Research Agenda

NACADA supports research to advance knowledge about academic advising. Rigorous inquiry that investigates academic advising’s impact, context, or theoretical basis is particularly needed. The Research Committee has identified a research agenda for critical areas within these areas.

• The impact of academic advising on students and institutions, such as measuring advising’s impact on particular student populations or on institutional goals (such as retention or program implementation) or analyzing the impact of particular advising practices, models, or organizational structures on student learning and development.
  • Critical areas: International students; Students from underrepresented populations; Impact of advising on retention; Impact of advising on student decision-making; Comparative studies of advising models; Measurement of student learning from advising

• The context of academic advising, which may include examination of institutional and cultural conditions that have an impact on student academic decision-making, institutional support, or reward and recognition of advising 
  • Critical areas: Faculty roles in academic advising; Use of technologies in engaging students in advising; Historical studies of the development of advising; Advising models in settings outside the United States

• The theoretical basis of academic advising development and practice, including evaluation or analysis of advising-based theory from philosophical/theoretical perspectives informed by a variety of disciplines
  • Critical areas: Theory-building from humanities disciplines and other disciplinary areas underrepresented in college student literature; Connections between academic advising and higher education’s broader learning mission