Hello Academic Advisement Community!
The AA Advisory Group has had several changes for 2021. Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote in the AG elections back in September.
First, we want to take the time to thank Nancy Fawver, Nancy Umphries and Brian Rockwood. Your hard work and dedication to the AA community has not gone unnoticed and you have left big shoes to fill for our newest members.
Here is our 2021 Advisor Group. We have three returning members, and four new members for this term:
- Carolyn Veek, California State University, Dominguez Hills
- Deanne Wright, Ryerson University
- Karen Cook, University of Kansas
- Lindsay Campbell, University of Waterloo
- Phil Sugden, University of Derby
- Stacia Madsen, University of Minnesota
- Tiffany Wendt, Texas Christian University
Please feel free to reach out to us! We would love to hear from you and know how we can make our community even stronger.
Who we are and where we are from:
Carolyn Veek, California State University, Dominguez Hills
I have worked at CSUDH since 1998 and have worked in the University Advisement Center as a Program Assistant and in the Admissions Office as the Lead Admissions Evaluator. I am currently the Degree Audit Analyst in the Records and Registration Office.
As the Degree Audit Analyst at CSUDH, I am the functional lead for the Academic Advisement module in PeopleSoft. I work within the Academic Advisement and Student Records modules, including Academic Requirements pages, Transfer and Test Credit Rules building, Transfer and Test Credit posting, Student and Advisee Services Centers, and various PeopleSoft pages and modules that interact with these areas, and have also worked with the various Student Admissions pages as well. I work closely with the Academic Affairs office to ensure that approved curriculum is entered into PeopleSoft in a timely manner to ensure students Academic Advisement Reports display the correct information for their degree requirements.
I am part of the functional team that implemented and maintains Smart Planner, a PeopleSoft bolt on product from The Burgundy Group. I am currently serving on a committee for the reimplementation of the Student Success Collaborative (EAB) at CSUDH.
Deanne Wright, Ryerson University
I’ve been a member of Ryerson University’s Office of the Registrar since 2002, beginning in Admissions and then transferring to the Curriculum Management unit, which is responsible for Academic Advising, Degree Audit, Publications (of the University Calendar and Student Guide, including maintenance of course catalog data), and coding curriculum in support of Scheduling. We implemented Campus Solutions 8.9 in 2005 and upgraded to 9.0 in 2008. I played a supporting role in the change management process with the original implementation and became the functional lead for the upgrade project. I was the functional lead for Academic Advisement, academic structure-related components in SACR, and catalog-related parts of Student Records. We've been on CS 9.2 since 2016. In the fall of 2020, I became the Assistant Registrar for Curriculum Management. Supported by a wonderful set of colleagues in my department, I work closely with other senior managers, our Business Analysts and other functional leads, as well as faculty and staff, to improve administrative processes and enhance the student experience.
I have been a member of the Academic Advising Advisory Group since 2016. I am known for being curious and persistent; I try to bring a sense of humour and perspective to everything I do.
Karen Cook, University of Kansas
I am currently the Advising Systems Lead Analyst for the Academic Advisement module at the University of Kansas. My role is responsible for maintaining the degree audit setup across all schools on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses, as well as the KU School of Medicine. I currently track and analyze new functionality to improve user experience in Campus Solutions, and I partner with other CS module leads and IT developers.
Lindsay Campbell, University of Waterloo
Currently, I am the Supervisor, Systems Operations in the Registrar’s Office at the University of Waterloo. I joined our passionate and dedicated Systems team 5 years ago where I was solely focused on Academic Advisement. Since then, I have expanded my knowledge into Student Records especially in the areas of the Course Catalog, Special Major Average and Academic Structure set-up, however Academic Advisement is still my main area of interest.
I am a functional lead who works closely with our Business Systems Analyst team, technical team, and end-users in the Registrar’s Office and staff across campus. This allows me the unique perspective into the needs from both the end-users and functional-technical teams to help provide the best solutions and information available. I am a member of our project team working towards providing the Academic Advisement Report in Student Self-Service. Currently our report is only available to advisors and Registrar’s Office staff. We upgraded to 9.2 in 2018 where I was and continue to be a supportive member of our upgrade testing team. I had the opportunity to attend the Canadian HEUG conferences in 2018 and 2019 which I found immensely valuable, and it was exciting to learn just how much potential is available in Campus Solutions that we have yet to explore.
Phil Sugden, University of Derby
I have been a member of the Student Records Product Advisory Group since 2014, including two years as Chair, and have also acted as Programme and Conference Chair for the EMEA HEUG Conference. Therefore, I have extensive experience of liaising between the user community and Oracle development teams.
I am also a member of the Student Cloud Design Group and the Academic Advising Student Cloud Focus Group through which I am taking an active role in advising on the design of advisement, curriculum and enrolment structures and functionality in the Student Cloud Product.
My current role at the University of Derby covers two areas - student system development and curriculum management. This means I have a dual interest in understanding and enhancing the way in which Campus Solutions manages program and curriculum set up and supports the tracking of students and their progression and achievement.
I was functional lead for Student Records implementation at University of Derby 2005-2006, followed by systems support and development work to 2008. I was a member of the Student Records PAG from 2006-2008 and have presented sessions at the HEUG and the DEUG (Dutch User Group).
In 2008 I moved to work as Enterprise Applications Consultant for Atos in the UK, primarily working on CS implementation at the University of Glasgow (leading Student Records and Academic Structure). I also undertook some additional work for Oracle pre-sales and product development and also provided support back to the University of Derby.
In 2012 I returned to take up a senior role at Derby and have since progressed to my current role in a more strategic position.
Particular areas of expertise are Student Records, Academic Advisement and Academic Structure, with additional knowledge and experience of Student Financials and Admissions.
Stacia Madsen, University of Minnesota
I've worked in Graduate Education at the University of Minnesota since 2006 and transitioned to Business Analyst to lead the implementation of Academic Advising (AA) for graduate and professional students in 2014 as we upgraded to Campus Solutions 9.0. I continue to be the project manager for the on-going implementation of AA for all system campuses and professional programs that elect to use AA. As part of our commitment to improving user experience, I led the project to develop and implement an online exception system that was easy to use and customizable that also supported the university's policies and practice.
The best part of my work is the amazing people that I collaborate with everyday – they are smart and fun and push me to be a better analyst.
My mission is to bring graduate and professional education needs into the rooms where decisions are made.
Tiffany Wendt, Texas Christian University
I am the functional lead for Academic Advisement, having assumed the role in 2006 when I began working in the Registrar’s Office. I am also the functional lead for the PS upgrade to 9.2. I have 18 years of Oracle/Peoplesoft experience, beginning in Technology Resources as a Programmer/Analyst supporting Student Records and Academic Advisement. While in TR, I developed several custom academic advising reports that are still in production today. I have attended every HEUG/Alliance conference beginning in 2002. I’m a proud to say I bleed purple – my schools colors – a bachelor’s degree from Tarleton State University and an MBA from TCU.