george d. kuh nacada national conference october 18, 2006

George D. Kuh

NACADA National Conference

October 18, 2006Thinking DEEPly about Academic Advising and Student Engagement

We all want the same thingan undergraduate experience that results in high levels of learning and personal development for all students.

OverviewWhat matters to student successThe role of engagement What students say about advisingLessons for advisors from high-performing institutions

Advance Organizers To what extent do your students engage in productive learning activities, inside and outside the classroom? How do you know? What mighty you do differently -- or better -- to foster student success?

Student Success in CollegeAcademic achievement, engagement in educationally purposeful activities, satisfaction, acquisition of desired knowledge, skills and competencies, persistence, attainment of educational objectives, and post-college performance

Pre-college Characteristics Associated with Student SuccessAcademic preparationAbility and college-level skillsFamily education and supportFinancial wherewithal

Early College Indicators of Persistence and Success Goal realization Psycho-social fit Credit hours completed Academic and social support Involvement in the right kinds of activities

What Really Matters in College: Student EngagementBecause individual effort and involvement are the critical determinants of impact, institutions should focus on the ways they can shape their academic, interpersonal, and extracurricular offerings to encourage student engagement. Pascarella & Terenzini, How College Affects Students, 2005, p. 602

Student Engagement TrinityWhat students do -- time and energy devoted to educationally purposeful activitiesWhat institutions do -- using effective educational practices to induce students to do the right thingsEducationally effective institutions channel student energy toward the right activities

Good Practices in Undergraduate Education (Chickering & Gamson, 1987; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005)Student-faculty contactActive learningPrompt feedbackTime on taskHigh expectationsRespect for diverse learning stylesCooperation among students

National Survey of Student Engagement(pronounced nessie)

Community College Survey of Student Engagement(pronounced cessie)College student surveys that assess the extent to which students engage in educational practices associated with high levels of learning and development

NSSE Survey

Student Behaviors Institutional Actions & Requirements Reactions to People & EnvironmentStudent BackgroundInformationStudent Learning & Development

Effective Educational PracticesLevel of Academic ChallengeActive & Collaborative LearningEnrichingEducational ExperiencesSupportiveCampusEnvironmentStudent-Faculty Interaction

Grades, persistence, student satisfaction, and engagement go hand in hand

Behold the compensatory effects of engagement

Student Success Quiz

What is the best predictor of satisfaction with the campus climate for learning? (a) high school rank(b) college gpa(c) credit hours completed(d) quality of academic advising(e) none of the above d. academic advising

Chart8

6.4893346988

19.5318996228

47.2984446253

26.6803210531

First-Year

Satisfaction with Advising: First-Year Students

Fair20%

gender

advise Overall, how would you evaluate the quality of academic advising you have received at your institution? * gender Institution reported: Gender * classran Institution reported: Class rank Crosstabulation

% within gender Institution reported: Gender

classran Institution reported: Class rankgender Institution reported: GenderTotal

MaleFemale

1 Freshman/First-year studentadvise Overall, how would you evaluate the quality of academic advising you have received at your institution?Poor766

Fair192020

Good474847

Excellent272627

TotalMaleFemale100

4 Senioradvise Overall, how would you evaluate the quality of academic advising you have received at your institution?Poor111111

Fair232222

Good394140

Excellent272627

Total100100100

Satisfaction with Advising by Class Rank

First-YearSenior

Poor611

Fair2022

Good4740

Excellent2727

gender

00

00

00

00

First-Year

Senior

Percent

Overall, how would you evaluate the quality of academic advising you have received at your institution?

ethnicit

00

00

00

00

Seniors

Male

Female

Percent


Sheet3

00

00

00

00

First-Year Students

Male

Female

Percent


0

0

0

0

First-Year


Fair20%

advise Overall, how would you evaluate the quality of academic advising you have received at your institution? * ethnicit Institution reported: Race or ethnicity * classran Institution reported: Class rank Crosstabulation

% within ethnicit Institution reported: Race or ethnicity

classran Institution reported: Class rankethnicit Institution reported: Race or ethnicityTotal

