The Hybrid Model: Combining Centralized and Decentralized Approaches to Academic Advising

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The Hybrid Model Combining Centralized and
Decentralized Approaches to Academic Advising
Alana Barnes Student Academic Success
Centre Carleton University
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Presentation Overview

• Review Academic Advising Services (AAS)
• Philosophy and purpose of advising
• Changing student characteristics
• Changing campus/community conditions
• Define AAS models and approaches
• Centralized Decentralized
• Integrative - Developmental Prescriptive
• Hybrid Integrative
• Functions of a successful centralized AAS
• Key Considerations for implementation
• Organizational needs
• Advisor roles responsibilities
• Campus/Community partnerships
• Targeted support services
• Assessment and evaluation
• Weighing the possibilities with hybrid AAS
• Hybrid AAS in Canadian universities

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AAS Purpose

• What is Advising?
• 1.to give counsel to offer an opinion or
  suggestion as worth following I advise you to be
  cautious.2.to recommend as desirable, wise,
  prudent, etc. He advised secrecy.3.to give (a
  person, group, etc.) information or notice (often
  fol. by of) The investors were advised of the
  risk. They advised him that this was their final
  notice.?verb (used without object)4.to take
  counsel consult (usually fol. by with) I shall
  advise with my friends.5.to offer counsel give
  advice I shall act as you advise
• Source NACADA, 2008

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The AAS Approach

• Academic Advising is a PROCESS
• Academic advising is a planning process that
  helps students approach their education in an
  organized and meaningful way.   Advising brings
  together all of the major dynamics in a student's
  life
• Academic advising is a process of teaching
  students how to become responsible consumers of
  their own educations.   It's also a process that
  involves teaching students how to make viable
  academic decisions
• Advising is a process of giving students
  guidance, support and encouragement
•  Advising is a process of helping students
  diminish the confusion that comes with a new
  environment, clarify their goals and get the most
  out of their education
• Source Noel-Levitz, 1997 

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The Academic Advising Cycle
Source Barnes, 2008
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The Need for Hybrid AAS

• Philosophy and purpose of academic advising
• Academic advising is a developmental process
  which assists students in the clarification of
  their life/career goals and in the development of
  educational plans for the realization of these
  goals.   It is a decision-making process by which
  students realize their maximum educational
  potential through communication and information
  exchanges with an advisor it is ongoing,
  multifaceted, and the responsibility of both
  student and advisor.   The advisor serves as a
  facilitator of communication, a coordinator of
  learning experiences through course and career
  planning and academic progress review, and an
  agent of referral to other campus agencies as
  necessary. 
• Source D. Crockett, 1987

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The Need for Hybrid AAS

• As a result of changing student characteristics
  needs and changing campus/community conditions,
  universities are shifting AAS to models that
  offer the opportunity for (i) a positive impact
  on student support network (i.e. student success)
  and (ii) effectiveness of service delivery (i.e.
  retention)

• Changing Student
• Characteristics Needs
• interventions outreach
• at-risk populations
• support vs. challenge
• student expectations

• Changing Campus
• Community Conditions
• focus on retention
• Enrolment
• budget constraints
• flexibility in university system

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The Need for Effective AAS

• Changing student characteristics needs
• Andrew Parkin (Canadian Millennium Scholarship
  Foundation) suggests students need more help
  navigating the system - after they arrive in
  their postsecondary institution
• University system flexibility for access
• Student Enrolment Trends Future Forecasts
• Student Satisfaction Surveys show students rate
  Academic Advising as the most important aspect of
  their educational experience, along with
  Instructional Effectiveness (Noel-Levitz, 2006)
• The Millennial generation
• 7 characteristics special, sheltered, team
  oriented, achieving, conventional, pressured
• Call for retention initiatives as means of
  INTERVENTION

