1. Washington State University College of Liberal Arts Christine K. OakleyThomas J. Whitacre Associate Clinical ProfessorCLA Director of Academic Advising Sociology/International Programs 8 th Annual UI Advising Symposium Student Success: It takes a village Restructuring Advising at the College Level A Model for Student Success

2. This afternoon we will share… why the WSU College of Liberal Arts (CLA) changed its undergraduate advising/faculty mentoring system system basics before and after benefits and challenges of the new system for academic advising benefits and challenges of the new system for faculty mentoring why it takes a village to advise CLA students

3. Why a New Advising System? Desire to provide CLA undergraduates the best advising experience possible Increase recruitment and retention of CLA majors Need for advising continuity across CLA departments Need for increased cooperation and communication among CLA advisors Limited structure for advising oversight in place …the CLA Village lacked an advising town council!!!

4. Prior to 2009….. College of Liberal Arts AnthropologyProgram Coordinator Criminal JusticeGraduate Student CCGRSAdministrative Staff EnglishFaculty Fine ArtsFaculty Foreign Languages and CulturesFaculty General StudiesProfessional Advisors HistoryProfessional Advisor MusicFaculty PhilosophyAdministrative Staff Political ScienceGraduate Student PsychologyProfessional Advisor/Faculty SociologyFaculty

5. New System – September 8, 2009 College of Liberal Arts AnthropologyShared Advisor Assigned Faculty Mentors Criminal JusticeSingle AdvisorAssigned Faculty Mentors CCGRSShared AdvisorStudent selects Faculty Mentor EnglishSingle AdvisorAssigned Faculty Mentors Fine Arts – BA BFA Shared Advisor Faculty Advisor Paired according to FA Specialty Foreign Languages and Cultures Shared AdvisorAssigned Faculty Mentors by Language General StudiesMultiple AdvisorsNone HistorySingle AdvisorAssigned Faculty Mentors MusicFaculty AdvisorPaired according to Specialty PhilosophyShared AdvisorNone to date Political ScienceSingle AdvisorNone to date PsychologyTwo AdvisorsAssigned Faculty Mentors SociologyShared AdvisorSingle Faculty Mentor

6. The New Advising System Goal “to provide professional advising services to all our majors, minors and pre-certified students as well as to provide information to students interested to pursuing studies in our college.” Implementation June – September 2009: preparation for change Advisor job description Advisor relocation planned System organizational and oversight structure designed January 2010: System launched, new advisors hired/trained August 2010: Fully implemented

7. Strengths of the New System For Students… Increased responsiveness by advisors Increase opportunity to develop meaningful advisor/advisee relationships Increased accuracy of advising information Opportunity for feedback on advisor performance For Advisors… Required WSU-ACADA Level II Advising Training Increased internal networking among CLA advisors Integration into CLA, WSU and WSU-ACADA advising and professional development networks

8. More Strengths… For CLA Opportunity for structured systematic assessment, communication and team-building Integration of advising into CLA culture Retention of majors in CLA departments For WSU Happier students! Better utilization of staff resources Increased graduation rates

9. Advising Challenges For students Lack of standardized advising appointment system For advisors Ten month advisor appointments Increased advising loads For CLA Maintenance of the system as designed For WSU Perpetuation of multiple college specific advising structures

10. Faculty Mentoring “Departments will identify and define duties of Faculty Mentors, and assign a mentor to each declared (undergraduate) student. Once decided, the Chair or his/her representative should provide a summary of these duties to the Director of Advising, and provide Advisor with a list of mentors/ students’ assignments. Departments should disseminate this information among their students as well. Faculty members will continue to serve as program/section coordinators of duties within their departments.”

11. Strengths of separating advising from faculty mentoring… Enables departments to focus on the role of faculty in non- classroom undergraduate interactions separate from academic advising Provides departments the opportunity to develop a system to match students with faculty mentors Frees faculty from routine advising responsibilities Allows faculty to share disciplinary knowledge and professional expertise in an informal setting Provides students a legitimate opportunity to interact with faculty on a one-to-one basis

12. Mentoring Challenges… Developing and sustaining a new system No college level oversight Dependent on academic advisors to maintain current mentor/mentee lists and inform students about faculty mentoring Implemented differently by each department Student awareness “What’s a mentor?” Who is my mentor?” “I didn’t know I had a mentor?” “Sounds like a great idea…how does it work?” “How is this different from my advisor?” Unequal faculty participation as mentors Department priorities

13. New System – September 8, 2009 College of Liberal Arts AnthropologyShared Advisor Assigned Faculty Mentors Criminal JusticeSingle AdvisorAssigned Faculty Mentors CCGRSShared AdvisorStudent selects Faculty Mentor EnglishSingle AdvisorAssigned Faculty Mentors Fine Arts – BA BFA Shared Advisor Faculty Advisor Paired according to FA Specialty Foreign Languages and Cultures Shared AdvisorAssigned Faculty Mentors by Language General StudiesMultiple AdvisorsNone HistorySingle AdvisorAssigned Faculty Mentors MusicFaculty AdvisorPaired according to Specialty PhilosophyShared AdvisorNone to date Political ScienceSingle AdvisorNone to date PsychologyTwo AdvisorsAssigned Faculty Mentors SociologyShared AdvisorSingle Faculty Mentor

14. What’s Next…. Documentation of increased “student success” in CLA majors Sustainability amid fiscal and structural change or “doing more with less” Increase student involvement/advocacy Spreading the word…

15. In conclusion…. It takes an organized effort by academic advisors, faculty mentors and college- level administrators for our students to achieve the success as individuals, members of communities and as global citizens. We are the village!

16. It’s your turn…. Questions ??? Thank you!!!!