1. Past, Present and Future
Academic Advising:
Past, Present and Future
Dr. Nancy King
Kennesaw State University
The Global Community
for Academic Advising

2. We begin in medieval times when a preceptor imparted his knowledge to students
To find the beginnings, we must journey far back through the mists of time to the cold, dank, and drafty old stone buildings that housed medieval monks and their students. Their charge was to educate the next generation of monks, to sustain them in their quest for religious enlightenment, and to, in turn, pass the proverbial torch of enlightenment to others.

3. In 1841, Kenyon College (Ohio) uses the term “advisor”
This may be the first use of the word “advisor” to refer to someone who gives direction to a student about academic, social or personal matters.
In a letter to his mother, future President Rutherford B Hayes, then a junior at Kenyon, wrote, “A new rule has been established that each students shall choose from among the faculty someone who is to be his advisor and friend in all matters in which assistance is desired and is to be the medium of communication between the student and faculty. I like this very much.”

4. On to the 1880s, when a system of faculty advisors was set up at Johns Hopkins.
It is now the 1880s—1884 to be specific, and for the first time in the United States, a formal advising program is established.
No longer was there a prescribed set of courses for all students—now students had choices or tracks, so advisors filled a new role of helping students determine an appropriate set of courses.

5. The Year Was 1953
“Advising is a process with a long and dignified history in colleges and universities involving, as often does, tedious clerical work combined with hit and run conferences with students on curricula. It is a most cordially hated activity by the majority of college teachers.”
M S. Maclean, Personnel and Guidance Journal
“Advising is a process with a long and dignified history in colleges and universities” --And indeed this is correct, with the mentoring connections made between preceptor and student dating back well into the mists of time. But I digress.
“Advising is a process with a long and dignified history in colleges and universities involving, as often does, tedious clerical work combined with hit and run conferences with students on curricula. It is a most cordially hated activity by the majority of college teachers.”

6. And in
“The task of advising is concentrated in the opening days of registration and enrollment and consists of aiding students in the selection of courses.”
Asa Knowles, Handbook of College and University Administrators
And in Prescriptive—and Utilitarian-- advising
This is the cookie cutter approach to this thing called “advising.”
We are now at the front end of the baby boomer generation entering colleges and universities, all demanding individualized attention.
Enrollments are increasing; the curriculum is becoming more and more complex. So academic advising is beginning to respond to the social contexts of education.
Also in the ’60s, research is increasing in the understanding of human developmental stages and the ways we learn and grow sequentially.

7. 1960s While faculty advising was still. the primary delivery system
1960s While faculty advising was still the primary delivery system for academic advising, two new delivery systems were introduced: centralized advising centers peer and professional advising
I added this slide, Nancy, to let folks see where some of the commonly used structures today began.

8. 1972
Advising is “concerned with not only the specific personal or vocational decision but with facilitating the student’s rational processes, environmental and interpersonal interactions, behavioral awareness, and problem-solving, decision-making and evaluation skills.”
Burns Crookston
Let me read this quote to you:
Advising is “concerned with not only the specific personal or vocational decision but with facilitating the student’s rational processes, environmental and interpersonal interactions, behavioral awareness, and problem-solving, decision-making and evaluation skills.”
That’s mouthful. What this means is that we are now looking at a more holistic approach to human development. We begin to incorporate what we are learning about human development into advising by addressing students’ individual academic, social, and career needs.
This period also gives rise to the professional advisor and NACADA, which is now in its 32nd year of serving the academy.

9. In 1972, Terry O’Banion outlined five dimensions of academic advising: ●Exploration of life goals ● Exploration of vocational goals ● Exploration of program choices ● Exploration of course choices ● Exploration of scheduling options
O’Banion taught at a two-year college.
For 23 years, he was President of the League for Innovation in the Community College.
In 1998, Change magazine named him one of eleven "Idea Champions" who set the agenda for all of higher education. He was the only community college leader on the list. Much of his recognition came from his work on advising concerns.

