get into all of the technologies at one. Pick one or two things you want to try, and ramp up from there.

Survive and Thrive with Remote Workkeyboard_arrow_down

The move to remote work can be a huge adjustment, especially if you have gone from no remote work to 100% remote work! Here are some tips and tactics from an adviser who works 100% remotely in an online program.

1. Lists! To do lists are your friend. Take some time at the end of your day to compose a prioritized list of things you need to get done, or do so first thing before starting your workday. Having tasks for that day provides goals to achieve, and things to cross off, which is always satisfying. You may not get through all of them, but having them in the first place gives direction.
2. Talk to other humans outside of email and social media. Schedule time to talk with your coworkers! You may feel much more connected to them and my work when you speak with them by phone or on Zoom. If things are too chaotic for regular meetings then reach out individually by phone or on Zoom, maybe to discuss work-related things, maybe to talk about an awesome movie you just watched or a book you read, or this crazy situation we’re in right now.
3. Get out of the house at least 1X per day, even if it’s just to take a short walk around the block, or to throw a ball for your dog. The fresh air, exercise, and getting away from the screen is not only healthy, it helps to break up the workday a bit. Breaking the workday into manageable chunks makes your workload far less daunting than having the whole workday stretching out before you, “chained” to your computer.
4. Make personal stuff a priority. Wait—what? We are supposed to be WORKING! Yes, we are, but if you don’t do the things you need to do for yourself and your loved ones (or set aside a time to do them) you can start feeling stuck, resentful, and distracted. This all relates to item #5.
5. Put boundaries on your time, or think of your day in “blocks”. Set aside blocks of time for the things you need to do for work, home, and personal responsibilities.
6. Keep track of your hours. Those of us who are professional staff are not hourly or working on a clock. However, keeping track of your work hours on a spreadsheet can also be satisfying, like crossing to-do items off a list. It also helps to work fairly set hours -- to start at the same time and end around the same time every day, as much as possible (with some flexibility here and there). It all goes back to putting boundaries on your time, and keeping work time separate from personal time, again as much as possible.
7. Have a dedicated work space. It may be difficult to find, but if you can, having a specific place in the house to go for work helps to put you in the right mindset and again provides a much-needed boundary. Given the nature of our current situation, you may need to jury-rig a comfortable work space. For example, you can put your monitor on a stack of books to get make it the right height. You can use a lap desk to set your keyboard on if your desk is too high for comfortable typing.
8. Whenever possible, encourage students to make phone or Zoom appointments, or advertise set drop-in hours. Oddly enough, this is the only item directly related to students. Some things can and should (and must) be done over email, but if you realize that a) you are either getting too chatty and long-winded in your email or b) what they thought was a simple question really isn’t a simple question, encourage your student to make an appointment to talk.