A
Guide to Restructuring Advising Services
Marsha
Miller
Kansas
State University
NACADA
Assistant Director,
Resources & Services
There
are few things more daunting than being told that you will chair
the institution's effort to restructure academic advising. You
will find that expectations vary across campus from those who
want to keep the current system, to those who expect the implementation
of major structural changes yesterday! Everyone has an opinion
and many will want you to listen and act on their particular one.
I speak from experience.
In a former position, I was appointed to chair a group charged
with revamping the college's academic advising system. The next
2 ½ years were daunting, but we survived and our efforts were
rewarded. Not only did student satisfaction increase, so did student
retention. We were honored when the advising
program we created was selected to receive the NACADA Outstanding
Advising Program award and the Noel-Levitz citation for Retention
Excellence. Still, fulfilling
our charge was not easy; we made mistakes and took detours, but
we persevered. Based upon what we learned, I would make the
following suggestions to those charged with revamping their advising
services.
First,
I would suggest that you make sure you have the support of the
chief administrative officers on your campus. Real change is not
likely unless you have their backing. Then look at your
committee. (If you don't have a committee, form one! This is not
a one-person operation.) Without exceeding 12 members, (a necessity
for logistics purposes), make sure that all campus constituencies
are represented. If your committee's recommendations are to be
viewed as unbiased, then you must include students, faculty, staff,
and administration from different sides of the restructuring issue.
The
first task on the committee's agenda should be discussing how
to approach the the task. Start with the Clearinghouse's
list of factors to consider when restructuring
academic advising.
Next,
look carefully at what services are needed by students. Survey
your students and faculty; find out what they think. Are their
needs being met with the current system? If not, what are
each group's top three priorities for change?
Research
various advising program structure models. Celeste Pardee offers
primer on advising structures
with the Comprehensive
Handbook providing a more in-depth coverage as do the pocket
guide and CD Academic
Advising Delivery Systems. Also look at the Clearinghouse
of Academic Advising Resources that provide data
regarding each model's use. Your group should discuss the
various models and decide which model (or combination of models)
best addresses your campus needs. Once you have chosen a possible
model, decide what advisors will be needed (faculty, staff, peer
advisors, or a combination thereof).
Seek
out others who have revamped their campus advising programs. Check
the Awards section
of the NACADA web site looking at the programs in all of the categories.
It's a good bet that you will find a program similar to the one
your group would like to implement. When you find a program that
is close to your ideal, search the institution's site and contact
the program director.
Post
questions on a NACADA listserv; individuals on these lists can direct you to other programs
utilizing a system close to your ideal.
Look at the Clearinghouse's retention
resources. Note the link to the Noel-Levitz database of award-winning
retention programs. The Noel-Levitz
site allows you to search by institution type, type of retention
program (including advising), year of award, and institution name.
Contact these programs. Also
in the Clearinghouse, find the link to ACT retention
rates by institutional types. You will want to refer to these
when making any retention comparisons.
Read
Academic Advising:
A Comprehensive Handbook. Some consider this book
to be the 'bible' of academic advising.
Attend
NACADA state
or regional
meetings. We made some of our
most productive contacts at our regional conference by simply
telling people what we were doing and asking who had an outstanding
program. Talk with program directors and visit programs near you.
Take two or three committee members with you to visit programs;
nothing helps committee members understand possibilities better
than seeing for themselves.
Consider
the NACADA Consultants
and Speakers Service. Consultants provide personal, and reasonably priced,
assistance to colleges and universities reviewing and reorganizing
advising services. In addition, the Bureau can supply a speaker
who will come to your campus and address your specific needs.
Last,
but most certainly not least, one of the most valuable
resources for those restructuring advising, is the NACADA Academic
Advising Summer Institute
(SI). The week-long Institute provides high quality general
sessions, concurrent topical workshops, and daily small group
discussions. Participants leave with a customized plan of action
for their campus advising services. Unfortunately we did not discover
SI until we were almost through the process. We would have saved
over a year's worth of work if we'd only gone to Summer Institute
in the first place. It's that valuable.
Good
luck in improving advising on your campus. It can be a difficult
task but one that is certainly worth doing. The efforts will make
a world of difference for your students.
Marsha
Miller
NACADA
Assistant Director,
Resources & Services
Read
More About It! Annotated Bibliography dealing with this
issue
Anttonen, R.G. & White, M. M. (2010).
The Advocates Skill Set: Lessons Learned for Building, Maintaining, or Restructuring Advising Programs in Lean Budget Times in Academic Advising Today 33(2). Retrieved from http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/AAT/NW33_2.htm#6
- Excellent discussion that includes strategies for navigating the political waters of an institution.
Crockett, D.S. (1988).
Recommendations. In Advising Skills, Techniques
and Resources: A compilation of materials related to the organization
and delivery of advising services . (pp. 857-8). ACT: Iowa City,
IA.
- This list of 51 considerations includes
management of advising, advising policy, evaluation, advisor
contact and load, delivery of advising services, recognition
and reward of advisors, advisor training and development, advising
information system and selection of advisors. This list
was posted on my wall during our restructure project.
Epithelium, Herta, "Changing the campus
environment," NACADA Journal, 14(1): 32-37.
- Good overview of the campus change
process through the eyes of an academic advisor. The author
presents a method for proposing and implement campus innovation
along with a case study from her campus. Note: you may
order this article if
you do not have access to this NACADA Journal issue
through a library on your campus.
Freeman, L.C. (2008).
Establishing
Effective Advising Practices to Influence Student Learning and
Success. Peer Review 10(1): 12-14.
