Roles and Responsibilities of Advisors

The advisor's role is an active rather than a passive one and the process of advising requires the following objectives to be met for each student assigned as an advisee:

1. Help students define and develop realistic educational career plans through schedule planning for each semester and summer school, if appropriate. Each student should have an up-to-date academic schedule plan through to graduation.

2. (If advisee is a new freshman or transfer) Meet with the advisee during the period of orientation to assist student with initial adjustment to university academic life.  Special sessions should be scheduled throughout the first academic year.

3. (For continuing advisees) Meet at least once each semester with continuing students to plan for the coming semester (or summer) and to review/revise long range academic program schedules.

4. Assist students in planning a program consistent with their abilities and interests.

5. Monitor progress toward educational/career goals and meet at least once each semester to review the progress toward completing the proposed academic program and to discuss grades and other performance indicators.

6. Discuss and reinforce linkages and relationships between instructional program and occupation/career.

7. Interpret and provide rationale for institutional policies, procedures, and requirements.
 
8. Follow-up with the advisee on any report of unsatisfactory work (notice of class probation for poor attendance, notice of FA and/or failing grades, incomplete grades from past semester(s), etc.).  Special attention should be paid to students who are placed on academic probation.
              
9. Approve all designated educational transactions (e.g., pre-registration/registration schedule, drops/adds, withdrawals, change of major and advisor, waivers, graduation requirements, etc.).

10. Try to make informal out-of-class/office contacts to underscore personal interest in the student as an individual.

11. Maintain an up-to-date advising folder, with a summary record of performance to date (grade reports, transcript, requirements completed, etc.), dates of conferences, notation of special circumstances, etc.  This folder should be available for inspection, on demand, by the Department Chair or the student and should also be ready to be forwarded immediately to the student's new advisor upon notification by the Office of Academic Development.

12. Inform and, if necessary, refer students to other institutional resources when academic, attitudinal, attendance, or other personal problems require intervention by other professionals. (e.g., Office of Academic Development, Academic Services Center, Personal Counseling, etc.)

13. Proactively contact and be available for student advisees on a regular basis. Office hours should be posted on the advisor's office door and preferably given to the advisee early in the semester. Advisors should plan for extended hours during pre-registration advising.

14. Consult regularly with faculty colleagues in order to have up-to-date information. For career and graduate school options, advisors should refer advisees to the Career Development Center when more information is needed.

Characteristics of Effective Advisors

Advisor's who possess the following characteristics are most successful with students:
• interested in advising
• demonstrates a concerned and caring attitude toward advisees
• exhibits effective interpersonal and communication skills
• available to advisees
• frequent contact with advisees
• appropriate interactive and responsive behavior with advisees as needed
• knowledgeable of institutional regulations, policies, offerings, and procedures
• monitors student progress
• uses appropriate information sources and refers when necessary
• engages in developmental advising versus simply course scheduling

Monitoring Academic Progress

Student Advising Folder
A key to effective advising is the maintenance of a complete and up-to-date folder of information on each advisee. The Student Advising Folder needs to be both historical and current. It need not contain mid-term grade reports once a final grade report is received, nor grade reports once recorded on the transcript included in the folder. The typical folder for a freshman advisee would contain the following materials with the items being updated annually using MyStuff:

Mid-term Grade Reports
Grade Report(s) for completed semester(s)
Notation about conferences   
Class Probation Notices
Other University Communications   
Up-to-date transcript (second semester)
Program Evaluation (degree audit)  
Degree Progress Analysis Form

Advisor Access
It is clear, from numerous research studies, that effective academic advising can have a significant and positive impact on the success of students in the University. Academic advising presents an opportunity for a one-on-one relationship between student and faculty member that is separate from the classroom relationship.  Particularly in a small university, students should feel confident that they have ready access to faculty to discuss their academic and career plans.  Students should also have confidence in the knowledge and expertise of their advisors in providing accurate guidance in the design of an academic program and selection of specific courses.  Faculty advisors also play a key role in monitoring academic progress and encouraging good academic performance.
 
