​

The Importance of Good Academic Advising

“Good advising may be the single most underestimated characteristic of a successful college experience.”

Light, R.J. (2001) Making the most of college. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

“It is hard to imagine any academic support function that is more important to student success and institutional productivity than advising.”  

Kuh, G. (1997) The student learning agenda:  Implications for academic advisors. NACADA Journal, 17(2), 7-12

“Effective retention programs have come to understand that academic advising is the very core of successful institutional efforts to educate and retain students.”

Tinto, Vincent. (1987). Increasing student retention. San Francisco: Jossey Bass

PREAMBLE

Academic advising is integral to fulfilling the teaching and learning mission of higher education. 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. 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. Regardless of the diversity of our institutions, our students, our advisors, and our organizational structures, academic advising has three components: curriculum (what advising deals with), pedagogy (how advising does what it does), and student learning outcomes (the result of academic advising).

THE CURRICULUM OF ACADEMIC ADVISING

Academic advising draws primarily from theories in the social sciences, humanities, and education. The curriculum of academic advising ranges from the ideals of higher education to the pragmatics of enrollment. This curriculum includes, but is not limited to, the institution’s mission, culture and expectations; the meaning, value, and interrelationship of the institution’s curriculum and co-curriculum; modes of thinking , learning, and decision-making; the selection of academic programs and courses; the development of life and career goals; campus/community resources, policies, and procedures; and the transferability of skills and knowledge.

THE PEDAGOGY OF ACADEMIC ADVISING

Academic advising, as a teaching and learning process, requires a pedagogy that incorporates the preparation, facilitation, documentation, and assessment of advising interactions. Although the specific methods, strategies, and techniques may vary, the relationship between advisors and students is fundamental and is characterized by mutual respect, trust, and ethical behavior.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES OF ACADEMIC ADVISING

The student learning outcomes of academic advising are guided by an institution’s mission, goals, curriculum and co-curriculum. These outcomes, defined in an advising curriculum, articulate what students will demonstrate, know, value, and do as a result of participating in academic advising. Each institution must develop its own set of student learning outcomes and the methods to assess them. The following is a representative sample. Students will:

• craft a coherent educational plan based on assessment of abilities, aspirations, interests, and values

• use complex information from various sources to set goals, reach decisions, and achieve those goals

• assume responsibility for meeting academic program requirements

• articulate the meaning of higher education and the intent of the institution’s curriculum

• cultivate the intellectual habits that lead to a lifetime of learning

• behave as citizens who engage in the wider world around them

SUMMARY

Academic advising, based in the teaching and learning mission of higher education, is a series of intentional interactions with a curriculum, a pedagogy, and a set of student learning outcomes. Academic advising synthesizes and contextualizes students’ educational experiences within the frameworks of their aspirations, abilities and lives to extend learning beyond campus boundaries and timeframes.