10. In 1977, over 300 people attended a national meeting on academic advising. Over the next two years, NACADA was established.
Professional organization for advisors
Huge growth

11. A 1984 Definition
“A systematic process based on a close student-advisor relationship intended to aid students in achieving educational, career, and personal goals through the use of the full range of institutional and community resources.”
Winston, Miller, Ender, and Grites
Or try this definition:
Advising is “A systematic process based on a close student-advisor relationship intended to aid students in achieving educational, career, and personal goals through the use of the full range of institutional and community resources.”
I hope you can see how far our notions of advising and the student / advisor relationship has evolved in a relatively short period of time.

12. In the 1970s and 80s, developmental advising:
Became a dominant advising paradigm
Extended advising beyond scheduling
Drew on student development theory
Emphasized individual student growth
Emphasized shared responsibility

13. Task Force on General Education Association of American Colleges
In 1988
“Perhaps the most urgent reform on most campuses in improving general education involves academic advising. To have programs and courses become coherent and significant to students requires adequate advising.”
Task Force on General Education Association of American Colleges
This is also a new slide, Nancy. While it’s clear that increased emphasis on learning-centered advising has been a recent hallmark….seeds were sown earlier.
Other organizations were recognizing more than 20 years ago the importance of advising

14. A new approach ~ A new focus
“An excellent advisor does the same for the student’s entire curriculum that the excellent teacher does for one course.”
Marc Lowenstein, 2005
I would like to read you a quote from Inside Higher Ed from several years ago:
“Higher education, as a social institution, is charged with holding its central mission close to its heart while honorably serving the needs of the rapidly changing society. The challenge is to hold the same values but act on those values differently in this very different world.”
Now we are shifting to make student learning the central mission of higher education and so we are re-examining all areas of higher education up against this mission. And in this process, “An excellent advisor does the same for the student’s entire curriculum that the excellent teacher does for one course.”
This is what a good advisor is in the 21st century, says Marc Lowenstein.

15. NACADA Concept of Academic Advising Preamble (2006)
“Academic advising is integral to fulfilling the teaching and learning mission of higher education.”
I didn’t delete your notes, Nancy…
Several years before we find the Lowenstein quote, Vicky McGillin commented on the crucial importance of the student / academic advisor relationship. She said “It is through this relationship that students will engage in a critical narrative process that will give shape and meaning to their curricular and life choices, and through which they come to understand the interconnections of knowledge and the curriculum.”
Keeping in mind that we are now focusing on the students as learner and the advisor as playing a central role in that learning, let’s try out NACADA’s definition of advising:
Multi-dimensional and intentional
Grounded in teaching and learning
Has its own purpose and content
Has specified outcomes for student learning

16. Through academic advising, students learn
to become members of their higher education community,
to think critically about their roles and responsibilities as students, and
to prepare to be educated citizens of a democratic society and a global community.

17. “Academic advising engages students beyond their own world views, while acknowledging their individual characteristics, values, and motivations as they enter, move through, and exit the institution.”

18. Focus on the advisee as learner
What is it we want our students to demonstrate they
Know
Are able to do
Value and appreciate
as a result of academic advising?
And what are these outcomes? Posed as questions, they are:
What is it we want our students to demonstrate they
Know
Are able to do
Value and appreciate
As a result of academic advising?

19. Advising as Teaching and Learning
Through advising, we want students. . .
To value the learning process
To learn and use decision-making strategies
To put the college experience into perspective
To set and evaluate priorities
To develop thinking and learning skills
NACADA Core Values
We want students to
To value the learning process
To apply decision-making strategies
To put the college experience into perspective
To set priorities and evaluate events
To develop thinking and learning skills
To make choices
These are all part of the learning outcomes that NACADA believes come from the teaching and learning functions of advising.
Notice all the active verbs here --well—actually they’re infinitives:
To value, to apply, to put, to set, to develop, to make all indicating active involvement

20. Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
Academic Advising (like the academic curriculum) should promote student learning and development by encouraging experiences that lead to:
Intellectual growth
The ability to communicate effectively
Leadership development
The ability to work independently and collaboratively
Appropriate career choices
Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
These are all elements or by-products of what the academic and advising pedagogies hope to engender.
They should foster:
Intellectual growth
The ability to communicate effectively
Leadership development
The ability to work independently and collaboratively
Appropriate career choices
And how precisely do advisors do this?

