1. Using the Disarm Phase in the Appreciative Advising Model to Build Personal Relationships with Students
Sean Armstrong
Evelyn Espinoza
Evelyn Chicas
California State University, Los Angeles

2. Undergraduate Population: 23,458
Student Population: 27,680
Undergraduate Population: 23,458
Approx. 55% First-Generation College Students
83% Enrolled Full-time
Six Academic Colleges with Centralized Advising Models
Approx. 3,719 Arts and Letters Students

3. A&L Advising Center
Transitioned from Faculty to Professional Advisors 2012
Established August 2015
Director, 4 Advisors, Office Coordinator, Student Assistance
10 Departments
Services:
Degree planning, Graduation Application, Petitions, Academic Distress, Registration, Technical Issues, etc.

4. Presentation Overview
Appreciative Advising Model
Disarm Phase
Does office design matter?
Front Office
Adding artwork
Tapping into your network
Student Spotlight
Individual Offices
Activity
Presentation Overview

5. APPRECIATIVE ADVISING Model
“The intentional collaborative practice of asking positive, open-ended questions that help students optimize their educational experiences and achieve their dreams, goals, and potentials.” (“Appreciative Advising”, 2018)
How many of you have heard of Appreciate Advising?
How many of you currently use the model, or aspects of the model in your advising practice?
Appreciative Advising
Developed and popularized by Dr. Jennifer Bloom and Colleagues
Framework for optimizing advisor interactions with students in both individual and group settings.
Encourages students to tell their narratives, lets students know advisors care about them.
Building relationships to help students uncover their goals, take action, and eventually achieve their goals.
Used in First year experience course, Orientation leader training, probation program for at-risk students.
The focus on this presentation. We will dive deeper into this stage and some practical applications later on in the presentation
Disarm = “Make a positive first impression with the student, build rapport, and create a safe, welcoming space.”
Set the tone for a productive advising session, make the student feel comfortable. Warm introduction, comfortable environment, appropriate small talk. Appropriate self-disclosure
See the student, warm intro. Walk back to advising session. Genuine compliments. Bringing something up from previous sessions based on notes to re-establish rapport if this is not the first time meeting with the student.
Our team does this very well
Discover “Ask positive open-ended questions that help advisors learn about students’ strengths, skills, and abilities”
Really start getting to know the student. Listen non-judgementally
Look for student strengths. Help student see their strengths. Positively reconstruct their past experiences
* Look for an example question in the book
Dream – “Inquire about the students’ hopes and dreams for their futures
What are their goals? Where do they see themselves going? Get the student to think about what they really want
”* “It is 10 years from now and you are the cover of a magazine. Which magazine is it? Why are you on the cover?
Design Phase – “Co-create a plan for making their dreams a reality”
Start getting the student to work backwards from the picture they described. What are the steps you can take now to get you closer to your goals?
What are the actions that need to be taken?
Start planning some actions.
“What resources do you think you will need to accomplish this goal?
Deliver
“The student delivers on the plan created during the design phase and the adviser is available to encourage and support students”
The actual action. Adjusting plan as needed.
“What strategies will you employ when you run into obstacles along the pathway to your goals?
Don’t settle - “Advisers and students alike need to set their own internal bars of expectations high”
You have done great so far, but what is one thing you can do even better?”

6. The disarm phase
(Calapa & Edelman, 2015)

7. Before
After

8. Does office design matter?
Research
“Environmental Psychology examines the interrelationship between environments and human behavior” (De Young, R., 1999)
In one study, differing interior designs of a psychologist’s office affected undergraduates’ perceived credibility of the practitioner. (Bloom et al., 1977)
Several studies have also described the effects of office design and neatness on visitors' perceptions of university professors (Campbell & Campbell, 1979; Zweigenhaft & Feishman, 1976; Morrow et al, 1981)
Takeaway: people are affected by their physical environments
Does office design matter?

9. Front Office Clutter & Values
Research
Clutter
“Multiple stimuli present in the visual field at the same time complete for neural representation” (McMains & Kastner, )
Cluttered environments are distracting!
Values
Ind (1990) stresses that an office environment should reflect a company’s values. (Ind, 1990)
Front Office Clutter & Values

10. Before
After

11. Adding Art and Nature in the Office
Providing a Space for our Artists
We Brag About It
Wow Factor
Conversation Starters
Warm Environment

12. Refreshing your Space on a Limited Budget
Tapping into your network
Building Strong Give and Take Relationships
Be Patient—People Are Busy
Offer Help
One Person’s Trash is Another’s Treasure
Supporting Department Events
Bribe with Food/Treats

13. Student Spotlight Research
Self-efficacy = “beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (Bandura, 1997, p. 3)
There are four main sources of information that affect students’ self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977)
The two post powerful are mastery experiences and vicarious experiences. (Bandura, 1977)
Application
Tell the stories of outstanding students in the College to inspire the student population and raise their self- efficacy in educational pursuits.
Goal is to get students thinking about their goals and increase self-efficacy.
Student Spotlight

14. Individual Spaces
Bloom et al. (2008) suggests that advisors decorate their offices with personal items to facilitate making an early connection with students. Here are some examples of using appropriate self-disclosure:
Thank you cards
Degrees
Awards
Personal interests
Major Related Art, Posters, Sculptures, etc.

15. Activity Think, Pair, Share
Visualize your office through new eyes – sight, sound, smell, touch. What does your office space convey to students?
Pick an office to redesign
Front office OR Individual office
Write down three “disarming features” in your office.
Write down three potential improvements to your office environment.
Share with a partner
Share with the group

16. References
Appreciative Advising. (2018). Retrieved September 29, 2018, from
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological
Review,84(2),
Bloom, J. L., Hutson, B. L., & He, Y. (2008), The Appreciative Advising Revolution. Champaighn, IL: Stipes Pub.
Bloom, L., Weigel, R., Trautt, G., & Maher, B. A. (1977). Therapeugenic factors in psychotherapy: Effects of office decor and
subject-therapist sex pairing on the perception of credibility. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 45(5),
Calapa A., & Edelman J. (2015). Appreciative Advising In Action! [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
Campbell, D., & Campbell, J. A. (1979). Interior office design and visitor response. Journal of Applied Psychology, 64(6), 648-
653.
De Young, R. (1999). Environmental Psychology Described. Retrieved September, 2018, from
Heydlauff, P. (n. d.). Feng shui your office to create success energy. Reliable Planet. Retrieved from
Ind, N. (1990). Identity Crisis in the Office. Management Today, 102.
McMains, S., & Kastner, S. (2011). Interactions of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Mechanisms in Human Visual Cortex. The Journal
of Neuroscience : The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 31(2), 587–597.
Morrow, P., McElroy, J., & Campbell, John A. (1981). Interior office design and visitor response: A constructive
replication. Journal of Applied Psychology, 66(5),
Zweigenhaft, R., & Feishman, Edwin A. (1976). Personal space in the faculty office: Desk placement and the student-faculty
interaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 61(4),