Academic Advising Exploring past, present, future Maura Reynolds Hope College

1
Academic AdvisingExploring past, present,
futureMaura ReynoldsHope College
2
In medieval times, a preceptor shared his
knowledge with his students
3
In 1841, Kenyon College (Ohio)uses the term
advisor
4
In the 1880s,a system of faculty advisors was
established at Johns Hopkins.
5

• Advising is a process with a long and dignified
  history in colleges and universities
• it is a most cordially hated activity by the
  majority of college teachers.
• Personnel and Guidance Journal, 1953

6

• In the 1960s,
• two new delivery systems were introduced
• Centralized advising centers
• Peer professional advisors

7
In 1972, Terry OBanion outlined five
dimensions of advisinglife goalsvocational
goalsprogram choicescourse choicesscheduling
options
8
In 1977,300 people attended a national
meetingabout academic advising.Over the next 2
years, NACADA was established.
9
In 1970s and 1980s, developmental advising

• Became the dominant paradigm
• Extended advising beyond scheduling
• Drew on student development theory
• Emphasized shared responsibility

10
Learning-Centered d Advising

• Academically focused
• Student focused
• Mission focused
• Advisors facilitators
• Students active
• 2006

11

• Academic advising is integral to fulfilling the
  teaching and learning mission of higher
  education.
• NACADA Concept of Academic Advising
• Preamble, 2006

12
An excellent advisor does the same for the
students entire curriculum that the excellent
teacher does for one course.
Marc Lowenstein, 2005
13

• Perhaps the most urgent reform on most campuses
  in improving general education involves academic
  advising.
• To have programs and courses become coherent and
  significant to students requires adequate
  advising.
• Task Force on General Education
• Association of American Colleges
• 1988

14

• Advising focuses on enhancing students efforts
  to make sense of their education
• as a whole,
• not as a series of isolated experiences or items
  on a checklist.

15

• Learning-centered advising raises questions like
• What should students learn through advising?
• How might they learn these things?
• Why is this learning importantfor students and
  our institutions?

16

• ?learning-centered advising aims to
• help students make connections among courses and
  experiences and integrate their learning
• help students articulate the skills they are
  developing
• help students identify realistic goals pathways
  to reach them

17

• ?learning-centered advising aims to
• foster students self-assessment
• help students understand the relevance of their
  education to their lives
• help students make sense of their experiences
  make good decisions about them

18

• What excellent teachers do
• Actively engage students in learning
• Teach students how to evaluate information
• Give feedback, encouragement, reinforcement
• Show knowledge, interest, enthusiasm

19
Advisors ask What, Why, and How Questions

• How are you changing as a result of your
  education?
• What are your goals for your education?
• Why do you want to major in English, in
  accounting, in political science?
• How can you make the most of your time in
  college?
• What skills are you developing? What skills do
  you need to develop, and how will you do this?

20
At key pointsan academic advisor asked
questions or posed a challenge, that forced
students to think about the relationship of their
academic work to their personal lives.Richard
Light, Making the Most of College
21
In recent years colleges and universities have
been working to become more intentional both
about the purposes of
education and about the practices that help
todays students succeed in college. Peer
Review, Toward Intentionality and Integration,
Fall 2008, Carol Geary Schneider
22
Its hard to imagine any academic function more
important to student success and institutional
productivity than advising.

• George Kuh, The student learning agenda NACADA
  Journal,1997

23
Students who met with their academic advisors at
least twice during the academic year engaged more
frequently in educationally purposeful activities.

• National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) 2007

24
Students who rated advising as good or
excellent? were more likely to interact with
faculty? considered their environment more
supportive overall? gained more from college in
most areas

• NSSE, 2005

25
Effective retention programs have come to
understand that academic advising is at the very
core of successful institutional efforts to
educate and retain students.

• Vincent Tinto, 1993

26
Advising is a tag-team activity
27
Institutions need to

• Create a shared vision of student success,
  embedded in the mission and culture
• Set high expectations for students, in and out of
  the classroom, and balance challenge and support
• Establish policies, practices, resources to
  support student success.
• Advisors should play important roles in these
  initiatives!

28
Four questions to consider when organizing or
reorganizing advising

• Who is advised?
• Who advises?
• Where is advising done?
• How are advising responsibilities divided?

29
Advising is more important than everissues now
and in the future

• Cost of higher education
• Changing regulations
• State of economy and job market
• Expectations of students and families
• Pressure to retain and graduate on time
• Increasing demands decreasing resources

30

• Peer/group advising/career planning
• Advising special populations (rising potentials,
  first-years, undecideds)
• Engaging students with technology and social
  media
• Developing advising handbooks
• Developing a mission statement
• Ethical aspects of advising
• Applying development theories
• Assessment-retention-development