Using Groups in Academic Advising

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Using Groups in Academic Advising
To learn from one another, students with
different backgrounds and from different racial
and ethnic groups must interact

• Rebecca Ryan
• Associate Director Cross-College Advising
  Service
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• rjryan_at_wisc.edu
• With special acknowledgment to Nancy King,
  Kennesaw State University

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This session

• What is Group Advising?
• Reasons for offering group advising
• Benefits and Challenges
• Making groups personal
• Designing and Assessing
• Sharing ideas

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What is Group Advising?

• Orientation programs
• Freshman seminars and/or capstone courses
• Freshmen Interest Groups (FIG)
• Learning communities/Residence hall groups
• Groups by common interest or special populations
  (honors/International students/etc.)
• Pre-enrollment meetings/group discussions
• Common reads/Book clubs

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Why consider groups?
Variety chance to offer information in different
ways, appeal to a larger base
Necessity Advisor/Advisee ratio time
constraints Proactive vs. reactive
Building Community establishing peer groups
support and collaborate with other units
Content Advising is Teaching presenting baseline
information to a group can increase a consistent
message
?
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Why use a group approach?

• Necessity (Advisor/Advisee ratio time
  constraints Proactive vs. reactive)
• Variety (chance to offer information in different
  ways, appeal to a larger base)
• Building community (establishing peer groups
  support and collaborate with other units)
• Content (Advising is Teaching presenting
  baseline information to a group can increase a
  consistent message)
• Other ideas?

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Group Advising benefits

• Can be an important supplement to one-to-one
  advising
• Needs to incorporate principles of developmental
  advising philosophy
• Should be a student-centered process in which
  advising is a shared responsibility
• Can enhance peer involvement and the learning
  community environment

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Group Advising Challenges

• Impersonal setting?
• Presentation ability
• Group dynamics
• Attendance
• Not enough time and/or staff for many individual
  inquiries following program
• No clear agenda or motivation for the group
  session
• Used as a substitute for other types of advising?
• Timely topic?
• Captive audience?

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Making Groups personal?
Apply developmental principles!

• Advising is a shared responsibility between
  advisor and advisee
• Advising contributes to the development of
  problem solving skills, decision-making skills,
  exploration of academic and career interests
• Advising, when done well, is a form of
  teachinggroup advising is a prime example of
  this.

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Designing Group sessions

• Choose your perspective
• Informational, Relational, Conceptual
• Considerations
• Venue, timing, staffing (peers?), tracking
  attendance
• Getting the word out
• List-serves, email, posters, handbills, etc.
• Preparation
• What do you need? What do the students need?

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Content Examples

• Informational
• How to use the student center
• What requirements do you have?
• Conceptual
• Understanding a degree vs. and education
• How to use a big picture approach to your
  educational experience
• Relational
• Use interactive exercises, group discussions, and
  team building

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Who should be involved?

• Advisors, Counselors, Faculty
• Administrators
• Students (keynotes, panelists, small group
  facilitators)
• Experts (student leadership, team building,
  student success, etc.
• Guest speakers
• Entertainers
• Others?

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Your skills are TRANSFERABLE!
Do you possess

• An understanding of group dynamics?
• Knowledge of student development?
• Strong facilitation skills?
• Confident and solid public speaking skills?
• Collaborative, team playing attitude?
• Adaptable problem-solving?
• A sense of humor?

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Successful group advising depends on

• Positive group dynamics/facilitation strategies
• Introductions icebreakers group activities
• Agenda and outline for program, goals clearly
  defined, program is aligned with learning
  outcomes
• A climate of mutual trust and respect
• Interaction among participants
• Advisor knowledge of broader campus resources,
  institutional policies procedures
• Engaging materials/handouts
• Time for questions
• Evaluation and Feedback

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Assessment of Group Advising

• Both formative and summative evaluation should be
  done
• Pre- and post- measures are helpful
• What learning outcomes are you attempting to
  address?
• How does the group fit with the overall mission
  of the unit? The institution?
• Feedback should be collected from the attendees,
  advisors, and administrators as necessary

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Thoughts

• When done well, Group advising may
• Aid retention
• Ease advisor loads
• Connect students with a peer group
• Promote inter-unit collaborations
• It DOES NOT replace one-to-one advising,
• but rather ENHANCES it!

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Conclusion

• Regardless of the type of student, or the
  advising format used, keep in mind two thoughts
• An excellent adviser does the same for the
  students entire curriculum that the excellent
  teacher does for one course. Mark
  Lowenstein, 2005
• Good Advising may be the single most
  underestimated characteristic of a successful
  college experience
• Richard Light, Making the Most of College, 2001