Advisors are especially important during the student's first year at the university, when each student is developing a sense of commitment to the University and assessing the level of commitment that is reciprocated. From the perspective of the advisor, the advising process can provide some special rewards and satisfactions. It is particularly satisfying to see students who have overcome initial hurdles, often through the support of individual faculty, reach graduation a few years later.

Monitoring Techniques and Student Conferences
The mid-term Grade Report provides an early look at the student's academic results in the first semester.  Deficiencies (C-, D's and F's) should be discussed with the student immediately upon receipt of mid-term grades. Likewise, receipt of class probation notices and involuntary withdrawals should be immediately discussed with the advisee.

Retention studies have indicated that an important factor in academic success is early intervention when a student encounters difficulties in classroom performance.  The most critical period is the first semester of the freshman year, which appears to be the period when many students make decisions about their level of commitment to an institution.

The mid-term Grade Report is often the first indication of student progress [or the lack thereof].  It is sent to students just after completion of the first half of the fall and spring semesters. Advisors receive an e-mail report from the Office of Academic Development of grade deficiencies by student at the same time. It is highly recommended that a conference be scheduled immediately after fall/spring break with any student showing an unsatisfactory level of performance.  Previous experience indicates that students with poor grades at mid-term will very likely end up with similar grades at the end of the semester unless some form of active intervention helps to get them back on track. At this point the advisor needs to discuss with the advisee the options of obtaining academic support through the Academic Services Center or dropping the course.

Advisors also need to give attention to attendance reports [Class Probation notices]. Poor attendance often indicates a lack of commitment and usually translates into poor grade performance. Early intervention conferences are recommended as soon as attendance problems emerge.

Advisors will receive grade reports for their advisees after the end of each semester on their MyStuff account.  This provides another opportunity to review students' academic performance and to set up additional conferences as appropriate.  These conferences should be used to discuss repeating courses in which the student has received a D or F grade, thus requiring a need to change their registration schedule.

Repeating Courses
Students who receive grades of "D" or "F" generally should be advised to repeat the course(s) as soon as possible to prevent a growing quality point deficit. When a course is repeated, the initial grade remains on the transcript; however, the higher of the two grades is used in calculating the students' grade point average (GPA) and their quality point balance (QPB). Thus, repeating a course is one of the fastest and easiest methods a student has to improve their quality point balance and academic standing. Student athletes also need to make sure in repeat situations they have at least 12 semester hours in new courses. Students receiving financial aid also need to check with their financial aid counselor as to what effect, if any, dropping a course will have on their financial aid package.

SPECIAL NOTE: Of course, it is not necessary to wait for "official" communications to initiate either formal or informal contacts with an advisee.  In fact, it may be more effective in some cases to talk with a student in a more casual situation, demonstrating that the advisor's concern for the student goes beyond their formal duties as an advisor.

Appointment of Advisors
An Academic Advisor is appointed for each student by the Office of Academic Development at the time of first enrollment.  Generally, entering freshmen will be assigned to advisors within the area of their intended major.  (In some instances, the departmental advising load of faculty, for example in Business, may prevent this.)  Undecided students will be assigned to advisors independent of any particular academic plans. Either the student or the advisor can request a change of advisor at any time by means of a Change of Advisor form.  No specific reason need be given for this change.  This form can be completed in the Office of Academic Development. .
Students in the Evening Degree Program receive most of their academic advising from the staff for that program and are not assigned to specific faculty advisors.  The students do have the opportunity to consult with faculty in the departments having majors in the Evening Degree Program.

Changing Major and Advisor
Student's desiring to change majors need also change advisors. To do this, the student needs to go to the Office of Academic Development and inform them of their desire to change. A new advisor will be assigned and both the new and current advisors will be informed. The current advisor then should forward the student's advising folder to the new advisor.