Academic Advising Exploring past present future Maura Reynolds

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

In medieval times, a preceptor shared his knowledge with his students

In 1841, Kenyon College (Ohio) uses the term “advisor”

In the 1880 s, a system of faculty advisors was established at Johns Hopkins.

“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

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

In 1972, Terry O’Banion outlined five dimensions of advising life goals vocational goals program choices course choices scheduling options

In 1977, 300 people attended a national meeting about academic advising. Over the next 2 years, NACADA was established.

In 1970 s and 1980 s, developmental advising: n Became the dominant paradigm n Extended advising beyond scheduling n Drew on student development theory n Emphasized shared responsibility

Learning-Centered Advising • • • d Academically focused Student focused Mission focused Advisors = facilitators Students = active 2006

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

“An excellent advisor does the same for the student’s entire curriculum that the excellent teacher does for one course. ” Marc Lowenstein, 2005

“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

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.

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

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

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

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

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?

“At key points… an 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

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 today’s students succeed in college. Peer Review, Toward Intentionality and Integration, Fall 2008, Carol Geary Schneider

“It’s 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

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

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 NSSE, 2005 most areas

“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

Advising is a tag-team activity Academic departments First-year seminar Career and life planning Academic Advising New student orientation Registration and records Learning communities Admissions and testing

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

Four questions to consider when organizing or reorganizing advising n Who is advised? n Who advises? n Where is advising done? n How are advising responsibilities divided?

Advising is more important than ever—issues now and in the future n Cost of higher education Changing regulations n State of economy and job market n Expectations of students and families n Pressure to retain and graduate “on time” n Increasing demands; decreasing resources n

n n n n 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