The academic counseling plan of the Business Administration Department: First: the plan character: is a set of activities. The Academic counseling Unit of the Business Administration department seeks to provide the students with guiding services that contribute to the development of their personalities at the academic and social levels and of their skills in various domains. These services are offered by an academic advisor during a certain period of time and at a specific place. These activities occur along successive periods of time starting with the beginning of the semester and ending by the end of the semester. Second: the plan objectives: 1 - To promote the culture of academic advising among the female students 2 - To guide and direct the student to choose courses according to the established academic plan in order to successfully obtain the academic degree. 3 – To overcome the difficulties encountered by the students in their learning process and give them advice on matters that could affect the learning process. 4 - To help students with special needs to cope with academic difficulties and help them with their academic achievement, according to their capabilities. 5 - To raise awareness of the academic regulations within students and help them understand the study plans and regulations. 6 – To control and help weak students and help them acquire the necessary skills to improve their scientific achievement. 7 – To provide the student with all accurate university information about the programs, rules and regulations. 8 – To encourage excellent students for more scientific achievement and guide them on how to invest their abilities. Third: the plan procedures: The academic counseling coordinator of the department takes a series of procedures to inform about the plan: 1 – Distributing the academic guidance booklet on the new students of the department by the beginning of the semester. 2 – Designating the new students to the faculty members while old students remain with their consultants by the beginning of the semester. Fourth, the academic advisor’s tasks: the duties of the student’s academic advisor are determined as follows: First, the technical tasks: the academic advisor’s tasks are determined as follows: 1 – To prepare the student’s file: the academic advisor preparer a file for each student under her supervision and the file should contain the following: A – the student’s information form. B – The student’s tuition plan C – the registration form at the Admission and Registration Deanship. D - A new version of the academic record E- the medical excuses. F –other administrative documents. 2- To guide the student to the appropriate person who would answer her questions and discuss the following topics with her: Courses registration process: the academic consultant studies the student’s academic file and fills in the registration form for each student before the registration deadline. Choosing courses: the academic advisor should verify the following information: the student should have passed all the required courses and their pre-requisite; otherwise the student will not be allowed to register for a course unless she passes its pre-requisite. 1-The minimum and maximum credit hours that allow the student to register in its current situation (academic load for students). 2 –the timetable: the Academic consultants should make sure that the student knows the time and place of the lectures and that there is no overlap in the student’s academic schedule. 3 – To explain and clarify the graduation requirements: the student Should successfully pass the credit hours distributed as follows to obtain a bachelor's degree: 1 –finishing the specialty requirements 2 – finishing all the required courses with a GPA of at least 2.00 and the academic consultant should help the student prepare a timetable and a plan to fulfill the graduation requirements within a period of no more than the allowed maximum number of years. 4 - To explain the Grade Point Average (quarterly and cumulative): the student’s semestrial and cumulative performance is measured through calculating the quarterly and cumulative average points and each one of them is calculated according to the following equation: the grade average point (cumulative / quarterly) equals the grade points multiplied by the number of credit hours the total of calculated credit hours. Second, the administrative tasks: 1 – changing major: A student can switch from one major to another after getting the dean’s approval and following the transition regulations established by the College Council; and the academic record of the transferred student should include the previously studied courses as well as her school points of cumulative grades during her period of study. 2 – Omitting and adding courses: the academic advisor should distribute the omission and adding forms on students who wish to make modifications to their original enrollment during the first week of the semester (and according to the regulations). 3 – Withdrawal from courses: the academic advisor signs the form for students who wish to withdraw from a course and they obtain the (Withdrawn) note on their school records within a determined period. 4 – the student absence: absence is registered from day one at school, as the college public policy requires sending a first warning for the student in case the absence percentage reaches 5% of the course credit hours, and a second warning in case the absence percentage reaches 10% of the course credit and the student will be deprived of attending a course final exam in case her absence percentage reaches 25% of the number of the course credit hours. A student who is denied the right to attend an exam because of her absence percentage fails the course. 5 – Delaying and dropping out of college: a temporary withdrawal for a determined period of time (for two semesters or three consecutive semesters at the most); a student can apply for a course delay during a certain period of time through submitting a postponement form to the college deanship of students’ affairs. 