1. Advising First Year Students
Chuck Lepper, Ph.D.
Assistant Vice President for Student Development Services
Ivy Tech Community College
NACADA Summer Institute 2013
Jacksonville, FL
Special Thanks to Terry Musser, Kathy Stockwell, and Beth Higgins

2. Importance of the First Year
“The largest proportion of institutional leaving occurs in the first year and prior to the beginning of the second year. For this reason alone, the first year has become a special object of institutional policy aimed at reducing student attrition.”
V. Tinto
Leaving College

3. Changing Views toward the FYE
Past view: “look to your right, then look to your left....one of you won’t be here after the first year”
Today: facilitate student success and provide support systems to help all first-year students succeed

4. View from the Past
“The task of advising is concentrated in the opening days of registration and enrollment and consists
of aiding students in the selection of courses.”
Handbook of College and University Administrators
Asa Knowles, Editor 1960

5. Today Advising: viewed as retention tool
assists students in academic, social and career development
far more than scheduling classes

6. Characteristics of First-Year Students
Anxiety vs false sense of confidence
Interest in career preparation
Frequent isolation
Difficulty making friends
Failure to “connect” with the institution
Often underprepared for college level work
Difficulty with
time management
George Kuh (2005) – the strangeness of college and university life to the uninitiated causes first-year students to underestimate the challenges that lie ahead, in and outside the classroom, and overestimate their ability to bring plans and practices in line with the new environment they confront.
“Student Engagement and the First Year of College.” In M. Upcraft, J. Gardner, and B. Barefoot (Eds), Challenging and Supporting First Year Students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.

7. “Advising is viewed as a way to connect students to the campus and help them feel that someone is looking out for them.”
George Kuh
Student Success in College (2005)

8. “First-year students are dropping out of school in alarming numbers: one in four freshmen at 4-year institutions and one in two freshmen at 2-year institutions fail to return for a sophomore year.” Crisis at the Core Preparing All Students for College and Work ACT, 2004
Given these statistics, what can we do to retain our freshmen? I know that some students leave because it simply is “not for them,” but there are definitely things we can do that will aid in the retention of many of these students.

9. 10 Reasons Why Students Drop-Out
Too much fun at the expense of classes and grades
A sense of not belonging; a sense of isolation, homesickness
Academically unprepared, burned-out on education
Financial constraints; low on funds
Personal family issues
#2 a sense of not belonging—for nontraditional students this is usually because of age, because they haven’t been in school, etc. In terms of special populations, the sense of not belonging can be very strong, particularly on campuses that are predominantly white.
#3—2-year students are often academically under-prepared because they haven’t been in school for a number of years; but even for recent high school grads, the Manhattan Institute reports that only one in three high school students are minimally prepared for the rigors of college. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the proportion of students who spent an average of one year in remediation went from 28 percent in 1995 to 35 percent in Research has shown that a trusting student-advisor relationship can really help a student gain confidence and the skills necessary to continue.

10. 10 Reasons Why Students Drop-Out
Academic climate fit
Choice of wrong major; major not offered
Lack of advising, guidance
Demands from part-time or full-time employment
Move to a different geographic location
Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
#6 academic climate fit—as a 2-year school, we see a large number of students who started on 4-year campuses and it wasn’t the right fit at that time. Many of them do two years with us and then return to the 4-year campus to complete their bachelor’s, and then it is the right fit.
#9 demands from employment—for returning adults, we could add demands from home (wife, kids, keeping up the house), aging parents, etc.

11. “Good advising may be the single most underestimated characteristic of a successful college experience.”
Richard Light
I know this quote is used by almost all of us, but I kept it in my presentation because I feel that it really sums it all up. Advising is important, but because there really is no solid way to quantify it’s importance in student success and retention, it is often overlooked. But we can’t let that deter us from being the best advisors we can be, because it is important to our students.

12. Generations Traditionalists: 1934-1945 Baby Boomers: 1946-1964
Generation X:
Generation Y/Millenials:
Lancaster & Stillman, 2002
Millenials—
33% larger than Baby Boom generation;
most diverse college-going group ever

13. Characteristics of Millennials
Adaptable
Technologically savvy
Hardworking
Been Socialize to be Successful
Engaged in Numerous Activities
Interested in Social Issues
Generous Practical
Accustomed to Structuring Time, Working from Schedules and Following Rules
Elam, Stratton, & Gibson (2007)
We hear a lot about Generation Y now and how these students are so “different” from past generations. In some ways they are different, as all generations have been from one to another, but when I think back to my undergrad years, I see some similarities. During the Vietnam era, many students were skeptical, blunt and expressive, impatient, ready to move on to the “real” world. So in some ways I think we get too caught up in this research. Each student is a unique individual, with his/her own characteristics, and that’s what we need to teach advisors to work with.
With the return to school of dislocated workers, we are seeing a lot of students from this generation. It’s interesting to watch them interact with their fellow students who are millenials.

