Youre the Advisor, Advise Me. Encouraging Student Independence.

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Youre the Advisor, Advise Me. Encouraging
Student Independence.

• Reggie E. Tolbert Melissa Matevia
• College of Liberal Arts Sciences
• University of Florida

2005 NACADA National Conference Concurrent
Session 346
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Who Are Todays Advisors?

• Lets Discuss It!

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Veterans/traditionalists 1920s-1940s

• Transition period from agricultural industry to
  manufacturing industry
• Disciplined, respect for history, conforming,
  logical
• Important faculty and administrators
• Advisors value fairness, impartiality, mediation,
  and can be resistant to change

4
Boomers 1940s-1960s

• Cultural and historical landmarks were very
  influential-postwar, increase in production and
  consumerism
• Administrators and high level faculty, senior
  advisors

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Boomers 1940s-1960s Cont.

• Optimistic, competitive, service oriented,
  uncomfortable with conflict
• Advisors are strong team players and they are
  very service oriented

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Generation X 1960s-1980s

• Changing family roles and make-up, information
  age.
• Self-reliant, practical, skeptical,
  straight-forward.
• New faculty and more responsible administrative
  positions, professional advisors moving up.

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Gen X Continued

• Advisors prefer to work alone, are adaptable, but
  frustrated with bureaucracy.
• They prefer to be direct and will challenge
  students.

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Todays College Students

• Millennial generation mid 1980s-present (Howe
  and Strauss)
• Technologically savvy-internet age
• Education-oriented, multi-taskers
• Consumers-trendy/fads
• May be graduate students or peer advisors

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The Millennials

• Special
• Sheltered
• Confident
• Team-oriented
• Conventional
• Pressured
• Achieving

• Helicopter parents.
• This is a group of parents who have been more
  involved in their childs development since in
  utero than any other generation in American
  history.
• Helen Johnson dont tell me what to do, just
  send money.

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Emerging Adulthood

• Definition
• Demographics-shifts in the last 50 years
• Developmental theory
• -Erikson
• -Levinson
• -Keniston
• EA and millennial students

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Developmental Advising

• Developmental advising tasks include agreements
  between advisor and advisee regarding who takes
  the initiative, who takes responsibility, and how
  knowledge and skill are obtained. (Crookston,
  1972)

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Prescriptive Advising

• The prescriptive model places the responsibility
  for decision making with the advisor therefore,
  if the decision does not turn out to be in the
  students best interest, the advisor is at
  fault. (Crookston, 1972)

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Shifting Expectations of Students and Parents

• Advisors should make decisions for the student so
  they may be successful.
• Advisors/university should inform them of rules,
  regulations, deadlines, etc.
• Advisors should have little to no delay when
  responding to inquiries from students.

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Shifting Expectations Cont.

• Rules do not apply to the individual (special).
• Students can do anything that they set their
  minds to.
• Advisors are the experts and therefore
  accountable to students.

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Expectations of the Real WorldWhats Missing?

• Decision making
• Critical thinking/problem-solving/comprehension
• Cant work independently or show initiative-over
  programmed
• Outcome oriented versus process oriented

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Expectations of the Real WorldWhats Missing?
(Cont)

• Tend to choose careers based on than on
  interests, skills and aptitudes
• Inflated sense of abilities
• Inability to delay gratification and think long
  term
• Poor organizational and time management skills

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Can We Meet Halfway?

• Lets Discuss It!

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Can We Meet Halfway? Some Strategies.

• Balance group experiences with individual
  experiences
• Communicate with students in their mediums
• Business advising model
• Experiment with structure
• Deliver reality-based advising
• Develop flexibility in advising services
• Learn how learning takes place

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Conclusions

• Be a role model
• Challenge students
• Allow students to utilize one another
• Introduce humor
• Create a respectful environment for differing
  ideas
• Be flexible