by: brittany baldwin st. petersburg college increasing staff retention in academic advising
TRANSCRIPT
By: Brittany Baldwin
St. Petersburg College
Increasing Staff Retention in Academic Advising
Qualitative study designed to explore the academic advising professionals perceptions of daily job responsibilities, expectations, and job satisfaction.
This study will help identify possible factors leading to staff turnover in the field and possible best practices for staff retention.
Overview of the Study
1. Changing Culture
Prescriptive > Developmental
Pen/Paper > Digital Tools
Term Schedules > Academic Plan until Graduation
Enrollment Based Funding > Retention/Graduation Based
Funding
Complete College America
2. Increased Pressure to Retain Student
Academic Advising credited with having major impact on student
retention
3. Shift In Responsibility and Job Expectations
More Certifications and PD demands
Higher Education standards for hiring purposes
Expected Graduate Level Education
Greater demands for data to prove retention efforts
Reporting and Data Entry Expectation
Predictive Analytics
Early Alerts
Increase job responsibilty for Advisors
Advising
Population Management
Teaching
Reporting OutreachEvent PlanningEtc.
Rational for Study
How much do these factors impact Staff
turnover in Academic Advising?
RQ1: In what ways has the job of the academic advisor changed in the last five years?
RQ2: In what ways have changes in the role of the academic advisor impacted the quality of advising provided to students?
RQ 3: What contributes to satisfaction and retention of qualified academic advising professionals?
Research Questions
● Participants were invited to participate via email
● 10 total participants • 5 academic advisors (2+ years of
experience in the field)• 5 academic advising administrators (5+
years of experience in the field)
● Participation within the study was voluntary and identities have been kept anonymous to protect their perceptions.
● Participants represent 3 different institutions within the University System of Georgia
Study Participants
Interview Process
● 30-60 minute interviews ● Separate interview
protocols• Academic Advisor Protocol • Academic Advising
Administrator Protocol
● Interviews were conducted both in person and over the phone.
● All interviews were recorded and transcribed
Review of Data Collection Document Analysis
● Academic Advising Syllabus
● Academic Advising Policies
● Institutional Academic Advisor Job Descriptions
• Small scale study• Limited participants • Only three institutions represented• Limited geographic representation
• Sensitive subject for some advisors and administrators
• Access to participants• No access to employees that have resigned
• Advisor and Administration availability
Limitations
● Knowledge of Complete College America (CCA)
● Advisor Recognition and Appreciation ● Advisor Job Satisfaction
● Job Responsibilities and Expectations
● Advisor Persistence in the Field
Overarching Themes
Academic Advising Administration
• Learned of CCA via administrative meetings from institutional leadership.
• Trained on matter in efforts to raise student retention efforts.
• 3 of the 5 AAA’s agreed with the ideals of CCA and believed pushing CCA initiatives would help increase student retention at their institutions.
Academic Advisor
• Familiar with the concepts behind CCA from discussions among peers.
• Learned of CCA through informal discussions.
• No formal training on subject matter.
• Understand the concept, but do not fully believe that CCA ideals are in the best interest of the student
CCA Knowledge
Complete College America is one of the driving factors behind student retention efforts at all participating institutions. When academic advisors do
not have a full comprehension of the “why” behind their advising efforts, they become frustrated and the quality of advisement offered to student is
impacted.
Academic Advising Administration
• 5 out of 5 AAA’s identified that they make efforts to recognize the hard work done by their advising staff.
• Examples Include:• Sending encouraging emails and
texts.• Hosting Staff Activities• Recognizing Comp Time
• 5 of 5 identified that there is no institutional recognition available to AA’s
Academic Advisor
• 5 of 5 AA’s identified that they do receive supervisory recognition that was in line with what AAA’s claimed.
• 3 of the 5 stated that they felt that they recognition was “forced” or “didn’t seem genuine”
• 5 of 5 AA’s identify that they receive no institutional recognition.
Academic Advisor Recognition
With academic advisors leading the way for student retention in higher education and advisor responsibility shifting, research has been collected regarding advisor
appreciation. Jayne Drake (2008), mentions the creation of reward systems to help show appreciation for academic advisors within her work. Furthermore, Kathleen
O’Connell (2010) identifies within her work that advisors should be valued, rewarded, and given opportunities for professional development in order to increase the
professional strengths of academic advisors.