1 African American/Black2 American Indian/Alaska Native3 Asian/Pacific Islander4 Caucasian/White5 Hispanic6 Other7 Foreign8 Multi-racial/ethnic9 Unknown

1 Freshman/First-year studentadvise Overall, how would you evaluate the quality of academic advising you have received at your institution?1 Poor68676104777

2 Fair22182119191819162020

3 Good46475047475052464947

4 Excellent27262327282326312427

Total100100100100100100100100100100

4 Senioradvise Overall, how would you evaluate the quality of academic advising you have received at your institution?1 Poor8991111118101311

2 Fair22232422222720192222

3 Good42414340423747404040

4 Excellent28282427262525312627

Total100100100100100100100100100100

Chart9

10.9792535323

22.3256638363

40.1905839059

26.5044987255

Senior

Satisfaction with Advising: Seniors

Fair22%

gender




MaleFemale


Fair192020

Good474847

Excellent272627

TotalMaleFemale100


Fair232222

Good394140

Excellent272627

Total100100100


First-YearSenior

Poor611

Fair2022

Good4740

Excellent2727

gender

00

00

00

00

First-Year

Senior

Percent


ethnicit

00

00

00

00

Seniors

Male

Female

Percent


Sheet3

00

00

00

00

First-Year Students

Male

Female

Percent


0

0

0

0

First-Year


Fair20%

0

0

0

0

Senior


Fair22%




1 African American/Black2 American Indian/Alaska Native3 Asian/Pacific Islander4 Caucasian/White5 Hispanic6 Other7 Foreign8 Multi-racial/ethnic9 Unknown

1 Freshman/First-year studentadvise Overall, how would you evaluate the quality of academic advising you have received at your institution?1 Poor68676104777

2 Fair22182119191819162020

3 Good46475047475052464947

4 Excellent27262327282326312427

Total100100100100100100100100100100

4 Senioradvise Overall, how would you evaluate the quality of academic advising you have received at your institution?1 Poor8991111118101311

2 Fair22232422222720192222

3 Good42414340423747404040

4 Excellent28282427262525312627

Total100100100100100100100100100100

Chart10

73.791031797874.1280165913

65.994671756367.2117923145

Male

Female

Percent 'Good' or 'Excellent'

Satisfaction with advising by gender & class

gender




MaleFemale


Fair192020

Good474847

Excellent272627

TotalMaleFemale100


Fair232222

Good394140

Excellent272627

Total100100100


First-YearSenior

Poor611

Fair2022

Good4740

Excellent2727


MaleFemale


Fair192020

Good474847

Excellent272627

TotalMaleFemale100


Fair232222

Good394140

Excellent272627

Total100100100

Well SatisfiedMaleFemale

First-Year7474

Senior6667

gender

00

00

00

00

First-Year

Senior

Percent


ethnicit

00

00

00

00

Seniors

Male

Female

Percent


Sheet3

00

00

00

00

First-Year Students

Male

Female

Percent


0

0

0

0

First-Year


Fair20%

0

0

0

0

Senior


Fair22%

00

00

Male

Female






Af. Amer./Black2 American Indian/Alaska NativeAsianWhiteLatin./Hisp.6 Other7 Foreign8 Multi-racial/ethnic9 Unknown


Fair22182119191819162020

Good46475047475052464947

Excellent27262327282326312427


First-Year73737474757278777274

Senior69696767686272716567


Fair22232422222720192222

Good42414340423747404040

Excellent28282427262525312627

Total100100100100100100100100100100

Af. Amer./Black2 American Indian/Alaska NativeAsianWhiteLatin./Hisp.6 Other7 Foreign

0000

0000

0000

0000

Af. Amer./Black

Asian

White

Latin./Hisp.

Percent


0000

0000

Af. Amer./Black

Asian

White

Latin./Hisp.


Chart11

72.799365582973.506951243474.051744083275.0316375601

69.472129937267.28505884766.68270387367.6274660518

Af. Amer./Black

Asian

White

Latin./Hisp.


