• Styles of Advising
• Types of Exploratory Students
• Types of Exploratory Programs

1. Prescriptive Advising:
   1. Prescriptive advising emphasizes the expertise of the academic advisor over the student, and encourages the advisor to provide the solution to the students’ situation.  Once students are able to discern a “best fit” major, a more prescriptive approach—in the right circumstances—may be more applicable.
   2. While prescriptive advising does have its place in the advisor’s toolkit, when working with exploratory students it is often difficult to give students a set or standard response to the exploration process.
2. Developmental Advising
   1. Developmental advising emphasizes the partnership between the advisor and the student.  Students consult with the academic advisor along their academic journey of discovery.  Advisors provide information and insight into the mechanics of the university and assist the student with meeting the requirements and making the most of their academic journey.
   2. Exploratory advisors often see developmental advising as the preferred method of advising students, since it encourages students to be agents of their educational journey.  Students, however, may not always be prepared for this amount of agency upon entry into a university.  Especially with exploratory students, advisors need to be aware of the individual needs of each student and make adjustments to their style accordingly.
3. Appreciative Advising
   1. Appreciative advising has its roots in positive psychology, and emphasizes using open-ended questions to engage with students.  The primary purpose of appreciative advising is to draw positive connections between the educational journey, students, and advisors with an importance placed on providing a positive service.
   2. Using open-ended, reflective questions in order to draw connections between the student and the potential majors can aid advisors in advising sessions.  Additional articles and practices in using appreciative advising techniques can be found on the NACADA clearinghouse (https://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Clearinghouse/View-Articles/Appreciative-advising-bibliography.aspx), and through the Appreciative Advising Commission.
4. Intrusive (Proactive) Advising
   1. Intrusive advising emphasizes the actions taken by the academic advisor rather than the student to initiate advising sessions.
   2. Using intrusive advising when working with exploratory students can be a useful tool to engaging with students.  In some cases, students do not know of the services of academic advisors for the exploration process, or are unsure of when/how to address questions of major searching. 

Clearinghouse Articles:

• Advising undeclared students, by Patrick T. Slowinski and W. Kerry Hammock
• Changing majors, by Dorothy Burton Nelson, Robert A. Alexander, Holly E. Martin and Bradford L. Cunningham
• Decision making: Interest and effort, by George Steele
• Integrating career and academic advising: Mastering the challenge, by Betsy McCalla Wriggins
• Targeted academic advising model for working with undecided students, by Patrick Cate
• Using transformative theory in advising undecided students, by Kerry Kincanon

Articles:

• Advising undecided students: What works best? via The Mentor
• Academic Advising Experiences of First-Year Undecided Students, via NACADA Journal
• Undeclared: How picking a major is like picking a life partner, via Academic Advising Today
• Undecided/exploratory students and persistence, via Academic Advising Today

Clearinghouse and NACADA Resources:

• Advising undecided students; chapter in NACADA special populations monograph M17
• Advising Undecided/Undeclared Students for Success, NACADA Webcast
• Breaking Bad News: Helping Students Make Good Alternative Choices, NACADA Webcast
• Career advising resources
• Career and major exploration resources
• Career instrument resources

TYPES OF EXPLORATORY PROGRAMS

There are amazing advisors doing great work for students who are in an undecided/exploratory major/program.  We asked our colleagues to share information about their program and to tell us about great things they are doing to help students.  To view this resource, click here  (Google Doc).

If you want to be listed on this resource, please click here and complete the Google Form.