Academic Advising Syllabus: Advising as Teaching in Action
WEBCAST presented December 12, 2006 (65 minutes - Slidecast format - ISBN No. 978-1-935140-44-3)

In this slidecast (voice-over-PowerPoint) presentation, Karen Thurmond (University of Memphis) and Charlie Nutt (NACADA Executive Director) consider the "common language" that students, faculty, advisors, and administrators need to understand if we are to clearly define outcomes, expectations, and assessment of learning for academic advising.  They discuss how academic advisors can communicate to students the purpose and value of academic advising, the student outcomes for advising, and student and advisor responsibilities.

Many campuses utilize an Academic Advising Syllabus to address these issues. An Academic Advising Syllabus uses a recognized format and language to communicate all the key issues for students regarding their academic advising experiences at their institution. Thurmond and Nutt provide the basics on how to develop and utilize a syllabus as well as offer examples of syllabi being used at institutions today.  Participants learn how an advising syllabus:

• creates a culture of "advising as teaching" on campus
• provides an avenue for articulating student learning outcomes for academic advising
• is developed
• can be implemented on a campus

Participants said:

• We were very glad to see some practical examples of advising syllabi. We also appreciated the discussion of connecting the syllabus with both the mission of the office and with particular student learning outcomes.
• The concept of advising as teaching and learning is critical to changing campus ideas. The examples of what others are using will be helpful as we consider how to implement this concept.
• It gave me some more ideas to include in my new advisor training for a student's first meeting with his/her advisor.
• Our advisors were pleased to pick up tips for the development of a syllabus for advising as well as developing an advising calendar.
• Our community college advising group has been interested in creating a syllabus - this info really helped us organize our thoughts - the examples from other colleges and handouts will help tremendously!
• None of us in our group had even heard of an advising syllabus before. We found it very helpful and can see ways to modify it to make it work at our institution.
• Our advising program here has a protocol for advisement, but we never thought about putting it into a syllabus. We liked this idea the most because the presenters explained in detail the different sections to be included.
• We came away with some ideas on how to "place" advising into the learning process and, in particular, with a syllabus, how to present this concept to faculty and administrators.
• We found the information given which should be included in a syllabus and the examples presented extremely help. This information will help us to create a syllabus appropriate for our Advising program.

Presentation Handout

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Recommended Accompaniment:  Academic Advising Syllabus: Advising as Teaching in Action, 2nd Edition - Pocket Guide #9

Recommended Reading:   Trabant, T.D. (2006). Advising Syllabus 101. NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources.