With the recurring theme in higher education of focusing on student retention, effective academic advising has become critical. At the same time, university departments are competing for more limited institutional resources and monies directly allocated for advising-related support are often limited. In this current climate of reduced resource allocation and increased faculty workloads, there are still many ways that the advising relationship can be sustained and even improved.
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Although it is an academic advisor’s responsibility to participate in retention efforts, it is not possible without collaboration. Retention is everyone’s job.
The author recounts her journey of “surfacing” above negative messages attached to a mental health disability. Through the advising relationship, she asserts, an advisor can assist students to embrace their difference as a pathway to true self, discover an awareness that their particular way of being in the world is not broken, and reassure them that they’re not lost or alone.
For academic advising programs to be an effective asset to support student development, persistence, and retention initiatives, institutions must create comprehensive assessment plans that are strategically focused in assessment. The NACADA Assessment Institute provides many opportunities that can help align strategies for developing, implementing, maintaining, and coining best practices in assessment in academic advising.
The role of the NACADA Diversity Committee (as explained on its webpage) is “to make recommendations regarding diversity issues within the association. The committee reviews the status of diversity within the organization, recommends methods for enhancing diversity, and advises on how the association can better meet the needs of its diverse membership.” In this article, three Diversity Committee members share their thoughts on what being a part of the committee means to them.
Since 2007, the NACADA Emerging Leaders Program has encouraged members from diverse backgrounds to get involved in leadership opportunities within the organization.
Complete editions of AAT are provided to facilitate one-touch print capability, but readers are encouraged to view the individual articles to utilize the site's enhanced search and "related articles" features.
Like many higher education institutions, NACADA is on a pivot, needing to change with advising trends, student populations, institutional initiatives, and events that impact our students and the profession.
Just as higher education is complex, the work we do across campuses to increase student success is complex and cannot be done in isolation or in established silos. The NACADA Board of Directors and Executive Office is focusing this year on building an intentional plan to develop strong relationships with other higher education associations and groups who are actively focusing on student success.
The 2016 convening of the Reinvention Collaborative focused on the theme of Diversity, Culture, & Identity in America’s Research Universities: Research-based Initiatives that Promote Shared Discovery and Learning by Students, Faculty, and Staff. Wendy Troxel, Director of the NACADA Center for Research at Kansas State University, attended the convening and reports for NACADA members.
