Academic success can be hindered by the demands and responsibilities of everyday life. Students are often in the difficult position of deciding how to navigate multiple obligations. Use of the 'Yes, And...Rule" equips advisors to provide perspective and support. The growth oriented approach helps to create a path for students to attend to outside the classroom tasks as well as achieve academic success.
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Higher education institutions have been incorporating more academic coaching models into their student success plans in recent years as a supplement to academic advising to improve retention. However, academic coaching still suffers from an identity crisis as there is no universal definition for what coaching entails as the roles differ across institutions, which makes it challenging to find research that provides enough data that can be used to determine the overall effectiveness of academic coaching. At the University of St. Thomas in Houston, a new success coaching program has been launched with the goal of helping students differentiate between the roles of coaches and advisors and working collaboratively with faculty and other campus resources to provide a more holistic approach in serving students.
Creating a schedule that balances out a student’s coursework and extracurricular activities is a critical factor that impacts their overall academic success and sets the tone for how they will progress forward in their academic career.
The science on sleep is clear: poor sleep decreases mental capacity and compromises mental and physical health. In order for students to learn, and for any individual to thrive and enjoy clear mental focus, robust productivity and motivation, and general wellbeing, sufficient high-quality sleep is of paramount importance.
Autonomy helps students meet the demands of higher education and fosters psychological well-being and a sense of meaning. Academic advisors can best appreciate the role of autonomy in students’ lives and their responsibility in fostering it when they recognise how personal connections can provide students with the psychosocial resources they need to become autonomous learners.
A recent study analyzed academic advising structures at U.S. research institutions and how they relate to student success outcomes of first-year retention and six-year graduation rates. It found that a significant relationship exists and is improved with a shared model of academic advising. However, it is also the case that many institutions across the U.S. are organized such that individual academic units together comprise a university’s decentralized undergraduate structure. What can a siloed university do to begin to shift towards a shared model of academic advising? With collaborative and holistic advising at the core, this article provides five practical recommendations to assist institutions at any stage in advising redesign: 1) define advising, 2) develop a university-wide advising counsel or committee, 3) create standard training resources and communication mechanisms, 4) provide informal opportunities for advisors to connect, and 5) recognize and celebrate advisors.
