Professional Background
Academic Advisor
UC Riverside School of Business 2013-2015
Assistant Director
University of Redlands Office of Professional Development 2015-Present
Alexander Astin’s Theory of Involvement
http://whitneykjones.weebly.com/knowledge-and-understanding-of-student-populations-and-student-development.html
Involvement is Positively Correlated With:
• General abilities and critical thinking
• Retention and persistence
• Academic Success
Sense of Belonging is Positively Correlated With:
• Greater sense of self-worth
• Perceived professor caring
• Lower levels of externalizing problems
0 Times 52%
1 Time 16%
2 Times 12%
3+ Times 20%
How Often Did You Visit the Academic Resource Center/Tutoring Last Year?
0 Times 1 Time 2 Times 3+ Times
Never 66%
Once 26%
More than Once 8%
How Often Did You Attend Office Hours for This Course?
Never Once More than Oncen= 600
Source: Griffin, W. et. Al., (2014). Starting the conversation: An exploratory study of factors that influence student office hour use. College Teaching, 62 (3), 94-99
0 Times 72%
1 Time 14%
2 Times 2%
3+ Times 12%
How Often Did You Visit Your Career Center Last Year?
0 Times 1 Time 2 Times 3+ Times
On average, 30% of college students
volunteered each year between 2011 and 2013
Corporation for National and Community Service
Which Factor Has the Greatest Influence On
Student Engagement?
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Entering Ability Levels
• Size of Institution
• Previous record of involvement in high school/CC
• Institutional Policy
• Mission of Institution
• Advisor/Student Ratio
Pike, Gary & Kuh, George “Typology of Student Engagement For American Colleges and Universities” Research in Higher Education, Vol. 46, No. 2, March 2005
The Exception to the Rule: 90% of Students Visited Their Academic Advisor Last Year
0 Times 10%
1 Time 18%
2 Times 28%
3+ Times 44%
How Often Did You Visit Your Academic Advisor Last Year?
0 Times 1 Time 2 Times 3+ Times
n=50 – Consistent with findings from National Survey of Student Engagement (2007)
“
”
What looks like a people problem
is often a situation problem.
“Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard”
Student Perceptions of Academic Advising
82%
32%
16%
28%
COURSE PLANNING CAREER GUIDANCE GETTING CONNECTED WITH PEERS (STD. ORG/STUDY GROUP)
GETTING CONNECTED TO OTHER CAMPUS RESOURCES
What Does Your Academic Advisor Assist You With?
Training
Knowledge
Partnerships
Partnerships
• Invite other student success departments to staff meetings
• Become familiar with colleagues in other departments
• Attend their events and collaborate on new initiatives
Knowledge
• Learn about processes, events, workshops, and coaching offered on campus
• Collaborate with the career center to learn more about your students’
professional development and typical career pathways
• Limited on time? Use student workers and ambassadors to collect information
Training
• Include campus partnerships in new advisor training
• Encourage holistic professional development
• Use advising colleagues as professional development liaisons
When Do Students Follow Through on Referrals?
• If they feel it is necessary for degree
completion: 86%
• If they feel that it is useful: 48%
• If they feel it is not useful but their advisor tells
them to go: 22%
58%
40%
18% 14%
24%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Not Necessary forAcademic Success
Will Not AddSignificant
Meaning to Life orEnhance Future
Prospects
Not Sure WhatThey Do
Not Sure AboutLocation or Hours
Don't Want toInteract With
New/UnfamiliarFaculty and Staff
Why Do Students Fail to Follow Through?
“I did not feel that they were relevant to
me at the time.”
“Unless necessary, I don’t seek out help.”
“I don’t need them.”
“I do not need to yet but I will.”
“There was no need to at this time.”
Mastery vs. Performance Orientation Goal Orientation Theory
“Students with mastery orientation seek to improve their competence.
Those with performance orientations seek to prove their competence.”
Schraw, G. (1998). Promoting general metacognitive awareness. Instructional Science, 26, 113-125.
Redefining College Completion
• An appreciation for lifelong learning and
a desire for constant progress
• Confidence in reaching out and
establishing relationships, even when you
don’t “need” them
• A sense of curiosity and exploration
Leon Festinger’s
Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
1. Change our behavior.
2. Justify our behavior by
changing the conflicting
cognition.
3. Justify our behavior by
adding new cognitions.
Image Source: http://www.truthonthenet.com/cognitive_dissonance.htm
Redefining “Successful” Degree Completion
and Creating Cognitive Dissonance
Student Beliefs:
“Degree Completion = Success”
Facts that Challenge Beliefs:
44% of recent college graduates are in
jobs that do not require a bachelor’s
degree
16% of recent college graduates are
looking for work or are only employed
part time
Only 11% of employers feel that college
grads are prepared for the workforce
Effective Referrals
• Ask students about their developmental goals to
guide your referral; avoid being prescriptive
• Discuss the student’s role and responsibility in
maximizing and directing their own learning
experience
• Initiate a relationship with the third party during
the appointment
“The Assumptive Close”
• “I will give you a call at the end of this week to see if faculty
office hours were more helpful to you now that you are
writing a list of questions beforehand.”
• “The career center allows you to make appointments online,
so how about we set one up for you while you are here?”