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The Need for Effective AAS

• Changing Campus/Community Conditions
• Focus on retention
• The Globe and Mail (2008) reported
• University students have a higher tendency to
  switch or interrupt their studies (compared to ¼
  of college students that stop out)
• more than one-third of University students
• take more than 5 years to complete their degree,
  or
• graduate in another discipline, or
• graduate from a University other than where they
  started
• approximately 10 of university students leave
  without graduating
• The implications/outcomes of such changes
• the student population that has been
  traditionally been the exceptions or special
  situation is now becoming the majority
• universities are finding that traditional degree
  structures and/or support services are being
  challenged

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The Need for Effective AAS

• Changing Campus/Community Conditions
• AAS prevalent in theoretical approaches
• A. The Student Success Model
• Holistic student approach
• B. The Student Retention Model
• Collaborations
• and Campus Partnerships
• Source Educational Policy Institute, 2008

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AAS Models and Approaches

• 3 Academic Advising Models/Structures
  Associated Approaches
• Centralized professional and faculty academic
  advisors are offered to all students (regardless
  of degree) in one academic or administrative unit
• Customer service philosophy (Q A)
• Task/administrative focused
• Primarily staff advisors
• Self-contained Model
• Decentralized professional and faculty academic
  advisors are offered to students through their
  respective academic department
• Includes faculty advisors and staff advisors
• Prescriptive in nature
• Faculty-only Model

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AAS Models and Approaches

• Hybrid academic advising is offered through both
  centralized and decentralized structures - in
  which the central advising office serves to
  support students and refer them to departmental
  advisors
• Supplementary Model Split Model
• Focus on high-risk target populations
• Support is characterized as
• Developmental
• Complementary
• Integrative
• Source NACADA, 2008

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Responding to Conditions - Implementing a Hybrid
Advising Model

• Institutions need to focus on providing effective
  AAS that are the best fit for their community
  (typically the result is a hybrid model adding
  centralized advising service(s) into existing
  organizational structure)
• Desired outcomes and student needs can be met
  through establishing a Centralized Academic
  Advising Service/Office that is designed to
  complement the advising and support that students
  can receive through their academic department
• It is imperative that the implementation of this
  office/service be intentional and the following
  key considerations should be made
• Enrollment (current future)
• Administrative structure
• Faculty
• Academic policies, curriculum, and degree
  programs
• Institutions mission
• Composition of the student population
• Source NACADA, 2008

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Functions of a Successful Centralized AAS

• Organizational Needs
• Personnel
• Staff Development (mission, purpose, vision, and
  goals)
• Centralized Purpose
• Core mission statement
• Clear delivery
• Common goals
• Online resources
• Student-focused
• Staff-focused
• Various modes of service delivery
• Telephone
• Email
• Social networking
• Technological needs
• Data keeping and maintenance

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Functions of a Successful Centralized AAS

• Advisor expectations responsibilities
• Masters degree requirement in Education,
  Counselling, and/or Student Affairs
• What advisors can do
• Provide students with accurate information
  concerning degree requirements, university rules
  and regulations, verify course selection, and
  other content issues
• Degree checklists
• How To guides
• Help students with academic planning by
• Identifying options with undecided/transitional
  students
• verifying their progress
• clarifying what conditions will lead to students
  achieving their plan
• modifying their plans when experiencing academic
  difficulties or exceptional circumstances
• Identify students who are struggling
  academically, provide them with support, and
  refer them to appropriate university services
• Help all students take full advantage of
  University resources/services
• Emphasize that students are ultimately
  responsible for their decisions and academic
  success
• Empathize with students that the transition to
  university can be challenging
• Teach students new skills to help them achieve
  academic success
• Coordinate and contribute to special
  programs/portfolios

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Functions of a Successful Centralized AAS

• This new approach requires advisors to serve in
  the following roles
• Teachers
• Mentors
• Coaches
• Counsellors
• Advocates
• Referral agents
• NACADA members

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Functions of a Successful Centralized AAS

• Campus/Community partnerships
• Campus wide Council for Academic Advising
• BOG/Senate degree changes
• Core training program
• Academic advising handbook
• Representation on various campus Committees,
  including
• Faculty/Schools/Academic Units
• Undergraduate Admissions
• Faculty Senate
• Student Government
• Student Retention/Transition/Success
• Residence Life Orientation
• Faculty referrals/intake
• Student Records
• Career Services
• Major Exploration

