Merrimack College Academic Advising Notebook

How often are academic advising and career advising conflated?

How should peer advisors be utilized?

Does an advisor need experience in conflict resolution, mediation, or crisis management?

What does professionalism in an advising office look like?

Should current students ever be given access to advisors’ social media?

Is it acceptable to make your office and your advising meetings parent-free zones?

How do you respectfully set and keep time limits for meetings (especially on busy days)?

Should academic advising offices have a group advising philosophy that all advisors operate under?

What transferrable skills come out of an academic advising career?

Personal Goals for My First Year as an Academic Advisor

Memorize and apply the NACADA Academic Advising Core Competencies, Core Values of Academic Advising, Pillars of Academic Advising, and the CAS Standards in Academic Advising 

Create a living, regularly updated FAQ document

Begin or join a reading group focused on mastering the art of advising 

Make email templates for common questions

Foster a casual or serious mentorship with a professional in the field

Develop a personal definition of academic advising

Attend advisor training beyond the informational component

Advise a student-led club or organization 

Draft a personal method of solving ethical dilemmas for accountability

Choose on student development theory to master and dive in 

Continue observing veterans of the field for more best practices

Add learning strategies to my list of advising tools

Track and reflect upon learning opportunities in an advising journal

Self-Authorship: advising that “emphasizes the development of an individual’s capacity to balance critical evaluations of informations, personal beliefs and values, and relationships with others when setting goals and taking action” (Drake et al., 121, 2013)

Believes in students’ abilities to draw upon personal values and past experiences to create meaning and make decisions aligned with their core identities

Good for students making extrinsically motivated decisions and students at times of crossroads

Utilizes reflective interviewing and conversations while avoiding problem solving tendencies 

Support and challenge are balanced as advisors validate student experiences and help students learn to trust themselves and their inner voices

Proactive Advising: advising that includes “intentional institutional contact with students such that personnel and students develop a caring relationship that leads to increased academic motivation and persistence” (Drake et al., 137, 2013)

Intervening advising approach that gives students the resources and information they need before they even think they need it 

Encourages relationship building before crisis situations in order to lower both the stressful and time consuming aspects of crisis management

Especially effective for students with academic struggles or first generation students as well as during specific times of the year (first 3 weeks, middle of the first semester, and between terms)

Advising as Coaching: advising that utilizes “the practices of effective professional coaching” (Drake et al., 159, 2013)

One-to-one advising style that focuses around performance improvement and behavior changes

Three levels: developmental, individual, and decision making

Tips for New Academic Advisors

Know your students’ names.

You are allowed to ask specifically what students need from you.

Assume good intentions from students, staff, and peers.

The difference between advising and counseling is in scope.

Be fully present in advising appointments. Limit distractions.

Nonverbal listening is powerful.

Patience can make or break an advisory meeting.

There are different levels of boundaries depending on the context of the situation.

We are turning lights on in dark rooms, not leading students by their hands.

The danger in connection occurs when rapport building transforms into oversharing.

The mission, vision, and goals of your institution compile the culture of your college.

Use language effectively and be open to changing language.

Keep track of everything. Take notes and make physical copies.

Not all questions yield the same kinds of responses.

Ask what is going well.

Protect yourself and your students by modeling behaviors.

Never take agency away. Always let students make their own choices and let them know their choices are their own.

Remember that information from other people can be inaccurate or biased.

Saying no is okay and healthy.

Honor emotions.

Embrace reality.

Process new information and debrief after tough situations with a trusted peer or supervisor.

Reflect often and assist people who feel stuck in the restorying process. 

Think about your own thought processes.

Power struggles are lose-lose situations.

Important Legal and Ethical Information for Academic Advisors

Resources to assist decision-making processes:

NACADA Statement of Core Values of Academic Advising

Guidelines from the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education

“Advisors are responsible

to the individuals they advise. for involving others, when appropriate, in the advising process. to their institutions. to higher education. to their educational community. for their professional practices and for themselves personally.” (Folsom et al., p. 56, 2015)

Ethical ideals:

beneficence,

nonmaleficence,

justice,

respect, 

fidelity

Steps to make ethical decisions:

Uncover the main issue.

Think about all policies and procedures that can affect the decision.

Apply each ethical principle.

Determine unethical behaviors.

Act honestly.

Brainstorm potential solutions and all of their consequences.

Take note and keep track of every related action.

Act efficiently. 

Tie up loose ends.

Reflect on personal values and past ethical decisions. 

All of the above information was adapted from The New Advisor Guidebook.

