Academic
Advising Syllabi
Advising
Syllabus 101
Tonya
McKenna Trabant
Cross-College
Advising Service
University
of Wisconsin
- Madison
What
is an advising syllabus and why should it be utilized? An advising
syllabus, whether used by individual advisors or by whole units,
offers many benefits that can enhance our work with and for students.
In addition, creating an advising syllabus can be the catalyst
that leads to important explorations and questions about the role
of advising on our campuses.
In
essence, an advising syllabus is a tool which allows individual
advisors or offices to outline the advising relationship and experience
for their advisees. Use of this tool is grounded in our understanding
that advising is essential to the educational mission of our institutions.
On the majority of our campuses, course syllabi are a regular
part of every student's classroom education. However, the role
of our advisees' co-curricular experiences is not often as clearly
defined even though literature indicates that student success
highly correlates to activities outside of the classroom (see
Cress et al., 2001, Higbee, 2002, Pascarella & Terenzini,
1991).
Advisors
often help students navigate between curricular and co-curricular
issues; an advising syllabus is one way we can help students close
the gap between the two. For example, advisors model and teach
life and professional skills that support student academic success.
Additionally, advising is one of the few resources students find
consistent from semester to semester; thus it is at the center
of student education.
Generally
speaking, most advising syllabi have eight main elements.
-
First
and foremost, an advising syllabus must be relevant to the specific
campus, office or advising philosophy. Some situations may call
for a short two-page overview while others may require a longer,
more detailed review.
-
The advising syllabus should adhere to the course syllabus guidelines
used by campus faculty. It is important to use the tool in a
recognizable and consistent format for students and campus stakeholders.
-
The syllabus should include a three to five sentence definition
of advising and/or the advising mission statement used on campus.
Some campus syllabi include historical definitions of advising
(see http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/Research_Related/definitions.htm),
while others use a definition crafted for their specific campus
or student population.
-
Clear contact information is necessary so students can easily
contact the correct advising office.
-
An advising syllabus should include a set of student expectations
and/or responsibilities; when these are clearly delineated we
can legitimately hold students responsible for their part of
the advising relationship.
-
Likewise, an advising syllabus should include a corresponding
list of responsibilities and/or expectations for advisors; if
we expect to hold students accountable then we must do the same
ourselves.
-
Advising syllabi should include expected outcomes of advising.
Students must easily understand how advising impacts their success.
These outcomes may differ widely from office to office or campus
to campus, but they are an important method for communicating
and measuring our impact on students' lives.
-
The
final element includes tools, resources, and/or recommendations
for students. For example, a syllabus can include calendars
of advising events and appointment times, book or Web site recommendations,
detailed location descriptions, or a blank line for advisors
to personalize the syllabus with a recommendation.
Why should
we define the advising relationship for our advisees? How do we
communicate our expectations to them? Benefits of advising syllabi
range from the discussion of large philosophical issues to the
delineation of concrete, everyday ways to help students. Creation
of a syllabus encourages us to write and commit to an advising
philosophy and a definition of our work. Although these statements
of our beliefs may not differ significantly from the departmental
mission (and it is important that they not conflict), crafting
of such statements is a useful way to communicate with various
stakeholders. Advisees benefit from knowing how advisors define
advising; parents appreciate knowing what they can and cannot
expect from their child's advisor. In addition, an explicit explanation
of the work of advising can be an invaluable tool to communicate
with colleagues and administrators.
The
U.S.
worldview is predominantly western; this means that we have strong
preferences for explicit, written expectations and instructions.
An advising syllabus caters to this preference by collecting expectations
and pertinent advising information in one uncomplicated format.
Without an advising syllabus, students often are left to "figure
it out" on their own; this practice means that students can overlook
key information.
If
we fail to share our procedures and expectations with advisees,
we miss an opportunity to carve out a place for advising in the
student's education. When we state a dual set of expectations,
we hold ourselves and our students accountable for the appropriate
parts of our relationship. If we take a developmental view of
advising (see http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/dev_adv.htm),
an advising syllabus can support students' active engagement in
their education. Instead of simply receiving information, students
are explicitly expected and encouraged to fully participate in
the advising relationship. Furthermore, when we state expectations
and outcomes we naturally create assessment parameters.
An
advising syllabus also helps counter inappropriate expectations.
Some questions that may be addressed include "Will my advisor
tell me what classes to take?", "What can I talk about with my
advisor?", and "How are advisors different from my high school
guidance counselor?" Furthermore, since syllabi are widely used
on most campuses, we benefit from the familiar format; students,
faculty, and administrators recognize that syllabi define a certain
experience and are educational tools.
As
with any tool, advising syllabi present both benefits and challenges.
While the benefits may outweigh the challenges, it is important
that we actively discuss the challenges in order to reap the most
benefit from an advising syllabus.
