Information comes at us like spaghetti from a fire hose. Email, newsletters, breaking news alerts, a student in the lobby, a colleague on the phone, a project spread across our desk. Advisors are constantly being asked to do more, which means less time for each task. How can all of the incoming ‘stuff’ be managed and still produce results?
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Race, ethnicity, and culture are powerful variables that influence the way that people behave, think, perceive, and define events. Academic Advising for African Americans can be complex and requires specific skills and knowledge from the in order to establish a more safe and welcoming environment that fosters a humanizing, holistic, and proactive approach.
Female undergraduate students outnumber their male counterparts, yet there is a great underrepresentation of women in majors considered to be traditionally male. This has led to a disproportionately small number of women in STEM areas of concentration: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These disparities persist despite women’s interest in STEM fields. It is crucial for colleges and universities to impact those statistics by counteracting the factors that enforce gender roles.
The demands and responsibilities placed on advisors can be overwhelming... Rather than dealing with stress in unhealthy ways, advisors should look at a regular practice of the PEACE approach for stress management.
High achieving students excel academically, are willing to tackle complex problems, and balance a variety of involvement opportunities simultaneously, but too often this level of involvement comes at a cost. Advisors have opportunities to empower high-achievers to seek a healthy balance.
Each year the question of whether or not to implement mandatory advising seems to surface across a variety of venues and mailing lists. In addressing this question, campuses must be able to answer other questions about how they meet student needs. When campuses pose an essential outcomes-based question, they strengthen their ability to conceive the most integrative and holistic solutions for ensuring that students can achieve desired advising outcomes.
