Like many advising offices around the world, I am a one-person shop. I oversee our institution’s Student Success Center in additional to my advising office. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was also tasked to create an online exam proctoring office without any supplemental funding or manpower. At my wit’s end, I became desperate for ways I could use to be more effective and efficient in my work. I am sharing the ways and tools that have been most life-changing for me:

New Ways to use Current Connections

Campus Offices and Student Organizations (SOs)

• Cross-training so offices can answer general questions of other offices and SOs.
• Mandatory advising
  • Other offices require students to be advised by my office as needed.
  • SOs also provide active member points to members for advising.
• Event partnering:
  • Shared event Google Sheets to avoid overlapping events.
  • Advertise each other’s events and share social media posts
    • Helps offices and SOs be more efficient and effective and look more uniform overall.
    • Avoids human error in posts.

Professional School Mentorship Program

• Mentors are those recently accepted, are currently attending, or graduated from health professional school.
• Engagement options: mentoring, reviewing application materials, providing mock interviews, or being a workshop guest speaker.
• Send email invitation including links to registration Google Form and informational web page as they come.

Google Tools

Email: Watch Jeff Su’s video first

• Create multiple inboxes
• Establish labels based on your needs
• Filter email addresses based on your labels
• Cons
  • Initially time-consuming
  • Requires constant maintenance
• Pros
  • Once set up, it is extremely effective
  • Quickly prioritizes emails

• Boomerang
  • Provides availability polls directly in email
  • Creates a Google Calendar event for all parties once appointment is scheduled
  • Updates availability so there is no double booking

Calendar

• Change the week view to start on Monday to see the week in its entirety
• View two time zones simultaneously
• Coordinate colors with email labels

Sheets

• Create student templates for:
  • Academic planning
  • Logging experiences
  • Tracking professional school requirements
  • Application checklist that includes a timeline and links to more information
• Lending Library shows resource availability without having to come to our office

Easy and Free Applications

Vidyard

• Easy screen recording browser extension
• Various recording and sharing options
• Edit videos and track views
• Uses
  • Reply verbally to emails that require longer, more complex responses
  • Send recording links of answers to FAQs
  • Provide feedback on application materials
  • Give input on office tasks and projects

Trello

• Project management
• Provides many options including attachments, chat, and taking notes.
• Uses:
  • Track personal projects
  • Oversee large projects
  • Train peer advisors
  • Manage office tasks and projects

Discord

• Group texting
• Can tag specific people
• Records all messages
• Use: track and communicate about anything that goes on at the front desk

I strongly encourage you to be open to new and different opportunities that arise as I have found that in doing so, I have found new ways and tools that have made me much more effective and efficient as an academic advisor.

Kiana Shiroma
Director, Pre-Health/Pre-Law Advising Center
Interim Director, Student Success Center
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
kianak@hawaii.edu