21. At the heart of advising is the art of conversation
“The art of conversation is the ability to create a dialogue that others will willingly join.”
I’m going to be spending the next several minutes talking about Well Talking. Talking about “conversation” and connecting with students and how such a simple thing can lead to student success, to students making those all important connections with the institution , and to student retention.

22. Knowing the language is essential to conversation
“You cannot enter any world for which you do not have the language.”
Wittgenstein
“You cannot enter any world for which you do not have the language.”
Advisors are interpreters who help students navigate their new world, who give students language which may be new to them:
What, exactly, to recent high school grads, for example, is an academic advisor? What is a syllabus? What does Matriculated mean? Academic progress? Probation? What’s a registrar? A bursar? Or even GPA?
And advisors are interpreters who help students understand the value of advising. [Tell Charlie’s story about applying to the local community college.]

23. Three Types of Conversations Advisors Have with Students
Conversations that are informational:
Policies and procedures
Requirements
Important dates and deadlines
Programs of study
Too often advising conversations stop here and do not progress to the next two types.

24. Conversations about the individual student
Core values
 Aptitudes/interests
 Strengths
 Areas for improvement (study skills, time management, oral competency)
 Level of involvement in the life of the institution

25. Conversations about the future
What do I want my future to be?
(career and personal life)
What steps do I need to make this future a reality?
How am I changing as a result of my education?

26. What does good advising involve?
A meaningful relationship, a connection with an advisor (and with the faculty)
When you ask around What does good advising involve?
Richard Light, Victoria McGillin, And the other advising researchers all arrive at the same conclusions:
It’s about those connections with students, it’s about building relationships

27. It also means
Making connections between advising and students’ personal lives
“At key points in their college years, an academic advisor asked questions, or posed a challenge that forced students to think about the relationship of their academic work to their personal lives.”
Richard Light, 2001

28. It’s More than Scheduling
Advising conversations that extend beyond course selection, scheduling, and registration into “Bigger Ideas” are those that students find most helpful and that contribute to student persistence.
Conversations equal connections -- and not just conversations about what courses to take. Our job is to help build a solid foundation for students.
And so we ask the questions.

29. Advisors Ask the Why, What, and How Questions
Why are you at this college/university?
What are your goals for your education?
Why do you want to major in English, in Accounting, in Political Science?
How can you make the most of your time in college?
What skills are you developing? What skills do you need to develop, and how will you do this?
Why are you at this college/university?
What exactly do you mean by “a great education”?
Why do you want to major in English, in Accounting, in Political Science?
How could joining a campus organization help you meet your personal and career goals?
What kinds of electives would be a good supplement to your education?
In a recent Pell Institute Report, Vincent Tinto concluded that campuses that support student retention, those that have high retention rates, must have the following programs:
Those that teach students how to make decisions effectively
Those that teach students how to investigate and make decisions on careers and majors
And Those that teach students how to maneuver higher education channels and to identify and use support services.
Notice the operative word here is teach. This report is a call for intentional, focused, and pro-active academic advising.

30. Advising and Retention
“Effective retention programs have come to understand that academic advising is at the very core of successful institutional efforts to educate and retain students.”
Vincent Tinto
Leaving College: Rethinking the
Causes and Cures of Student Attrition
Another Pell Institute Study several years ago outlined the common elements for student success at institutions that had the country’s highest graduation rates;

31. Retention Is Related to
Excellent classroom instruction and student interaction with faculty
Caring attitude of faculty and staff
Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Sounds holey, but it’s true.
Maya Angelou once said “People will forget what you say. Thety will even forget hat you do. But they NEVER for get how you made them feel.”
Words of wisdom.
Retention is related to
Excellent classroom instruction and student interaction with faculty
Caring attitude of faculty and staff beyond the classroom

32. Bu what do we do?
All too often, alas, this is the view that students see when they arrive at the academy.
We need to d our own part to counteract these shark-invested waters that are littered with little islands of
Do not disturb
Bug off
Get lost
Keep out
No trespassing
--And just so you know, I am speaking as a faculty member here.

