Professional
Growth for Advisors: Strategies for Building Professional Advising
Networks
Robert
Bryant, Agnes
Chagani, Jennifer
Endres, and Jim
Galvin
University
of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Professional
development networks are essential for promoting staff development,
nurturing and retaining talented advisors, providing excellent
student services, conserving scarce resources, and realizing institutional
goals such as improving student retention and graduation rates.
Networks can exist at many levels, including mentoring, office
and unit level meetings, formal training programs, university-wide
collaborations, and multi-institutional organizations. In this
article we will highlight strategies from the University of Minnesota-Twin
Cities (UMTC) to build effective professional development networks
despite the lack of time, money, and resources commonly encountered
by advising professionals.
Training
and professional development are related but distinct. Training
allows advisors to better do their current job while professional
development promotes a range of skills that allow advisors to
grow throughout their career. To be most effective, a professional
development network should foster training and professional development
to allow advisors to unlock their full potential (Dalton, pp. 398-399).
Unfortunately,
many advisors do not have access to professional development,
much less effective training. National data from the NACADA
New Advisor Survey indicate that only 10.7%
of respondents have a formal, well-developed training program.
Many advisors, whether at small institutions or large, decentralized
public universities, work in isolation from colleagues. NACADA
indicates 9% of advisors work alone and 52% work with 1-4 colleagues
(2005, questions 11, 12). Less than half of advisors felt they
received adequate training (Joseph and Carty, para 10). These
factors emphasize need for professional development networks.
Networks
provide many benefits. These include building working relationships
with colleagues, providing updates on trends and policies, furnishing
professional renewal for experienced advisors, providing essential
training and development opportunities, improving satisfaction
and retention rates for advisors, achieving institutional goals,
fostering research in the field of advising, and delivering high-quality
student services.
Networks
promote training and development
Professional
networks take many forms, including individual mentoring, office-level
meetings, formal unit-wide training, institutional, and multi-institutional
networks.
Mentoring
occurs when experienced advisors train and support new advisors.
A seasoned advisor could review a complicated balance sheet prepared
by a new colleague to ensure accuracy and to impart key skills.
The benefits of mentoring are a two-way exchange, however. Not
only does the seasoned advisor share advice and information they
have learned from their years in the profession, but the new advisor
can share the newest research and the energy they bring to the
profession, thus re-energizing the seasoned professional (Koring,
para. 3-4). This is an inexpensive way to ensure
accurate information and referrals are given to students (Love,
p. 508). Mentoring also fosters collegiality and team work within
the office.
Formalized
staff development can be structured into regular one or two hour
brownbag sessions, one day, multi-day or week-long sessions. One
model is to bring together all advisors immediately after new
advisors join the unit and before summer orientation begins. This
time spent together refreshing policies and procedures, and learning
new information and skills provides an invaluable boost to the
unit’s accurate dissemination of information (Koring, para. 3;
Love, p. 508). Bringing advisors together from across campus allows
them to re-connect in ways that are much more meaningful in person
as compared to email or phone.
Networks
facilitate staff development by allowing advisors to present sessions
on one or more areas of interest or specialization, such as diverse
student populations, undecided students, new trends in parental
involvement, study abroad, and FERPA (Farren & Vowell, p.
312). These presentations can be recorded on audio or digital
video and made available online for advisors to use for future
reference or for new colleagues who join the unit later in the
year, thus saving time, money and providing a resource that might
not be possible to duplicate.
Joint
meetings across offices build effective networks. Regularly
scheduled joint staff meetings allow advisors from across the
institution to share information and build working relationships.
Collaborations between academic advisors and career counselors
are also effective. Jointly staffing events like major or career
fairs develops new skill sets that can foster new partnerships,
promote cross-training, and improve seamless student services.
Much like joint staff meetings, these connections bring advisors
together from across campus and encourage staff development. Units
can also support advisor attendance at various informational meetings
such as Pre-Med Day or Pre-Law Day to allow advisors to learn
new information as well as network with other professionals for
the benefit of the advisor and the students. These contacts facilitate
more personalized referrals that can improve the prospects for
students to follow-up on the advisor’s recommendation.
An
academic advising network (AAN) that unites all advisors on a
campus is a particularly effective institutional resource. It
promotes networking among advisors, faculty and administrators
and it delivers updated information about policies, courses and
programs. The AAN fosters the development of new skills among
advisors, which in turn improves the quality of advising and thus
the undergraduate experience for students. For more information
about the AAN at the UMTC, consult the website in the resources
section.
Resources
available to members of the AAN include a listserve, monthly professional
development seminars, an annual professional development conference
and a resource website. The listserve is frequented by both faculty
and advisors to promote programs and courses for students. The
monthly events include brown bag luncheons on various topics for
professional enrichment. Topics can include how to advise specific
populations of students or trends in higher education. The professional
development conference held each spring is hosted by the AAN in
partnership with UMTC central administration. The conference promotes
professional development for advisors and provides recognition
for two professional advisors and two faculty advisors who have
made exemplary contributions to undergraduate education. The AAN
also advocates for enhanced resources for student services and
raises the profile of advisors on campus-wide task forces and
policy-making bodies.
Another
institutional-level networking opportunity at the University
of Minnesota
is the Study Abroad Curriculum
Integration project for academic advisors, faculty, and administrators.
