unlocking the potential of advising sessions

UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL

OF ADVISING SESSIONS:

Empowering Students

Through Pre-Advising Preparation

Kelsey DuPere – Cindy Morical – Miwako Nakamoto – Bill Stahley

History and Demographics

Located in SW Washington

In 1989, formally established as a branch campus of

the state’s land-grant institution

Commuter Campus of 3000

Degrees - 18 bachelor’s, nine master’s, two doctorate

37+ fields of study

Opened door to Freshmen Fall of 2006 (~60% first

generation)

Success Programming and Study Skills

Academic Advising

Career Counseling

Disability Services

Supplemental Instruction and Tutoring

Education Abroad and National Student

Exchange

SRC Advising

Advising Population:

Pre-majors and Undecided

Transfer and Freshmen

Mandatory Advising for Summer, Fall, Spring

Advising Hold on Student’s Account

Reflection Debrief

What topics take the majority of your time?

What topics do you wish you had more time to address?

What are your students doing prior to advising?

Spring 2010

On average across

campus, students

engaged in 3.01

preparatory activities

each

SRC students engaged in

an average of 2.75

preparatory activities

The SRC was in the

bottom three

departments for student

preparation prior to an

appointment

Other Departments

Implication for Advising Sessions

Majority of time spent on class scheduling

Less time for other critical topics

Advisor fatigue

Goals of Advising Sessions

Brainstorm & define goals for advising sessions

University/department mission statement

For students and advisors

Practical, achievable, and developmentally appropriate

SRC Goals: shared responsibilities, goal-setting, system navigation, autonomy, career planning

YOUR TURN!

Complete the “Set Your Goals” section of handout

Debrief

Intervention: Advising Homework

Collaborated to identify tasks to complete

Set goals

Access resources

Connect with major/career

Create academic plan

Identify questions

Students required to complete homework prior to

session

Students surveyed immediately after advising

appointment

Complete the “Intervention” section of handout

Challenges Student resistance

Use of the word “homework”

Repeat completers

Degree of student investment

Advisor response to incomplete work

Technology

Printing pdf out of date

Links for printed document/dead links

Degree audit

Complexity added to appointment scheduling

Spring 2010

On average across

campus, students

engaged in 3.01

preparatory activities

each

SRC students engaged in

an average of 2.75

preparatory activities

The SRC was in the

bottom three

departments for student

preparation prior to an

appointment

Other Departments

Survey Options for Preparation

Spring 2010

Spring 2011

New options

Spring 2011

On average, students

engaged in 3.72

preparatory activities

each

SRC students averaged

more than 5 activities Other Departments

Notes from Assessment Specialist

When comparing differences in the level of

preparation between units, it was found that SRC

students engaged in significantly more preparatory

steps relative to all other units.

Clearly, students from SRC have shown the

largest increase in preparatory activities between

the two waves of data collection. While SRC

students ranked in the bottom three last Spring

for number of activities, they now show the

highest number of activities.

Additional Measure

As a result of completing the SRC “Advising Homework,” I

was better prepared to participate in my advising

appointment.

Strongly

Disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly

Agree

1 2 3 4 5

Results

Students advised in the SRC were asked if they completed the SRC

advising homework prior to their advising session. 83.5% confirmed that

they had done so and rated how this prepared them to participate in their

advising session on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly

agree). The average rating was 4.18. The percentage of responses in

each category is below.

Student Comments

The advising homework is great! It really helped me

focus on what I wanted/needed to talk about and

helped me prepare questions to be answered.

The homework feels tedious since I know what I

need and want to talk about.

Very helpful, this was the first time I completed

homework and found it very helpful towards planning.

Advisor Observations

Prompted deeper reflection and examination of decisions before

appointment

Promoted student confidence before advising session

More engaged in dialogue and increased co-construction of session

Conversation/dialogue became more natural and meaningful

Resistance from some students and some put less energy into it

Less of “scheduler” role – better time management

Appointment is more personalized for each student

Students can self-identify more resources

When students reflect on previous homework responses, they can

see their own development over time

Contemplations Moving Forward

Develop a different version of the form for students

who have already completed it once

Create an online form so that advisors have the

information in advance of the appointment

Come up with a single way of addressing students

who decide not to complete it

Brainstorm a name different from “Advising

Homework,” and enhance the design layout

Address varying degrees of student investment,

reflective skills

Inquiry and Action Debrief

Complete “Inquiry and Action” section of handout

Share insights your group discussed that would be helpful for others.

Other questions raised?

Celebrating Success!

THANK YOU FOR COMING

Student Resource Center

www.vancouver.wsu.edu/src

Advising

Advising Homework

Advising Syllabus

Undergraduate Advising Form

Tutoring and Learning Support

Kelsey DuPere

dupere@vancouver.wsu.edu

Cindy Morical

cmorical@vancouver.wsu.edu

Miwako Nakamoto

mnakamoto@vancouver.wsu.edu

Bill Stahley

bstahley@vancouver.wsu.edu