Organizational Structures for Advising

• Overviews of the issues surrounding organizational structures for academic advising
  • Factors to consider when restructuring academic advising
• • Structuring our conversations : Shifting to four dimensional advising models
  • Organizational Structures for Advising
  • Integrating Group Advising into a Comprehensive Advising Program
  • (Re)structuring academic advising
• Read More About It! Bibliography of resources regarding this topic
  • AACSU 2005 study where advising reports

Preliminary data from 2011 national survey of academic advising.(Note: the monograph with results and analysis of this online survey will be published by NACADA will in early 2012 as a searchable CD. Follow up surveys on specific aspects of the survey will take place beginning in the 2012).

Question: “Which advising models best describe your advising situation?”(Check all that apply).

• Self Contained(all advising occurs in a center staffed primarily by professional advisors or counselors; faculty may also advise in the center.
• Faculty only(all advising is done by a faculty member, usually in the student’s academic discipline.
• Shared Supplementary [professional staff in a center support advisors (usually faculty) by providing resources/training]
• Share Split(faculty provide advising in academic discipline while staff are responsible for a subset of students, e.g., undecided, pre-majors)
• Total Intake(all incoming students advised in a center; students may be assigned elsewhere later)
• Don’t know
• Choose not to rely
• Other:(with space to comment)

Preliminary results:Respondents could check all models that apply to their situation and 25% of respondents did just that.  Thus percentages add up to more than 100%.

Two-year colleges: 239 respondents.

• Self-contained (centralized unit staffed mostly by professional advisors/counselors): 32.6%
• Faculty only (mostly decentralized/advising in their offices): 8.8%
• Shared: 51.4% (split the most common type)
• Total Intake: 18.8%
• Other: 11.7%

Four-year (public and private specializing in awarding baccalaureate degrees): 104 respondents.

• Self-contained: 15.3%
• Faculty only: 39.4%
• Shared: 51% (split and supplementary are most common types)
• Total Intake: 7.6%
• Other: 12.5%

Four-year (public and private masters): 206 respondents.

• Self-contained: 18.9%
• Faculty only: 20.9%
• Shared: 58% (“split” the most common type)
• Total Intake: 15%
• Other 10.7%

Four-year (public and private awarding through Ph.D.): 197 respondents.

• Self-contained: 38%
• Faculty only: 08%
• Shared: 54.3% (“split” was the largest group)
• Total Intake: 16.8%
• Other: 16.8%

Note: The “shared models” differed greatly. The most common was the “split” model  noted by 53% of respondents (e.g., a center for some populations - most often noted were undecided students -- with faculty advising students in specific majors. The “shared supplementary” model had its largest percent (23%) at baccalaureate institutions.

Additional note: 10% of respondents have peer advisors working within their model.