It is designed to boost participation in study abroad programs
and improve four year graduation rates by facilitating training
for advisors to integrate study abroad opportunities into each
student’s undergraduate experience. Beginning in 2001, network
participants began connecting through retreats, workshops, liaison
contacts, programming and site visits to different countries as
ways to better serve the academic needs and goals of students.
According to the Study Abroad Statistics survey, the
project increased the number of students studying abroad by 45%
from 2001 to 2005 (2005, p. 1). The Study Abroad, Non Study
Abroad Graduation Rates survey found that the four year
graduation rate for the class of 2005 was 27% higher for students
who studied abroad than for those who did not (2005, p.1). This
network provides advisors with unique professional development
opportunities and achieves measurable institutional goals.
NACADA
is an excellent venue for networking at a multi-institutional
level. Advisors may choose to be a member of the commissions or
interest groups related to their personal goals and interests,
such as advising for pre-health science students. Updates are
regularly provided by e-mail listserves and on-line. Advisors
may also attend or present at regional or national conferences.
Attending conferences will update advisors on new theories and
offer fresh perspectives on age-old questions, which in turn improves
advising services and outcomes for students. NACADA promotes research
in advising by encouraging advisors to submit articles for publication
in Academic Advising Today , the Clearinghouse of
Academic Advising Resources , and the NACADA Journal
. Book reviews are a manageable entry point for new authors
who eventually wish to publish articles.
Networks
need not always be in-person. Administrators can promote time-saving
and cost-effective networks by supporting online subscriptions
to journals and NACADA Webinars. Electronic networks allow advisors
to examine issues in advising and higher education while providing
flexibility with other time commitments. In addition to the NACADA
publications, advisors may also find Academic Impressions
, Student Affairs.com, and The Chronicle of Higher Education
to be useful. For more information, please visit the resources
section.
Networks
overcome challenges and realize opportunities
Networks
are often neglected because of concerns over time, money and institutional
commitment. However effective networks actually save time and
money, and lead to other qualitative and quantitative benefits.
The most prevalent challenge is time. The time invested in advisor
development must be weighed against improved advisor efficiency,
retention and student satisfaction. To address practical time
constraints, networks can meet at slower times of the year, such
as summer, or utilize lunch hours for brown bags to maximize time
savings. Money is also often seen as a deterrent to participation
in professional networks. Monetary challenges include staff time
away from the office as well as the cost to attend conferences.
Yet conferences are affordable from a cost-benefit perspective.
UMTC Student Services spends less than 1% of the advising budget
to send interested advisors to the NACADA regional conference.
Investing in advisors enhances their skills which are essential
to further their student’s development. According to the NACADA
New Advisor Survey , conferences are seen by new advisors
as the most desirable method of professional development and networking
(2005, question 17). Professional development promotes advisor
morale and retention, improves student services and it is more
cost effective than routinely hiring new advisors.
Institutional
commitment is a related challenge. Leaders need to see how supporting
advising networks will relate to educational outcomes such as
greater diversity, improved graduation rates, and institutional
excellence. The information advisors learn through various networks
will help their students enrich their undergraduate education
and achieve institutional goals.
Professional
advising networks are under-utilized, but are cost effective and
efficient. Highly skilled and well connected advising professionals
are best able to practice advising-as-teaching and developmental
advising. To learn more about the challenges and opportunities
surrounding training and professional development through advising
networks, consult NACADA publications on-line and the NACADA interest
group on professional development.
References
Dalton
, J.C. (2003). Managing Human
Resources. In S.R. Komives, D.B. Woodard Jr., & Associates
(Eds.), Student Services .(pp. 397-419). San
Francisco , CA
: Jossey-Bass.
Farren,
P. and Vowel, F. (2000). Model Training Programs. In V.N Gordon
& W.R. Hadley (eds.), Academic Advising: A Comprehensive
Handbook (pp. 308-323). San
Francisco , CA:
Jossey-Bass
Institutional
Research and Reporting, University of Minnesota . (2005).
Study Abroad, Non Study Abroad Graduation Rates by College. Retrieved
September 29, 2006 from the Learning Abroad Center
web site: http://www.umabroad.umn.edu/ci/stats/graduationRatesOverall.pdf
Joseph,
C and Carty H. (2003). Advising Administrator’s and Academic Adviser’s
Perceptions of Group Dynamics in the Workplace 2003 Results. Retrieved
February 7, 2006 from the
NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources web site:
http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/Research_Related/Survey
Koring,
H.(2005). Adviser Training & Development . Retrieved
September 26, 2006
from the NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources web
site: http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/adv_training.htm
Love,
P. (2003). Advising & Consultation. In S.R. Komives, D.B.
Woodard Jr., & Associates (Eds.), Student Services
(pp. 507-524). San Francisco,
CA:
Jossey-Bass.
National
Academic Advising Association New Adviser Survey (2005). Retrieved
February 26, 2006
from the NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources web
site: https://surveys.ksu.edu/Survey/PublicReport?offeringId=45177
Study
Abroad Statistics for the University
of Minnesota
– Twin Cities: 1997-2005 (2005).
Retrieved September 29, 2006
from the Learning
Abroad
Center
web site: http://www.umabroad.umn.edu/ci/stats/UMTC_stats.html
Web
Resources
Cite
this resource using APA style as:
Bryant, R., Chagani, A., Endres, J. and Galvin. J. (2006). Professional
Growth for Advisors: Strategies for Building Professional Advising
Networks. Retrieved -insert today's date- from NACADA Clearinghouse
of Academic Advising Resources Web site:
http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/Professional-development.htm
