Advisement in the Majors AIM Initiative

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Advisement in the MajorsAIM Initiative

• Meeting of Deans and Chairs
• January 18, 2008

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Effective advisement in the major

• is needed to fulfill the mission of the
  university.
• is an extension of classroom instruction.
• improves retention and graduation rates
• is required to ensure truth in marketing.

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Advisement and the Mission of the University
-- Fayetteville State Universitys mission is to
prepare its graduates to lead meaningful and
productive lives. The university strives to
produce creative thinkers and leaders (who will
become) change agents for shaping the future of
America and the world. Students will not learn
exclusively from classroom instruction everything
they need to know and do to become the kind of
graduate we seek to develop. Rather the totality
of experiences inside and outside the classroom
are essential to student development.
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Advisement and Instruction
Academic Advisement is one of the most important
instructional relationships a faculty member will
ever have with a student. When an advisor
provides effective advisement, he or she helps
the student enhance critical thinking and
decision making skills students clarify academic
and life goals and develop plans for achieving
these goals. Most important, perhaps, students
learn to assume responsibility for their own
education and their lives.
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Advisement and Retention and Graduation Rates
A consistent finding of research has been that
the chances of a student persisting at and
graduating from a university are greatly
increased by a meaningful relationship with at
least one faculty member outside the classroom.
Academic advisors have an excellent opportunity
to provide this relationship for students.
Hence, effective advisors help improve retention
and graduation rates.
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Advisement and Truth in Advertising
FSUs recruitment efforts and documents emphasize
the personal attention students receive. The
university claims that one of the most
distinctive features of FSU is its caring,
supportive, and nurturing environment. Effective
advisement is one of the ways that we live up to
what we claim about ourselves.
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Are we using time and resources effectively and
efficiently?
Source Steven Covey, Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People
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What do we know?
Effect size - .2 small .5 moderate .8
large plt.05 plt.001
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What do we know?
Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI) (2007)
Composite rating of various individual items
about advisement. The SSI measures the gap
between importance and student satisfaction. 1
low importance and satisfaction 7 high
importance and satisfaction. The lower the gap
between importance and satisfaction, the more
positive the rating.
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What do we know?

• FSU Advisement Survey Fall 2007 (n 876)
• 58.6 did not see advisor prior to registering
• 26.9 did not know who advisor is
• 22.7 saw the advisor more than four times in
  semester
• Most frequent suggestions for improving advising
  Advisors need to be more knowledgeable (7.2) and
  more available (6.2) they should communicate
  more (4.7) and advisor assignment should be
  improved (4.7).

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What do we know?
FSU Advisement Survey - responding strongly
agree or agree
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AIM Initiative

• To meet the catalog requirement that all students
  communicate with advisor at least twice this
  semester
• Communicate meeting, email, phone
• Mass email to all advisees is NOT communication
• To ensure that all students are on track to earn
  degree as soon as possible
• To inform students of university regulations and
  major specific requirements

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Advisor Advisee listings

• http//app2.uncfsu.edu8080/ibi_html/publish/certa
  in_major_by_advisor.htm
• Drop down menus allow you to choose term and
  major.
• Advisor, Student name and Banner ID for each
  major
• http//app2.uncfsu.edu8080/ibi_html/workbnch/mrlo
  gon.htm
• BD Academic Departments
• Academic Reports
• Enrolled Student by Advisor
• Student, ID, major, advisor, email, phone, att
  hrs, earned hours, GPA
• Each advisor must verify listing (whos not on
  the list who is on the list, but should be
  somewhere else)

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Corrections

• Ask students to declare majors
• (60 hour rule is being enforced)
• Identify and correct students listed incorrectly
  in Banner (program, advisor)
• Submit corrections in the system to Admissions,
  Registrar, others

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Deadlines

• First report from advisors March 25
• Review current courses and status
• Discuss possible course withdrawals March 20
• Chairs reports due to deans March 28
• Deans reports due to provost April 4
• Second report from advisor April 25
• Help students select courses for summer/fall
• Encourage students to complete Advisement Survey,
  NSSE, and SSI
• Chairs reports due to deans May 1
• Deans reports due to provost May 8
• Advisor reports considered in comprehensive
  evaluation
• Advisement Survey results in annual report

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Assistance to Advisors / Chairs

• Based on questions and problems that arise as
  faculty meet with advisees, we can conduct
  workshops, provide documents, websites, and other
  assistance
• Banner workshops

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Discussion/Questions