The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal

Student Characteristics Matter: Implications for Academic Advising (2004), 149 pages, $10.00

Edited by Joyce B. Buck

This monograph grew out of a professional academic advising conference sponsored by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies. In his opening remarks, Eric White, executive director of the division, posed this question: “What should we know about specific groups of students in general to inform our work as academic advisers?” Then he asked, “How do we reconcile that each student is an individual with the prevailing literature that describes whole groups of students?”

The monograph begins with a chapter on students' civil rights, introducing advisers to case law that affects how students may be treated in higher education. The next eleven chapters, authored by the experts who presented the sessions at the conference, describe various groups of students. The monograph ends with a summary of the presentations' implications for advising.

Contents

Students' Civil Rights
Paula Knudson, staff attorney, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania
Translating the Transfer Student
Peter L. Hagen, director, Center for Academic Advising, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Underprepared Students
Cora M. Dzubak, instructor of educational psychology and director of the Learning Center, Penn State York
Being First: Overcoming the Unknown
Audrey E. Kharem, director, Student Support Services, and Cathleen T. Love, professor, agriculture and extension education, Penn State
Adult Learners
Charlene H. Harrison, director, Center for Adult Learner Services, Penn State
Underrepresented Students
Michael H. Blanco, senior diversity planning analyst, Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity, and Marcus A. Whitehurst, director, Multicultural Resource Center, Penn State
College/University Climate for Sexual Minorities
Susan R. Rankin, senior diversity planning analyst, Penn State
Characteristics of Honors Students
Cheryl Achterberg, founding dean, Schreyer Honors College, Penn State
Advising International Students in a Zero Tolerance Environment
James F. Lynch, Jr., head, International Students and Scholars office, Penn State
College Student-Athlete Characteristics
Shawna L. Bowyer, academic counselor, Morgan Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes, Penn State
Students with Learning Disabilities
Marianne Karwacki, learning disability specialist, Penn State
Students in Distress
Dennis Heitzmann, affiliate professor, clinical and counseling psychology, and director, Center for Counseling and Psychological Services, Penn State
Implications for Academic Advising
Contributors

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