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Frequently Asked Questions from Academic
Advising: Campus Collaborations to Foster Retention
Q.
Do you have any suggestions of strong, sound incentives for professional
advisors who are not faculty and do not have the benefit of a
tenure/promotion track system?
One might consider some sort of career
ladder for advisors so that they could to perceive that promotion
is possible. Substantial financial assistance to attend conferences,
such as NACADA national and regional conferences might also help.
Obviously the incentives for each adviser might be different depending
upon his/her time spent in advising, commitment to the profession,
etc. Professional development should be a strong component in
the administration of advising and all supervisors of advisors
should take the time to ascertain what the incentives are for
each employee.
Eric
White, Ed.D.
Penn
State University
' 05 NACADA President
Q.
Where is the best place to house the professional academic advising
unit? Academic affairs or student affairs?
There
is no blanket answer to this question.....other than the placement
of advising must fit the institution's culture, its mission, and
the needs of its students. Most of all, advising is a collaboration
which must span academic/student affairs
boundaries to be successful. I think I would have the ideal situation
if the advising program had the influence, power, and budget of
the academic affairs side of the institution while having an underlying
student development philosophy.
Wes
Habley
ACT, Inc.
'86-87
NACADA President
Q.
Frequent, quality contact is the most important factor for retention.
Do you have any suggestions for part-time advisors to improve
total contacts with students?
Part-time advisors are particularly troubled by the fact that
students have full-time lives and need to see them on *their*
schedule, not the schedule allowed by the college's contract.
Email or voice mail can only address part of the problem. The
critical issue is letting your advisees know when and how they
can get in touch with you. Electronic
contacts can communicate hours available and best means to
be in contact. Use any and all at your command. Students burn
out with electronic contacts so it is also critical to send at
least one *short* handwritten note each semester. Once you get
a student into your office, don't let them leave until they have
scheduled their next meeting. If the initial contact is for a
"quickie" be sure to schedule a solid half-hour for getting to
know hopes and dreams. If the initial contact is longer and more
reflective, set up a shorter followup to see steps they have taken
to explore issues raised. Remember, they don't leave without an
appointment reminder slip!
Victoria A.
McGillin
Linfield College
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