Register the path forward

Caroline Wood is an advertising junior at Moody College. In March, she moved back home to California and is now taking classes from her childhood bedroom. She says the biggest adjustment has been staring at her computer for many hours and trying to stay active by ZOOMba-ing with her friends.

All around the world, Moody College students are experiencing similar dramatic shifts and changes, and they are learning to adjust with resilience, adopting video classrooms and advising appointments as mere steps in the path forward.

“I think one of the things I have loved most about Moody is the lasting relationships I have been able to create with my professors and advisors, so I am very glad that those are still being able to be built virtually,” Wood said.

Students at The University of Texas at Austin begin registration this week for Summer and Fall 2020 classes, and academic advisors have been working to advise students regardless of their time zone.

Lauren Brown, program manager for undergraduate education at Moody College, had only a couple of days to help transition the team of academic advisors to meet with students virtually. 

“I think people who get into the academic advising profession get into it because they care about people and enjoy working with them,” Brown said. “I think if this is the medium that they have to express their care for people, then that is what they are going to do.”

Academic advisors have made the transition online as seamless and normal as possible. Students have the ability to schedule appointments through STAR as they normally do, and the academic advisor will create Zoom meetings based off the STAR schedule.  

The most common challenge that academic advisors have seen is student access to a stable internet connection.

“We just move into the chat function of Zoom if the student is having problems with internet connectivity. We are finding creative ways to connect with our students if Zoom is not working,” said Jennifer de Haas, senior academic advisor at Moody College.

Wood and de Haas met virtually to plan Wood’s registration. She said she is confident about selecting her classes, but Wood acknowledges the bizarre feeling because of the uncertainty for how classes will be structured in the upcoming semester.  

“Jennifer blows me away with her prompt response to emails, and I always leave her ‘office’ feeling so much better than when I walked in. I feel super fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to build a relationship with her over the past year and a half,” Wood said.

Some academic advisors are looking at this situation as an opportunity to improve the advising experience. Academic Advising Coordinator Wendy Boggs created a Canvas course and recorded videos explaining a degree audit. Boggs said she is grateful that students have been forgiving during this unprecedented time.

“Trust is very important, and it’s important to show that you care about them as a person and not just as a student,” Boggs said.