Jody Owen is director of South Dakota State University’s First Year Advising Center and coordinator for University Academic Advising. In her position, Owen is very aware of the challenges facing students today as they navigate their program plans of study toward a four-year degree. The Center works to educate students on the best options to fit their academic needs. One of those options is earning a Passport. According to Owen, “for our students, earning a Passport gives them the opportunity to celebrate a completion milestone, which brings motivation to the degree completion process. We’ve had only one student transfer in from another Passport Network member so far, but the Passport streamlined his transfer process by ensuring that general education requirements were met without completing a course-by-course transfer process.”
Besides advising students on the benefits of Interstate Passport and training academic advising staff, Owen is also a member of Interstate Passport’s Academic Advisors Committee which focuses on the benefits of Interstate Passport for transfer students and provides recommendations to the Passport Review Board. She presented at the 2017 National Association for College Admission Counseling Annual Conference and led several sessions at the Interstate Passport Train-the-Trainer Workshop for Academic Advisors held in September. Owen commented that “the workshop generated a lot of conversation and ideas for advisors from across the country. It was a great, energizing way to support member institutions and those considering membership in the Interstate Passport program!”