- The first challenge is that until
we introduce an advising syllabus on campus, no one expects
to find one.
- One logical place to distribute
an advising syllabus to all advisees may not exist.
- The institutionalization of an
advising syllabus may require a cultural shift in your office
or campus.
- The syllabi format was designed
for another purpose. As such, some of our colleagues may feel
that we are inappropriately co-opting a strategy that does not
fit our work. Some faculty advisors respond positively to the
idea of an advising syllabus because it is a familiar format
while others are alienated by our use of a classroom tool.
- Students may note that the consequences
for not meeting the expectations laid out in an advising syllabus
differ from the consequences for missing an exam or a class
assignment. Since co-curricular experience is neither time nor
evaluation bound in the same ways as a course, consequences
are difficult to articulate in a syllabus.
- It can be difficult to be comprehensive
in an advising syllabus; finding a balance between everything
students need to know about advising and a summary of vital
information is crucial.
- While the outcomes we develop
for our advising syllabus can help us assess our work, it may
be difficult to assess the efficacy of an advising syllabus
itself. How will we know if the actual syllabus helped our students
understand the outcomes and their responsibilities?
Addressing
these challenges can be daunting; however, with patience and persistence
we can create another beneficial way to advocate for advising
and our advisees. Despite, and perhaps because of, these challenges,
an advising syllabus is a worthy consideration for all advisors.
Its many benefits help us create an understanding that advising
is essential to the education and success of our students.
Find
examples of advising syllabi currently in use in the Clearinghouse
of Academic Advising Resources at http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/Links/syllabi.htm
References
Cress,
C.M., Astin, H.S., Zimmerman-Oster, K., & Burkhardt, J.C.
(2001). Developmental
outcomes of college students' involvement in leadership activities.
Journal of College Student Development, 42(1), 15-26.
Higbee,
J.L. (2002, Spring). The Application of Chickering's
Theory of Student Development to Student Success in the Sixties
and Beyond.
Research and Teaching in Developmental
Education, 18(2). (pp. 24-36).
Pascarella,
E.T., Terenzini, P.T. (1991). How College Affects Students:
Findings
and Insights from Twenty Years of Research.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Read
More About It!
Bibliography of resources addressing the topic
For
syllabus design information
Davis
, B.G. (2001). Tools for
Teaching. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
For creating student
learning objectives
Overview
on how to construct student learning objectives
Resources
For
exploring advising as teaching related topics
Appleby,
D., (2001). The Teaching-Advising Connection. The Mentor:
An Academic Advising
Journal. Online.
Lowenstein,
M. (2005, Fall). If Advising is Teaching, What do Advisors
Teach? NACADA Journal,
25 (2). (pp.65-73)
Metzner,
Barbara S. Perceived Quality of Academic Advising: The Effect
on Student Attrition.
American Educational Research
Journal. Vol. 26 (3), Fall 1989, pp. 422-442.
Smith,
J., Dai, D., & Szelest, B. (2006, Spring). Helping first-year
students make the transition
to college through advisor-research collaboration.
NACADA Journal, 26(1). (pp. 67-76).
For
exploring learning outside the classroom
Council
for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education. (2003).
Self-assessment guides. Washington
DC: Council for the Advancement of Standards.
Cress,
C.M., Astin, H.S., Zimmerman-Oster, K., & Burkhardt, J.C.
(2001). Developmental
outcomes of college students' involvement in leadership activities.
Journal of College Student Development,
42(1), 15-26.
Higbee,
J.L. (2002, Spring). The Application of Chickering's Theory
of Student Development to Student Success in the Sixties and Beyond.
Research and Teaching in Developmental
Education, 18(2). (pp. 24-36).
Kuh,
G.D., Schuh, J.H., Whitt, E.J., and Associates (1991). Involving
Colleges: Successful Approaches
to Fostering Student Learning and Development Outside the
Classroom. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Pascarella,
E.T., Terenzini, P.T. (1991). How College Affects Students:
Findings
and Insights from Twenty Years of Research .
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Schroeder,
C.C. (1996). Special Issue: The Student Learning Imperative.
Journal
of College Student Development 37(2). Washington, D.C.: American
College
Personnel Association.
Skipper,
T. & Argo, R. (2003). Involvement in Campus Activities
of First-Year College Students. The First-year Experience
Monograph Series. Columbia, SC : National Resource Center for
the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.
For
important historical views on the role of advisors as educators
Gaw,
Esther Allen. (1933) Advising means Administration. The
Journal of Higher Education,
4(4). (pp. 179-186).
Shofstall,
W.P., (1938). Guiding the Teacher: Student Advising as
a Means for Instructional Improvement. The
Journal of Higher Education, 9(8). (429-435).
Cite
this resource using APA style as:
Trabant,
T.D. (2006). Advising Syllabus 101. Retrieved from NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources
Web site: http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/syllabus101.htm.
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