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Editor's note: The first five opinions below were collected over several days from responses posted to the ACADV Academic Advising listserv following an announcement to the listserv about this month's Advising Forum topic.  “I believe that is like asking 'is snow white?' (we have a lot of snow here!!). Seriously, it needs to be a priority and somehow this does not seem to happen. IMHO.”~ Bernie Dunn, Schenectady County Community College, January 15 “Remember that additional money does not necessarily equate to quality!”~ Dirk Nelson, LeTourneau University, January 15 “I am on a task force at The College of New Jersey that's addressing
academic advising on our campus. According to higher administration,
advising is 'broken' on our campus. The most prevalent issue concerns the
faculty's involvement in advising; some committee members feel that
advising should be done by all faculty, some feel that it should be done
by only a select faculty and professional advisers. As Dirk Nelson
pointed out, increasing funding doesn't necessarily translate to 'better'
advising. Some of the faculty on our committee believe that all faculty
should advise because advising is a part of teaching; I don't share the
same sentiment—I feel that advising responsibilities should only fall on
those faculty (and professionals) that have an interest in advising. I
must say that the varying opinions of the committee members (4 faculty, 4
administrators, 2 students) has created very interesting dialogue!First, I'd love to hear to hear what you all feel is 'quality' advising? How does one provide 'quality' service? Should all faculty be required to advise students? Realistically speaking, is advising a form of teaching? Or is it a manner to help students register for courses? And what is considered appropriate compensation for advising? Should advisers be viewed as counselors?” ~ William (Bill) H. Johnson Jr. (alias “Shoes”), The College of New Jersey, January 15 “I only have time to address one of (Bill's) questions:Is advising a form of teaching? Yes. Does that mean anyone who can teach something should advise? No. I suspect I would be a terrible math teacher (no interest in the subject), but I think I'm a good teacher and adviser in my area. In part this is because advising is not just teaching 'advising content' (how to identify appropriate courses to register for, etc.), but also teaching students a way of viewing themselves and their options (an 'advising philosophy,' I guess) that includes self-reflection and self-evaluation, helping students see themselves and their choices more objectively, connecting them to other resources that can assist them in both academics and personal development, and so on. Having a mastery of the content (degree requirements and the university regulations) does not automatically make you a good adviser. When we choose faculty advisers to work summer orientation (these are paid positions), we assume we can teach them the content, but they need to possess certain fundamentals (a genuine desire to help students, an understanding of the challenges many incoming students face, strong interpersonal skills, the ability to communicate things the way we want them too, etc.) to be a good orientation adviser. Each year we interview people who are good teachers, but who probably wouldn't make good advisers (better at questioning authority than following it, better at communicating content in a group session than quickly establishing rapport one-on-one, etc.).” ~ Lynn O'Sickey, University of Florida, January 15 “I have a question triggered by Lynn O'Sickey's response: At my
small community college most faculty seem to like to do academic advising.
At least the prevailing ethic is that you say you do. Faculty advise with
no extra compensation in addition to their 15 credit teaching loads.
Nevertheless, the idea has come up from time to time that some faculty might
not be good at or wish to advise. I think what prevents us from
implementing something creative in this regard is how to adjust teaching
load. I'm wondering if and how others have solved this problem. Do any of
you, for example, have a particular number of advisees that is thought to be
equivalent to three credits of teaching? Or an overload formula - x number
of advisees equals x number of dollars? (I personally find 15 credits of
instruction and my share of advisees to be enough work in a given semester,
so extra pay for extra advising would not be attractive.) Put the opposite
way: If Professor Jones is not going to advise, what might he or she do
instead?”~ Donald Morgan, January 15 “I'd like to address the question as to whether academic advising is underfunded. I would answer yes, it is underfunded and underappreciated. Although many advisers perceive advising as a form of teaching, it usually is not seen as such by faculty members or administration. Many administrators, in fact, perceive professional academic advisers as similar to clerical workers, despite our having advanced degrees as do the faculty. We don't directly bring in money to an institution (although one can argue that advising retains students and therefore does generate money), so we are not granted the same degree of importance when it comes to dispensing money. In my experience, many faculty look at advising as a necessary evil, an annoyance in their day, and would rather be attending to their classes or research. There are exceptions, however, and those faculty members who do embrace advising as an important tool for connecting with students are those whom the students remember as helpful mentors, not just instructors.Professional academic advisers often become involved in completing transfer evaluations, articulation agreements, special recruitment and retention efforts, degree audit systems, etc., but normally do not receive overload pay or release time as the faculty do when they become involved in additional tasks. The elevated level of complexity and expertise needed to develop and participate in these responsibilities are not usually recognized by administrators as necessitating a promotion or reclassification of the professional academic advisers. Colleges and universities need to become aware of the importance and the complexity of advising, with commensurate compensation for our responsibilities.” ~ Linda Bradbury, Kean University, January 16 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 | |