Satisfaction with advising by year in school and race or ethnicity

gender




MaleFemale


Fair192020

Good474847

Excellent272627

TotalMaleFemale100


Fair232222

Good394140

Excellent272627

Total100100100


First-YearSenior

Poor611

Fair2022

Good4740

Excellent2727


MaleFemale


Fair192020

Good474847

Excellent272627

TotalMaleFemale100


Fair232222

Good394140

Excellent272627

Total100100100

Well SatisfiedMaleFemale

First-Year7474

Senior6667

gender

00

00

00

00

First-Year

Senior

Percent


ethnicit

00

00

00

00

Seniors

Male

Female

Percent


Sheet3

00

00

00

00

First-Year Students

Male

Female

Percent


0

0

0

0

First-Year


Fair20%

0

0

0

0

Senior


Fair22%

00

00

Male

Female








Fair22182119191819162020

Good46475047475052464947

Excellent27262327282326312427


First-Year73737474757278777274

Senior69696767686272716567


Fair22232422222720192222

Good42414340423747404040

Excellent28282427262525312627

Total100100100100100100100100100100

Af. Amer./Black2 American Indian/Alaska NativeAsianWhiteLatin./Hisp.6 Other7 Foreign

0000

0000

0000

0000

Af. Amer./Black

Asian

White

Latin./Hisp.

Percent


0000

0000

Af. Amer./Black

Asian

White

Latin./Hisp.



Accurate and current information from advisors

Primary source of academic advising

First-Year Student Use of Campus Services

What do engagingcolleges look like?

And what do advisors there do?!?

What We Learned from Project DEEP

Jossey-Bass 2005

DEEP Guiding Questions

What do strong-performing institutions do to promote student success?What campus features -- policies, programs, and practices are related to higher-than-predicted graduation rates and student engagement?

DEEP Selection CriteriaControlling for student and institutional characteristics (i.e., selectivity, diversity, institutional type), DEEP schools have:

Higher-than-predicted graduation rates Higher-than-predicted NSSE scores

Region, institutional type, special mission

Research ApproachCase study method Team of 24 researchers review institutional documents and conduct multiple-day site visitsObserve individuals, classes, group meetings, activities, events 2,700+ people, 60 classes, 30 events Discover and describe effective practices and programs, campus culture

Project DEEP SchoolsDoctoral Extensives University of Kansas University of Michigan

Doctoral IntensivesGeorge Mason UniversityMiami University (Ohio)University of Texas El Paso

Masters Granting Fayetteville State University Gonzaga University Longwood University

Liberal Arts California State, Monterey Bay Macalester College Sweet Briar College The Evergreen State College Sewanee: University of the South Ursinus College Wabash College Wheaton College (MA) Wofford College Baccalaureate General Alverno College University of Maine at Farmington Winston-Salem State University

Six Common Conditions

Living Mission and Lived Educational PhilosophyUnshakeable Focus on Student Learning Environments Adapted for Educational EnrichmentClearly Marked Pathways to Student SuccessImprovement-Oriented EthosShared Responsibility for Educational Quality

Five DEEP Lessons for Academic Advisors

We cant leave serendipity to chance

Points to PonderTo what extent do these ideas characterize your work and your institution? What are the implications for: You?For faculty members?For academic administratorsFor student affairs staff?For others (e.g., librarians, info tech personnel, etc.)?

1. Adopt a talent development approach to advising Know your studentsWho are they?What are they telling us?


What percent of high school seniors have college-level reading skills? (a) 51% (b) 59% (c) 68% (d) 77% (e) none of the abovea. 51% (ACT, 2006)


True or false:

25% of first-year first-time frosh at two-year colleges are required to take one or more remedial courses in college.

False. 60%


What percent of students who take at least one remedial course in reading do not earn a certificate or degree within 8 years of first enrollment?

