Mary Stuart Hunter, Director James Gahagan, Graduate Assistant National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition
Research and best practices in academic advising can be valuable to new and veteran advisers looking to improve their effectiveness in serving students. However, if academic advising as a profession is to realize its deserved value and status on our campuses, we must find ways to spread the good word about advising to faculty, administrators, and decision-makers beyond the existing advising community. As Richard Light, in his book Making the Most of College (2001) stated, “good advising may be the single most underestimated characteristic of a successful college experience” (p. 81). Academic advising plays an important role in student success and retention. Therefore, we must strive to collaborate and build partnerships to further research and assessment and spread the good word about academic advising to the broader higher education community.
In the academy, one of the prerequisite elements for any innovation, process, or discipline’s establishment and acceptance is that of a solid literature base. Therefore, we submit two strategies for raising the status of advising on our campuses and in the greater higher education community.
First, advisors can circulate copies of the NACADA Journal, Academic Advising News (NACADA newsletter), and other articles related to academic advising among colleagues and administrators. Dialogue about academic advising issues with colleagues outside advising circles benefit all concerned. Campus chief academic officers receive a free paper copy of the Academic Advising News, so NACADA members may refer to newsletter articles in communicating with administrators.
Secondly, we encourage advisors to consider publishing advising related research and writing in journals and newsletters whose readership is beyond our own community of advising professionals. Thus, we offer the following information on submission guidelines for publishing in nationally disseminated periodicals that reach beyond the advising community. The information presented was gathered from the websites listed below.
Refereed Journals
Journal of Career Planning and Employment —Established in 1940, this journal speaks to both sides of the college career services and HR/staffing field. The journal, published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), is filled with current, in-depth information, articles, reports, and features.
Journal of College and University Student Housing—The journal features articles on current research and trends in the housing profession, book reviews, and other in-depth discussions of interest to Association of College and University Housing Officers—International (ACUHO-I) members.
Journal of College Orientation and Transition—Published by the National Orientation Directors Association (NODA), the journal focuses on the trends, practices, research, and development of programs, policies, and activities related to the matriculation, orientation, transition, and retention of college students. Also encouraged are literature reviews, “how-to” articles, innovative initiatives, successful practices, and new ideas.
Journal of College Student Development —Published by the American College Personnel Association (ACPA), requests quantitative and qualitative manuscripts on recent original research, replication of research, reviews of research, graduate education in student affairs, or essays on theoretical, organizational, and professional issues.
Journal of Higher Education—Founded in 1930, the Journal of Higher Education is a leading scholarly journal on the institution of higher education. Articles combine disciplinary methods with critical insight to investigate issues important to faculty, administrators, and program managers.
Journal of The First-Year Experience —Designed to disseminate research findings on retention of first-year students, publish information on applied first-year programs, share methodology and results of first-year program assessments, and to examine institutional policies/programs that affect first-year students.
The NACADA Journal —Published by the National Academic Advising Association, this journal is dedicated to the support and professional growth of academic advisors and the advising profession through the publication of research, theory, practices and book reviews regarding academic advising in higher education.
NASPA Journal —The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators journal, published quarterly, provides articles written primarily for the student affairs generalist who has broad responsibility for leadership, policy, staff development, and management. E-mail:office@naspa.org
Newsletters
FYE, Newsletter of the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition—A quarterly newsletter offering innovative and practical ideas for improving programs for first-year students, transfers, and seniors. Practical, diverse, and current examples from around the world demonstrate how effective programming can help improve a student’s academic career.
Magna Publications Inc.—Founded in 1972 by William Haight, Magna produces eight subscription newsletters in the field of higher education including, Academic Leader, Administrator, The National On-Campus Report, Perspective, and Recruitment and Retention in Higher Education.
NACADA Academic Advising News —The quarterly newsletter of the National Academic Advising Association welcomes articles and opinion pieces directed to advisors, faculty advisors and administrators.
Other Publications
About Campus —Sponsored by the American College Personnel Association (ACPA), About Campus is dedicated to the idea that student learning is the responsibility of all educators on campus. Six times a year, About Campus offers a mix of articles and features designed to illuminate the critical issues faced by both student affairs and academic affairs staff working on the shared goal of helping students learn.
Change —Change is a magazine covering contemporary issues in higher learning. It is intended to stimulate and inform reflective practitioners in colleges, universities, corporations, government, and elsewhere. Change spotlights trends, provides new insights and ideas, and analyzes the implications of educational programs, policies, and practices.
The journals, newsletters, and other publications we have cited here represent a small portion of those where articles on academic advising would be appropriate. We encourage you to pursue writing and research on the importance of academic advising. Join us in spreading the good word to the rest of the higher education community.
Mary Stuart Hunter National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition
Cite this article using APA style as: Stuart Hunter, M. & Gahagan, J. (2003, February). Writing and publishing about academic advising: Are we preaching the choir or spreading the good word?. Academic Advising Today, 26(1). [insert url here]
