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 “I believe we are seeing an increase in the number of professional advisers for several reasons listed: 1) an increase in the number of graduate students/assistants who are pursuing a Masters in Counseling or Higher Education; 2) increase in faculty responsibility in research and administrative duties on campus; and 3) an understanding and appreciation for well-trained advisers who can work directly with students, while referring students to faculty for in-depth career and program-specific advising.”~ Tabitha Cross, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, November 6 “I believe there are a few simple reasons why professional advisers are becoming more popular in departments. First, since there are very few incentives for full-time teaching faculty to do quality advising, these individuals would prefer to spend their time conducting research, which is a vital role in the tenure process. Due to the lack of desire and a lack of adequate compensation, few full-time faculty members are willing to devote the time needed to master the skills necessary to perform the functions of a full-time adviser. Thus, the need was created for full-time professional advisers. Also, due to the increasing complexity of college rules, regulations, and the major and career development process, many teaching faculty are not prepared to offer comprehensive developmental advising services. Again, this creates a need for a specialized full-time adviser trained in the area of counseling or student personnel. We have seen this shift occur in the area of student services in the early part of the century when professional were hired to perform student affairs work in part to allow faculty members more time to concentrate on their primary responsibilities of teaching and research.”~ Glenn Kepic, University of Florida, November 6 “I believe that faculty are not as able or willing to take on advising as part of their workload. Also, perhaps it is easier to have someone who understands the 'big picture' as far as 'gen eds' etc. than to train a faculty member who is most likely reluctant to advise and does not put importance on advisement.”~ Mary Post, Cecil Community College, November 6 “Advising as a profession and as a student support service has gained more interest and respect in recent years (and decades?). Therefore, the expectations of advisers have grown and at more and more institutions, the workload of teaching faculty does not permit them to do an adequate job advising students.
Advisers that devote most or all of their time to advisement will generally be more knowledgeable of policies, general education requirements, and related issues than part-time advisers. Furthermore, a certain percentage of faculty members do not want to advise students outside of their expertise or curriculum. Some institutions have thus created full-time advisers with faculty status, while many others are using professional advisers. ”~ Jim Green, Allentown College, November 6 “ 'Doing more with less' has become increasingly part of the higher education culture. Because teaching and research are high priorities in the promotion and tenure process, academic advising is viewed as something that can be delegated at a relatively low cost so why not hire a professional academic adviser?”~ Barbara K. Wade, Penn State University, November 7 “Professional academic advisers are trained and experienced to do the job. We know (or should know) gened/major/graduation requirements. Faculty need to be teaching and researching in order to move along the tenure track. They are valuable resources for their professional field (Nursing, Business, Engineering, etc.), but they sometimes lack the broad basis for graduation requirements.Let them research, teach, write. Let us advise.” ~ Linda T. Stevens, Brigham Young University, November 7 “I am not sure that I agree with the premise of this forum. That is, I do not think that we are seeing an increase in the number of staff advisers. Results from ACT's fifth national survey (1998) suggest that faculty advising is just as prevalent as it was during previous surveys (1988 and 1992). The survey indicates however, that there is a trend toward campuses moving away from models of delivery which are solely faculty-based to models which include both faculty and staff advisers. That may give the appearance of the move away from advising delivered by faculty.I also think that if there is a movement away from faculty advisers, it is most likely to take place at large (10,000+) and public institutions. Faculty at these institutions are continually pressed to deliver graduate programs, conduct research and publish. As a result, there is less support for faculty advising and alternatives to faculty delivery are common. If anything, private institutions are beginning to realize that the support they provide for faculty advisers is a critical element in institutional effectiveness.” ~ Wes Habley, ACT, Inc., November 7 “I'm glad I read the others' responses before I sent mine. I had the same reaction as Wes Habley, and I agree with his analysis and comments. Beyond those, however, I'd like to thwart 2 notions about faculty advising/advisers that I inferred from the other comments. First, all faculty are not alike. Yes, they do have varying responsibilities which might inhibit some of their effectiveness, but many do a better job than we do, depending on the advising content. Second, general education curricula are designed, developed, and delivered by the faculty; therefore, they have a vested interest and specific responsibility to communicate their rationale for their (collective) decision and the integration of it into the overall curriculum. Thus, they are critical to the process.Let me close by quoting myself from a 1979 publication, which still reflects my thoughts about the value of faculty advisers (and again to support Wes's comments) – 'One must be cautious not to generalize about the inadequacy of faculty advising. This age-old concept has yet to be shown intrinsically ineffective and should not be discarded; rather, faculty advising should be considered for its effectiveness, especially as it is coordinated with other delivery systems.'” ~ Tom Grites, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, November 10 The Mentor is published by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies Available online at www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/ Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright | © The Pennsylvania State University | All rights reserved | |