(a) 18% (b) 33% (c) 43% (d) 61% (e) 70%e. 70%


About what percent of community college students return for the second year?(a) 29% (b) 33% (c) 50% (d) 61% (e) 77% c. 50% 15% do not complete one academic term

Students TodayAn entitlement mentality

Trends in High School Grades

Students TodayAn entitlement mentality Cumulative deficit re: attitudes, study habits, academic skills

Students TodayMore diverse than previous cohortsTechno-savvy NetGens

Factors That Threaten Persistence and Graduation from College academically underprepared for college-level workgap between high school and college part-time enrollmentsingle parentfinancially independentchildren at home30+ hours working per weekfirst-generation college student

1. Adopt a talent development approach to advising Know your studentsMeet students where they are academically, socially, psychologically.

Meet students where they areFayetteville StateFaculty members teach the students they have, not those they wish they hadCenter for Teaching and Learning sponsors development activities on diverse learning needsCal State Monterey BayAssets philosophy acknowledges students prior knowledge

1. Adopt a talent development approach to advising Know your studentsMeet students where they are academically, socially, psychologically.Set high expectations challenge, implore, cajole and support

Beginning College Survey of Student EngagementAnnual survey of entering first-year students2005-2006 pilot test at 70 institutionsAdministered prior to start of classesTy M. CruceJulie M. WilliamsJohn V. MooreIndiana University

It Takes a Whole Campus to Educate a Student

2. Make advising a tag team activity Share responsibility for student successDraw on multiple sources of expertise and perspectives on students

Redundant early warning systems: Tag Teaming

Wheaton first-year student advising team includes faculty, student preceptors, librarians and administrative staff. At Ursinus, Miami, and Wheaton representatives from both academic affairs and student affairs serve as academic advisors.

3. Help students map out a path to successDraw a map for student success

3. Help students map out a path to successDraw a map for student success Teach newcomers about the campus culture

Socialization to academic expectations

Enter to Learn, Depart to Serve, Winston Salems motto, reflects an educational philosophy that emphasizes that students must repay a societal debt for the privileges of freedom and responsibility. Freshman Seminar and Nursing Strategies courses include service responsibilities for new students.

3. Help students map out a path to successDraw a map for student success Teach newcomers about the campus culture Emphasize student initiative Point students to programs, resources and activities that work!

Potential High Impact ActivitiesFirst-year seminars and experiencesCommon intellectual experiencesLearning communitiesWriting-intensive coursesCollaborative assignmentsScience as science is doneDiversity/global learningService learning/community serviceInternshipsCapstone experiences/projects

What to Do?!? Student success requires that we explain more things to todays students that we once took for granted

You must buy the book, you must read it and come to class, you must observe deadlines or make special arrangements when you miss oneProf. Richard Turner (1998, p.4)

Lessons from National Center for Academic TransformationIf doing something is important, require it (first-year students dont do optional)Assign course points to the activityMonitor and intervene when necessary

http://www.thencat.org/Newsletters/Apr06.htm#1

Intrusive advisingUniversity of Kansas Graduate in Four advising notebook:Distributed at orientation Describes to students how to make the most of undergraduate study Students required to meet with advisor to review progress to degree Section for each of the four undergraduate yearsChecklist for students to weigh choices and monitor if they are making progress.

4. Make every interaction meaningful Participate and connect before college and during orientationProvide accurate informationPush students to think!Develop peer mentoring programsImbed advising into a first-year courseEncourage students to experience diversity

Who Is Most Likely to Experience Diversity? MoreStudents of color

Traditional-age students

Women

First-year students LessWhite students

Older students

Men

Upper-division students

Something Else That Really Matters in College The greatest impact appears to stem from students total level of campus engagement, particularly when academic, interpersonal, and extracurricular involvements are mutually reinforcingPascarella & Terenzini, How College Affects Students, 2005, p. 647

Linking campus and communityCalifornia State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) requires all students to complete both a lower and upper-level service learning experience as a means to apply knowledge and connect with the local community.

5. Focus on culture sooner than laterUltimately, its all about the culture

Identify cultural properties that impede advisor effectiveness and student success Expand the number of cultural practitioners on campusInstill an ethic of positive restlessness

Positive restlessness

We know who we are and what we aspire to.Confident, responsive, but never quite satisfied Self-correcting orientationContinually question, are we performing as well as we can?

