• If a student happens to come into the office and requests an advising appointment, your intial response is to ask if they are willing to conduct the appointment online via Zoom. If they are willing, log onto Picktime and fill out an appointment slot with all of their general information.

• Even if the appointment is in-person, you will have to create an account for the student on the Same Day Registration Event on Via . Please enter all of their details and general information while advising and take notes on their advising after their session once they have completed their profile. 

Daily Picktime Appointments:

• At the beginning of your shift in the office you should check both the Outlook email and Picktime to see if there are any new appointments submitted. Appointments must be made 24 hours in advance, so no additional appointments should be made throughout the day. For any appointments that day, please send them a confirmation and divide the appointments accordingly between Peer Advisors in the office. To identify which Peer Advisor will be taking the appointment, write the Peer Advisor's name in the "Notes" section of the appointment.

Prior to Advising Appointment:

• Log into the Study Abroad "Picktime" website (login instructions below). Select the appointment you will be conducting and review the student details and general information. Prepare for the appointment by researching some preliminary information and programs that would be a good fit for the student according to their information.

• Similarly, Peer Advisor will send an email to the student following the template below:

Hi there, NAME OF STUDENT!

My name is _____ and I will be your Study Abroad Peer Adviser for your appointment on DATE at TIME. We will be conducting this appointment via Zoom, so at the time of your appointment, please log into your GVSU Student gmail and I will send you a Zoom link approximately 5 minutes before our appointment. Click this link, turn on your microphone and camera if you have one, and we will be able to chat from here.

If you have any problems with this meeting time, please send me an email and we can figure something out. Also, make sure to have a paper and pen handy for the Advising session!

Thank you very much and I look forward to seeing you at TIME on DATE! Have a great day and let me know if you have any questions!

SIGNATURE

At the Time of the Advising Appointment: 

• Approximately 10 minutes before the appointment, log into either your personal Zoom account or the Study Abroad Zoom account. Follow the instructions below to start a meeting / invite the student...
  • Click "New Meeting"
  • Then click "Participants,"
  • Click "Invite"
  • Click "Copy Invitation"
  • Send this copied invitation to the student's email (usually in reply to the confirmation email)
  • Wait for the student to join the Meeting.

How to Do Your Job Online

You’re great at your job in person, but how can you translate that support online? Great online services feel human. You can accomplish that in the following ways using Zoom:

1. Be on camera to welcome the student in the Zoom room. The student doesn’t need to be on camera, but you should be.
2. Start with all features and then let the student decide which ones can fall away. (This also improves the accessibility of services.) **Note: Never ask a student to disclose disabilities. Simply ask if they would like to use certain features.
3. Use a casual but professional tone. Talk to the student like you typically would in person.
4. Be kind! Asking for help takes courage.
5. Explain what you are doing. For example, if you need to get something off-camera, tell the student you’re retrieving something and you’ll be out of frame for a moment.
6. End the conversation by inviting the student back and/or telling them about other virtual support services.

Professionalism and Safety

Working online includes the same kind of professionalism required in person, with a few additional safety considerations. Some tips:

• Dress appropriately.
• Choose a quiet space to work.
• The space visible behind you on camera should be neutral and unidentifiable.
• Never switch to Facetime or give out your phone number.
• For legal reasons and good person reasons, never ask students to disclose personal information such as disabilities, language background, ethnicity, etc. 

Just as we discuss safety in person, the virtual space is the same.

We trust student colleagues to ​validate their own experiences​ -- levels of comfort included. If you ever feel like something is happening or has happened that you’d like to discuss, get feedback on, or report, ​please do not hesitate to contact your director/supervisor​. We value your safety above all else.

REPORTING

To file a report with the university, click here.

Online Reporting:​ The ​Student Conduct, Intervention, & Support website​ provides online incident reporting forms and contact information for use by students, faculty, staff and community members. Issue types addressed include: 

• Incident Report
  • Academic Integrity Violation
  • Alcohol and Drug Self Referral
  • Student Misconduct
  • Student Organization Misconduct
• Title IX Report
• Bias Incident Report
• Discrimination/Harassment Report
• CARE Report

Public Safety:​ The ​Grand Valley Police Department website​ includes telephone numbers for emergency and non-emergency reporting.
Anonymous Reporting:​ ​GVSU Anonymous Reporting​ is available for individuals who prefer to report concerns to the University anonymously through a system hosted by a third-party provider.

Meaghann's Contact Information

Phone Number: 231-260-6185

Email: [email protected]

Vicky's Contact Information

Phone: (616) 331-3898

Email: [email protected]