6 - Withdrawal from college: It means the permanent withdrawal from college; in this case an evacuation form should be filled at the college admission and registration deanship. Third: Organizational and Common Tasks 1 - Problem Solving: the academic advisor can help the students face the difficulties related to their studies through identifying the causes of the problem and proposing appropriate solutions. These problems could be the following: course management: that is to say which part of the course demands the greatest focus, how to spend time studying the course? How to organize the lessons review? Do the students have an idea about the necessary time to study a course? Do they waste their time? What are their priorities and how do they allocate their time to study a course? The relationship between faculty and students: Do students face difficulties with the teacher or the course? Tests related skills: Do students suffer from exams stress and how they deal with it? Do students have the necessary skills to prepare for the exam? Omitting a particular course: It is preferable to start the procedures of omitting a specific course before the prescribed deadline; course omission is required in the following cases: When the study load increases, to get success degrees, and to get a better performance in the remaining courses. Non-academic problems that hinder the performance of the student and affect academic achievement: the academic advisor should help the student face her problems before they affect her studies and in some cases the student fails to adjust herself to her new environment and consequently she will be overwhelmed with psychological or social challenges, in this case, the student should be directed to the second level of assistance that is the student counseling of the college. Fifth: The schedule of the plan functions and activities: the plan activities and events are carried out by the Business Administration Department: weekly tasks and activities: week- tasks- activities: Week 1: Arranging for the plan and preparing the students - Distributing forms of omission and addition on the students who wish to modify their original enrollment - Guiding the students to their classrooms - Answering the students’ queries and provide them with the possible support. Week 2 – Organizing a meeting to welcome the new students, get to know them and clarify the academic consultant’s duties- Assigning the new students to the faculty members while old students remain with their consultants. Week 3 – each consultant will have a meeting with her supervisees during which they talk about (the role of the academic advisor, distributing the forms set by the academic guidance unit on the students to fill them in and inform them about overlaps in the courses timetables, omission, addition or withdrawal, absence from lectures, absence from exams) - making active the consulting hours of each academic consultant by having all the academic guidance students visiting them. Week 4 –organizing a meeting with the academic advisors of Business Administration Department to coordinate their responsibilities. – receiving a list of the academic counseling students from each consultant. A - Preparing a file for each of the female students under supervision. Week 5 – listing the students and their academic status whether they are excellent or they are having difficulties. – listing students with an academic underachievement. - meeting the students with low achievement levels to discuss the reasons behind their low level and propose appropriate solutions to improve their grades. Week 6 making a list of the students’ names who did not attend 75% of lectures and contact them to inform them about their delicate position, try to know the reasons of their absence and whether it is possible to help them. Week 7- psychological preparation and solving problems related to the first quarterly test. Holding a series of individual guiding sessions for students who suffer from academic problems, including sessions dedicate for female students who suffer from psychological problems such exams stress and frustration. Week 8 – making a questionnaire to determine the students’ satisfaction with the academic guidance system. Week 9: organizing a second meeting between each academic advisor and her supervisees. Listing the students who did not attend 50% of lectures and contact them to inform them about their position, try to find out the reasons of their absence and whether it is possible to help them. Week 10: Identifying excellent students on the basis of their semestrial grades and give them an idea about the best ways to strengthen their skills, develop their techniques and maintain the good level they have reached in the form of individual and collective counseling sessions. - Identifying students with low performance on the basis of their semestrial grades and suggesting the best ways to overcome their problems and deal appropriately with their situation in the form of individual and collective sessions. Week 11: listing the students who did not attend 25% of lectures and contact them to inform them about their delicate situation, ask them about the reasons of their absence and whether they need help. Week 12 getting the department advisor’s report about the evolution observed in the concerned students’ performance. Week 13 meeting with the academic advisors of the Business Administration department to discuss the weak students’ performance on the basis of their semestrial grades and the measures taken to help them, as well as discussing the excellent students’ performance and the measures taken to motivate them. - Identifying cases of students who suffer from problems like exam stress and ways to overcome them. Week 14: The third meeting between the Academic advisors and their supervisees to discuss the issue of “exams stress and how to deal with it," as part of preparing the students for the end term exams. - Making a questionnaire to determine the students’ general view about the activities of the academic guidance unit of Business Administration Department during the second semester
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