33. Retention is also related to…
The level and quality of student interaction with their peers through, e.g., learning communities, extracurricular activities, collaborations between academic affairs and student affairs
Early intervention
Assistance with external pressures, both personal and financial
[read the slide]

34. Advising that contributes to student success and retention. . .
Is a student-centered process focused on teaching and learning
Facilitates behavioral awareness and problem-solving, decision-making and evaluation skills
Encourages both short and long-term goal setting
Makes students feel they matter
Stresses a shared responsibility with students making decisions for themselves
So then,
Advising that contributes to student success and retention. . .
Is a student-centered process focused on teaching and learning.. . Later this week, there will be a workshop on Advising as Teaching and Learning for those of you interested in these issues
Facilitates behavioral awareness and problem-solving, decision-making and evaluation skills
Encourages both short- and long-term goal setting
Makes students feel they matter
Stresses a shared responsibility with students making decisions for themselves

35. Graduation Rate Outcomes Study
No one “magic bullet” guarantees success in retention, persistence, and graduation rates.
Success, instead, means carefully reading the campus culture, aligning people and programs and making a collective commitment to be in it for the long haul.
AASCU, Student Success in State Colleges and Universities, 2005
The AASCU, the Association of American Sate Colleges and Universities, recently conducted a graduation rate study, and among their conclusions??
No one “magic bullet” guarantees success in retention, persistence, and graduation rates.
Success, instead, means carefully reading the campus culture, aligning people and programs and making a collective commitment to be in it for the long haul.
And basically, know your students and act accordingly.
Betty Siegel, former president of Kennesaw State University in Georgia, once said that her institution worked long and hard, carefully and thoughtfully to build wonderful student support programs, and then the WRONG students showed up.

36. “Advising should be at the core of the institution’s educational mission rather than layered on as a service.”
Robert Berdahl, New Directions for Teaching and Learning
[read the slide]

37. The Hub This is a visual representation of that collaboration.
Academic Advising
Academic departments
Career and life planning
New student orientation
Admissions and testing
Learning communities
Registration and records
First-year seminar
This is a visual representation of that collaboration.
And not just the offices and services, but learning assistance programs, supplemental instruction, special populations all have Academic Advising at their core
This is where students should be introduced to and learn about the spokes that radiate out from this wheel.

38. you know it didn’t get there by itself.” Alex Haley
The Collaboration
Advising requires coordination and collaboration among units across campus that provide student support/services.
“Every time you see a turtle on a fencepost,
you know it didn’t get there by itself.” Alex Haley
Advising requires coordination and collaboration among units across campus that provide student support / services.

39. Four Questions to Consider in Organizing Advising Programs
Who is advised?
Who advises?
Where is advising done?
How are advising responsibilities divided?

40. The Future of Academic Advising
Why academic advising is more important than ever
Rising costs of higher education
The current state of our economy
Changing expectations of students and families
Increasing pressure from states for students to graduate “on time”

41. Future Issues Changing curricula Changing technologies
Increasing use of social media
Increasing demands; decreasing resources
Increasing diversity of students

42. Conclusions
View of advising has dramatically evolved and broadened over time
Advising is now focused on teaching and learning
Advising assists students with career/life planning and deals with “big” issues
Although not a magic bullet, advising is clearly related to student persistence

43. Advising is the hub of the student services wheel
Advising cannot be done in isolation—it is a tag-team activity
Advising is increasingly important to institutions in demonstrating accountability (i.e. retention, graduation)
Advising serves an important role as the hub of the student services wheel
Advising cannot be done in isolation—it is a collective endeavor among other advisors and advising centers across your campuses and among student services offices
Advising must involve active outreach to students—if you wait for students to come to you, it’s sometimes too late.
Advising is important to institutions in demonstrating accountability to various constituencies both within and beyond our campuses

44. Parting Thought One
Academic Advising is “perhaps the only structured campus endeavor that can guarantee interaction with a caring and concerned adult who can help them shape a meaningful learning experience for themselves.” Hunter and White
A parting thought that builds on Wes Habley’s statement about the potential of advising.
Academic Advising is “perhaps the only structured campus endeavor that can guarantee interaction with a caring and concerned adult who can help them shape a meaningful learning experience for themselves.”

45. With the right approach
Parting Thought Two
With the right approach
come the right results.
The Mental Game of Baseball