This article discusses an analytical approach to the collection and analysis of data in academic advising and provides examples of the use of quantitative data within advising practice at International Christian University (ICU).
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If you haven’t attended a NACADA Summer institute, do it! It is a phenomenal opportunity to learn about academic advising and to connect with people from colleges and universities from across the globe.
Many of today’s academic advisors are overwhelmed by the number of students in their advising loads and their responsibility to help these students develop academically and personally...When addressing the challenges of managing today’s large advising loads, academic advisors can benefit tremendously from categorizing their advisees, identifying specific student needs within these categories, selecting appropriate advising formats, and utilizing available resources.
Advisors have the freedom to choose to be at one of four levels within our discipline: advising practitioner, emerging professional, advising professional, or advising scholar.
When advisors understand the role of budgeting, how to manage budgets carefully, ethically and creatively, and learn to “speak the language” of budgeting, we can preserve funding and serve students even in the “lean times.”
Wikis can be used as informational mediums for advisor training and development, provide a location to store and maintain institutional and departmental policies and procedures, and provide a digital space where departmental and university calendars can be posted and updated on a daily basis.
I strongly encourage all academic advisors to attend a NACADA Summer Institute during your career. You will be encouraged and motivated; you will learn new skills and be introduced to comprehensive resources. You will discover a wealth of wisdom, assistance, and knowledge from all you meet.
From June 2005 through December 2011, this publication was titled Academic Advising Today: Lighting Student Pathways. Articles included in these archived editions will be presented in a compiled version as well as broken down into individual articles to facilitate search capacity. News features from this period may be attained by contacting the Managing Editor.
It is my hope that students’ memory of me is not as an advisor sitting behind a desk, poring over Banner reports and paper files. I hope the image in their mind’s eye is of me walking, or running, somewhere on campus. I hope they remember me conversing with others and having an open door, because there is no door. I hope my example challenges them as professionals to be as accessible to their clients, patients, or students as I have tried to be for them.