Checking the Truth

How well does our advising system work? How do we know? How many students do our efforts reach in meaningful ways and how do we know? To what degree are our efforts complementary? What are we not doing that we should?

Last Word

We cannot change the lineage of our students. Campus cultures do not change easily or willingly. But we can do far more to shape the way students approach college and what they do after they arrive. Do we have the will to more consistently use promising policies and practices to increase the odds that more students get ready, get in, and get through?

Questions & Discussion

Extensive research indicates that good educational practices in the classroom and interactions with others, such as faculty and peers, are directly related to high-quality student outcomesThey also record their perceptions of features of the college environment that are associated with achievement, satisfaction, and persistence including the extent to which the institution offers the support students need to succeed academically and the quality of relations between various groups on campus such as faculty and students (Astin, 1993; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991; Tinto, 1993). Responses to the Educational and Personal Growth items in The Report have been shown to be generally consistent with other evidence, such as results from achievement tests (Brandt, 1958; Davis & Murrell, 1990; DeNisi & Shaw, 1977; Hansford & Hattie, 1982; Lowman & Williams, 1987; Pike, 1995; Pace, 1985). As with all college student surveys, the NSSE relies on student self-reports. For self-reported information to be valid, five conditions must be met: (1) the information requested is known to the respondents, (2) the questions are phrased clearly and unambiguously (Laing, Sawyer, & Noble, 1988), (3) the questions refer to recent activities (Converse & Presser, 1989); (4) the respondents think the questions merit a serious and thoughtful response (Pace, 1985), and (5) answering the questions does not threaten, embarrass, or violate the privacy of the respondent or encourage the respondent to respond in socially desirable ways (Bradburn & Sudman, 1988). The survey was designed to satisfy all these conditions. The items are clearly worded, well defined, have high face validity, and acceptable reliability (Kuh 2000). Satisfaction with advising, FY students pie chart

Satisfaction with advising, seniors pie chart

Collapsed categories good and excellent satisfaction with advising by gender and classCollapsed categories good and excellent satisfaction with advising by race/ethnicity and classAAU (2004,2005,2006) and PLC (2004,2005,2006) combined:FY n=18890 SR n=17067

AAUThe information you've received from academic advisors has been accurate and up to date.Strongly disagreeDisagreeAgreeStrongly agreeNot applicablePLCHow satisfied are you with your advisor's knowledge of advising resources on campus?Very dissatisfiedDissatisfiedSatisfiedVery satisfiedNot applicableNot applicable=2% for both first-year and seniors

AAU (2004,2005, 2006) and COPLAC (2004, 2006) items combined.FY n=18177 SR n=16907AAU: During the past year, from what source did you receive most of your academic advising? Advisors in your college or departmentInstructors/staff members not formally assigned as advisorsOnline registration and degree tracking systemUndergraduate catalog or other publicationsFriends or FamilyNot applicableCOPLAC:What has been the primary source of your academic advising during the current academic year?Institution publications/websiteFriends or familyAn instructor/staff not assignedAn advisor in the Advising Center(since this one is not in the AAU, it wasnt included.)My officially assigned advisorThe data show us that these are high-performing schools. The project helped us answer WHY they are so good.

So its a combination of these two factors. There are plenty of high-scoring schools as part of NSSE; these were just 20 of the ones that met these criteria. 2,700 peopleincluding about 1,300 students, 750 faculty members, and 650others (such as administrators, student affairs professionals, librarians,and instructional technology staff).We met with some of these people morethan once. In addition to traversing these campuses on foot and by bus andauto, we also sat in on about 60 classes, attended more than 30 campusevents, including faculty senate meetings, lectures, candlelight vigils, campusforums, and student government meetings, dined in about 20 campuslocations, and visited student centers at least two dozen times.

CETalOffers workshops on instructional techniques, including problem-based learning and techniques for cooperative learningFSUCenter for Teaching and Learning sponsors faculty development activities, early exposure to students diverse learning needs.

