It is important for advisors to remember that the higher education transition for students does take time. And sometimes, perhaps many times, a student will try their very best and be unsuccessful. One of our jobs is to help them as they navigate the uncomfortable growth process surrounding those experiences.
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Advisors use dozens of tools to aid students, including advising styles, recommendations, curricula, academic coaching, and more. Any one of these may be appropriate with different students, or with the same students at different times. But when advisors’ roles can include teaching, reviewing a checklist, making referrals, and more, how does the advisor know when to use which tool, when to offer a checklist, and when to engage in behavior counseling?
Successful engagement in strong communication, problem-solving, and rapport-building skills – those critical to the relational component of advising – requires emotional intelligence. Without it, advising is little more than authoritative information dissemination.
The increased presence of international students means academic advisors must be aware of the unique issues facing international students in order to support and ensure success across the range of students they serve. The author shares six strategies that can help advisors working with international students.
Developing a sense of belonging in the first year is critical to whether or not a student will be retained. Orientation and the first-year seminar are ideal places to begin. The author offers strategies created to nurture belongingness for first-year students which can be applicable to a wide range of academic programs, institutions, and advisors and can be implemented at no cost.