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Functions of a Successful Centralized AAS

• Targeted support services / Program Delivery
• Academic Support
• context support skills development (LSS)
• content course specific support (WTS, PASS)
• Early warning initiatives
• Intrusive programs for high-risk student
  populations
• i.e. athletes, special admissions, students with
  disabilities, international/exchange students
• I.e. institutionally identified student
  populations (intrusive advising letter
  campaigns)
• New student parent outreach
• Academic Improvement Planning
• Peer advising
• Faculty outreach referrals

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Functions of a Successful Centralized AAS

• Assessment and evaluation
• Quantitative Measures
• Retention/persistence rates
• Student success rates (based on academic
  performance)
• DFW rates
• Referral rates
• Access to support services s
• students on Academic Warning, Suspension,
  Probation
• students transferring within institution
• Accessibility
• Qualitative Measures
• Student Satisfaction surveys
• Staff/faculty feedback
• Recognition of Staff Faculty Academic Advisors
  (awards)

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Weighing the Possibilities with Hybrid AAS

• Possible Advantages Outcomes
• Holistic service to meet students needs (medical
  vs. customer service philosophy)
• Unbiased support for students
• Complete network of support and referral for
  students
• Students making informed academic plans and
  decisions
• Comprehensive resources (institutional conditions
  that foster student success retention)
• Balance of outreach vs. support for student
  populations

• Possible Challenges Roadblocks
• Campus Perceptions Climate
• Competitive vs. Complementary
• Communications Plan
• Consistency
• Internal Communications
• Student Records FIPPA
• Organizational Change Limitations
• Funding
• Personnel/Staffing

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Overview of Carleton Universitys Current
Academic Advising Services

• Hybrid Model implemented in 2005 through the
  implementation of a centralized academic advising
  office to complement campus departmental advising
  services
• The SASC mission is to help students build a
  foundation for academic success through the
  provision of programs and services that foster
  personal direction and academic competence
• Student Academic Advising Center (SASC)
  www.carleton.ca/SASC
• Academic Advising
• 1 on 1 student advising appointments (in person,
  email, in residence halls, and/or telephone)
• High Risk Student Outreach
• FYSM presentations
• Online Resources
• Writing Tutorial Services (WTS)
• Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS)
• Learning Support Services (LSS)
• Campus Partnerships/Collaborations
• Board of Governors (degree regulation changes)
• Undergraduate Appeals Committee
• Academic Advising Policy/Program Database
• Committee for Continued Support
• New Student Orientation and Transition
• Major Exploration publications/resources with
  Career Services
• Registrars Office (records and scheduling)

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Hybrid AAS in Canadian Universities

• University of British Columbia Okanagans
  Academic Advising Office
• http//okanagan.students.ubc.ca/current/academic
  .cfm?goadvising
• Wilfrid Laurier Universitys Central Academic
  Advising Office
• http//www.wlu.ca/homepage.php?grp_id1402
• Dalhousie Universitys Academic Advising Services
  Office
• www.dal.ca/advising
• Simon Fraser Universitys Advising Services
• http//students.sfu.ca/advising/academic
• Brandon Universitys Student Services Advising
  Services
• www.brandonu.ca/studentsvc/advising
• University of Winnipegs Student Services
  Academic Advising
• www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/services-advising
• University of Guelphs Undergraduate Academic
  Information Centre www.uoguelph.ca/uaic/academic_
  advising
• Acadia Universitys Academic Advising Service
• www.acadiau.ca/counsel/academicadvisor

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Concluding Thoughts

• Focus on fit in intentionally designing AAS
• Collaboration is key
• Core purpose and clear expectations
• Intensive assessment practices
• Openness commitment to new AAS initiatives

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Question Answer
Alana Barnes alana_barnes_at_carleton.ca
www.carleton.ca/SASC