There is no sense of territoriality when it comes to helping students. Educationally effective schools realize that educating students is everyones business and work to promote staff from student affairs staff, to campus librarians, to support staff in addition to faculty, into this process. For example, at Wofford, where a coffee shop worker exemplified that strong influence that staff can have over students, a picture display honoring the staff demonstrated the important role that they play. Wheaton includes librarians and administrative staff, along with faculty and two student preceptors, as a part of its first-year students advising teams. In addition, Wheaton hosts a three-week intensive staff development program called Learning Garden, which is taught by faculty and staff within the College community. At Ursinus, Miami, and Wheaton representatives from both academic affairs and student affairs serve as academic advisors. GMUs retention committee combines people from many different sectors of campus to focus on student success.There are a number of academic programs and experiences that appear to provide students with interesting and important academic challenges. For the first time, Wofford introduced a common reading called The Novel Experience for all incoming firstyear students. Students were required to read Charles Johnsons Middle Passage prior to their arrival on campus. In addition to completing the reading, firstyear students were asked to write a short essay connecting their lives to that of the main character in Johnsons novel, Rutherford Calhoun. Eight of the most interesting responses1 were then published, along with photos of the student authors, in a glossy, high quality booklet which was distributed to all firstyear students. In addition, the author of the book came to campus, spoke at convocation, and met with the students who wrote the best essays. As one administrator put it, Publishing the student essays created the first celebrities in the firstyear class.How do you become a celebrity here? Academic excellence. The program is so popular among the students that seniors at Wofford are now agitating to have their own common reading.Advisory committees to faculty searches and in some cases even tenure review committees

Kansas has a requirement that 20% of all university committee seats must be held by students.

University of KansasAlverno CollegeGeorge MasonMacalester College

Bullet 1: DEEP Schools are confident enough of who they are and what they are striving for that they are willing to question whether they are performing as well as they can. This sense of institutional efficacy contributes to a collaborative culture of improvement. Bullet 2: DEEP schools are never quite satisfied with their level of performance. They continually revisit and rework policies and practices to make them marginally better. Bullet 3: Confidence combined with a focus on improved performance makes DEEP schools dynamic organizations. Because they are not afraid to experiment and invest in ideas, they are inclined toward innovation. Even those that are cash strapped typically find small amounts of money to fuel the flame of innovation. Campus infrastructure that facilitates nontraditional student learning opportunitiesWofford using physical space for ACL as required. For example, a benefactor specified the Milliken building for such a purpose. Alverno uses pod arrangements to facilitate classroom discussions and exercises. At UCMB, the science building is a site for student collaborations.Students as Junior FacultyWheaton: Two preceptors, one is junior and one is senior, using students as study abroad advisors, students used as discussion leaders, Longwood: peer tutoring, peer teaching, students take leadership in classroom. CSUMB: Faculty pedagogy dictates that students become the knowers; releases faculty from being sole source of knowledge.Institutional Collaborative Spirit Wabash: Students work across social lines. Fraternities and non-Greeks come together when trying to study. Similar practices: WSSU Greeks and non-Greeks work together for academic success. Wabash: The academic atmosphere is fiercely competitive, but not cut throat. There is a more collaborative sprit that goes along w/learning. At Alverno, students believe that the emphasis on feedback, as opposed to grades, enables students to work together more easily in a collaborative spirit.Bullet 1: DEEP Schools are confident enough of who they are and what they are striving for that they are willing to question whether they are performing as well as they can. This sense of institutional efficacy contributes to a collaborative culture of improvement. Bullet 2: DEEP schools are never quite satisfied with their level of performance. They continually revisit and rework policies and practices to make them marginally better. Bullet 3: Confidence combined with a focus on improved performance makes DEEP schools dynamic organizations. Because they are not afraid to experiment and invest in ideas, they are inclined toward innovation. Even those that are cash strapped typically find small amounts of money to fuel the flame of innovation. Advisory committees to faculty searches and in some cases even tenure review committees

Kansas has a requirement that 20% of all university committee seats must be held by students.

University of KansasAlverno CollegeGeorge MasonMacalester College

george d. kuh nacada national conference october 18, 2006

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