14. Characteristics of Millennials
Close to Parents who Participate in Educational Pursuits
Helicopter/Stealth Parents
May Dismiss Issues of Diversity
Stunted Interpersonal Skills
Short Attention Spans
Lack the Skills Necessary to be Critical Thinkers or Demonstrate Introspection and Self-Reflectino
Elam, Stratton, & Gibson (2007)
The strong relationships with families, parents in particular, has created the phenomenon commonly known as “helicopter” parents. These parents are always there, directing the lives of their children and doing things for them that they should be doing for themselves. We have had some parents who are so bad that ourstaff have coined the phrase “kangaroo” parents since they have never let their children out of the pouch.
These are the characteristics of a traditional-aged college freshman, years old. How many of you are from 2-year colleges? How many from satellite campuses of 4-year universities? How many of these generation Y students do you see? Not many, I would guess. In many cases we have first generation, first time FT or PT students who are much older and presenting a different set of characteristics. In fact, according to recent surveys, nontraditional students dominate undergraduate enrollments nationally today. But they are still 1st year students we need to work with, and they are having a tremendous impact on advisors.
Additional facts about millenials:
47% of today’s teenagers were raised in a home by both parents
stress for college freshmen continues to rise, especially for women
90% of teenagers expect to attend college
even after 9/11, millennial grads still feel they will get where they want to in life.

15. Academic Advising
“Provides assistance mediating the dissonance between student expectations and the realities of the educational experience.”
Wes Habley, 1981
NASPA Journal

16. “Four institutional conditions stand out as supportive of retention: information/advice, support, involvement, and learning.”
Tinto (1999)

17. How Can Advisors Help First-Year Students?
Ensure higher education expectations are clearly articulated at secondary education level.
ID strengths and needs of before classes begin.
Establish a warm and open relationship.
Be accessible.
Teach students policies/procedures while stressing their responsibilities.
Explain program requirements to advisees.
Retention management systems--Noel-Levitz Retention Management System/College Student Inventory and the Thompson-Wadsworth College Success Factors Index are two such tools.

18. How Can Advisors Help First-Year Students?
Early alert warning system
Support groups for returning adults
Help students connect relevance of course curriculum to college experience and career development
Assist in designing appropriate schedules
Introduce campus resources
Make appropriate referrals
Many students don’t understand the need for general studies coursework. Advisors need to address this early-on in the relationship so students understand why the curriculum is designed the way it is.

19. How Can Advisors Help First-Year Students?
Explore purpose and value of college education
Aid student with time management skills
Help advisees develop study skills, overcome test anxiety, and achieve course goals.
One of the best things we did on my campus was form a group we initially called OWLS—older wiser learners. It has been so successful that it earned status as an official student club that it receives student government funding, elects officers, etc. Membership is open to any students who needs some extra support from both staff and peers, thus the new name of SORS (Student Outreach and Support). The conversations that take place at the meetings are pretty amazing, and many friendships have been formed as a result.

20. How Can Advisors Help First-Year Students?
Aid in developing realistic career goals
Help them make their own decisions and take responsibility for their education
Encourage them to participate in co-curricular activities

21. Delivery Systems for First-Year Advising
Orientation
Advising Center
Faculty Advising
Peer Advising/Mentoring
First-year seminar
Learning Communities

22. Delivery Systems for First-Year Advising
Residence Hall-based advising
Multicultural Centers
Interventions with at-risk students
Learning assistance centers
Early alert system

23. WHERE ARE THE POTENTIAL ADVISING INTERVENTIONS?
Student applies
Student accepts offer
Student takes placement tests and completes online survey
Student prepares for academic orientation -- first advising experience
Student participates in academic orientation
Student has traditional orientation before classes begin
FIRST-YEAR STUDENT TIMELINE
Student takes first-semester courses
Student meets with assigned academic adviser
Student communicates with adviser and vice versa
Student plans next semester schedule
Student takes second-semester courses
Student communicates with adviser and vice versa
Student meets with assigned academic adviser

24. What Do First-Year Students Want from College Staff?
Caring attitude
Efficiency
Respect
Good “customer service”
Responsiveness to needs
Enthusiasm for what they’re doing
A willingness to go the extra mile
Humor
Graham Spanier, president of Penn State University, advocates being a student-centered university. He believes that as learning communities, we must put our students and their development at the heart of all we do. After all, isn’t that what we’re really all about?

25. What can YOUR college do to increase retention of first-year students?

26. High Impact Institutional Activities
First-Year Seminars and Experiences
Common Intellectual Experiences
Learning Communities
Writing-Intensive Courses
Collaborative Assignments & Projects
Undergraduate Research
Diversity/Global Learning
Service Learning, Community-Based Learning
Internships
Capstone Courses & Projects

27. Closing Thought
“People will forget what you say. They will even forget what you do. But, they will never forget how you made them feel.”
- Dr. Maya Angelou