Tips for handling legal issues in academic advising:

Address the university’s legal council with any questions/concerns

FERPA is tied to the funding of a university and a student’s directory information

FERPA does not protect applicants

Always acquire written permission if there are any doubts or concerns

Check on requests for student information with supervisors 

Resources on legal issues affecting academic advisors:

http://nacadajournal.org/doi/pdf/10.12930/0271-9517-18.2.40?code=naaa-site

Motivational Interviewing: "a collaborative, person-centered partnership of guidance to elicit and strengthen motivation for change” (Drake et al., 67, 2013)

Notes discrepancies between where student believes they are and where they actually are (without forcing the student into changing) 

Works on making lasting changes by creating action plans with students through thoughtful questioning and building intrinsic motivation

Guides students through ambivalence about change without judging or belittling their emotions 

Appreciative Advising: an advising method involving six phases that involves “the intentional and collaborative practice of asking positive, open-ended questions that help student optimize their educational experiences and achieve their dreams, goals, and potentials” (Drake et al., 83, 2013)

Includes brainstorming about solutions to problem situations that might arise (thorough future planning)

Encourages both students and advisors to strive for self-improvement even when immediate goals are met

Pays careful attention toward making students comfortable right at the beginning of advising appointments in order to promote learning and a growth mindset by eliminating as much fear as possible

Strengths-Based Advising: advising that encourages students to assess their strengths in order to “engage students in the learning process and motivate them to fulfill their potential” (Drake et al., 105, 2013)

Takes deliberate time during appointments to identify and focus on student strengths (through tests or self-identification)

Engages with students’ futures by promoting strengths building as one way to use learned talents and skills when solving problems outside the academic advising offices

Learning Goals for My First Year as an Academic Advisor

Conceptual

Understands the CAS Standards and NACADA Statement of Core Values and Academic Advising

Conceptualizes ways advising practices relate to the Pillars of Advising and the concept of student success

Knows the role of an advisor on campus, the campus mission, an individual mission statement, and a personal definition of academic advising

Requests feedback, understands office expectations, and explores professional development opportunities 

Demonstrates knowledge of ethical principles and follows guidelines for resolving dilemmas

Chooses one theory to practice for mastery in advising scenarios while simultaneously becoming more comfortable with student development theories as a whole 

Creates and upholds an advising philosophy 

Informational

Comprehends all necessary university policies and procedures

Uses resources and supervisors to obtain unknown information

Understands all academic program and general education program requirements and sequences and can communicate them clearly to students 

Reviews student progress through programs regularly 

Knows course descriptions and can effectively lead students to good course decisions based on their skills and interests

Refers students to outside resources and student support services

Provides students with relevant information about professional certification and licensure, volunteer opportunities, and other community and professional resources

Understands legal issues in advising, the university’s legal processes, and all relevant legal principles that affect advising

Explains the necessary preparation for internships, professional opportunities, and careers 

Summarizes important university data about the student body (test scores, GPA, etc.) and links that data to advising caseload

Researches and describes resources and services to special student populations

Works toward developing cultural competency and awareness of values and biases brought to advising from life experiences

Uses technology well, utilizes tools and checklists, and organizes information

Relational 

Effectively communicates, actively listens, asks intentional questions, and refers when necessary

Utilizes pre-established interview frameworks during student interactions 

Assists students in making difficult or challenging academic or career-based decisions

Dualistic Development (Perry)

Students move from a dualistic, binarized understanding of the world toward relativism and eventually a commitment to lifelong development

Reasons for Student Departure (Tinto)

Students committed to their campus and their community academically and socially are less likely to leave college

Seven Vectors (Chickering)

Students must complete tasks including developing competence, managing emotions and establishing identity while in college in order to reach a developed state of being 

Hierarchy of Needs/Sense of Belonging (Maslow)

Students will only meet their highest potential if their basic needs are met first 

Self-Authorship (Magolda)

Students transition from following external forcing to coming to understand their inner drives and values by facing difficult choices

Some sources of further reading: 

https://sharepoint.louisville.edu/sites/SIGS/Documents/P_student-dev-theory-01-21-2011.pdf

https://advising.ucsc.edu/advisers/forum/docs/2015/StudentDevelopmentTheoryPPT.pdf

https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1029&context=fpml

Advising Tools

MBTI

Strengths Finder 2.0

Values in Action Inventory of Strengths

Realise2

College Student Inventory

True Colors

DiSC Personality Test

Big Five Personality Test

Advising as Teaching: advising is an educational process with effective methods and practitioners (Drake et al., 18-19, 2013)

Utilizes guided practices 

Values lesson planning and reflective tools

Stresses importance of hook and marketability

Affirmative, enthusiastic, and affording students the opportunity to learn

Learning-Centered Advising: advising that acknowledges and supports learning as a process done in and out of the classroom through proven tools and techniques (Drake et al., 35-16, 2013)

Stresses that students are learners 

Importance placed on growing sense of student independence (from advisors, outside influences, etc.)

Encourages active student involvement with advising processes 

Fostering a sense of motivation is key

Developmental Advising: advising that stresses the importance of the whole student, including the skills and abilities that translate from academics to careers and beyond (Drake et al., 45, 2013)

Advisors should explore their own identities to assist others in doing the same

Modeling and recognizing the strengths/challenges students have with higher education

Growth is the key measurement of student success