Academic Advising Administration
• Average AAA’s level of satisfaction on a scale of 1-10: was a 7.5.
• AAA’s perceived that their staff was on average a 7 level of satisfaction.
• AAA’s perception of AA’s satisfaction level:• Too much to do, too little time. (3
of 5)• Burnout (4 of 5)• High Stress (3 of 5)
Academic Advisor
• Average satisfaction level of AA’s was a 4
• Main reasons for lower satisfaction in AA’s:• burnout due to high pressure to
retain students (5 of 5)• high amounts of data entry work
that takes away from student interaction (4 of 5).
• Feeling that there is too much to do and too little time to execute expectations (5 of 5)
Job Satisfaction and Quality Advisement
Job Satisfaction can have a direct impact on the quality of advisement being offered to students. Furthermore, research found that individual reactions to their job experiences are impacted by many factors. Salary, possibility of advancement, and the work itself (Yip, Goldman, Barry, Bozeman, and Gaughan, 2011). After discussing with advising professionals, it is clear that job satisfaction not only
impacts quality of advisement offered to students, but it also impacts an advisors desire to stay in the field.
Academic Advising Administration
• After reviewing Documentation, 5 of 5 AAA’s felt that the job of an AA was accurately represented in the hiring information, advising syllabus, and policies.
• All 5 AAA’s did identify changes to the position after hire that were not identified on the initial position description as a result of shifts in culture of academic Advising.
Academic Advisor
• 3 of 5 AA’s felt that they job description and hiring information was somewhat misleading due to the “additional duties’ generalization
• 2 of 5 AA’s agreed that all documentation accurately represented the documentation.
• 4 of the 5 AA’s mentioned changes in the position after they were hired in light of shifting culture within the field.
Job Responsibilities and Expectations
In For the most part, all AAA’s and AA’s agreed that documentation at each institution accurately reflected the positions expectations at the time of hire. Although both groups of participants did
identify shifts in the culture of advising have led to an increased daily responsibilities and expectations.
Academic Advising Administration
• All 5 participating AAA’s identify issues with staff retention.
• 3 of 5 AAA’s perceived that AA’s were leaving because of career advancement opportunities
• 2 of 5 AAA’s perceived that AA’s were leaving because of low pay and education advancement opportunities
• 4 of the 5 AAA’s contributed stress and demanding work environment to leading cause of turnover.
• 1 of 5 AAA’s identified long commute as reason for potential turnover
Academic Advisor
• 5 of the 5 participating AA’s identified lack of recognition a major factor that would cause them to leave the field.
• 0 of the 5 advisors mentioned low salary as a factor that would cause them to leave their positions.
• 4 of 5 AA’s identified that career advancement within Higher Education would cause them to leave their position.
• 3 of 5 mentioned poor leadership to be a factor that is causing them too seek employment elsewhere.
• 4 of 5 AA’s are currently seeking jobs elsewhere as results of factors mentioned above.
Advisor Persistence in the Field
Results of this line of questioning showed a major disconnect between what AAA’s perceived to be leading factors to staff turnover, and what AA’s claim to be factors leading them to see jobs elsewhere. In order for staff retention issues to be addressed, communication must occur between leadership and
staff to determine best practices for staff retention.
Practical Implications of the Study
1. They received more professional training on policies and expectations
2. Received genuine recognition for their work.
3. Had greater opportunity for advancement with in their advising centers
4. Had a clear understand if of the job expectations prior to applying for the job.
5. They could have a clear, encouraging, and honest relationship with their supervisors
According to the Academic Advisors they feel that they would be better retained if …
• Conduct study on a much larger scale geographically and in participant number
• Create a quantitative survey to capture more data regarding the issue
• Individualize institutional types (research, liberal arts, or two year college) and institutional advisement structure (centralized, shared, decentralized)
• Capture the perceptions of those academic advisors who have left their positions to gain further insight to the factors that caused them to leave.
Ideas for Future Research
Let’s Talk...
Appleby, D. (2001) The teaching-advising connection-part III. The Mentor: An
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Complete College America. (2014). The game changers:Fifteen to finish resources.
Retrieved from: http://completecollege.org/the-game-changers
/#clickBoxGreen
References
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Yip, P.M., Goldman, A., Martin, A. L. (n.d.) Job satisfaction. University of Arizona. Retrieved from http://www.u.arizona.edu/~ctaylor/chapter9/jobsat.html
