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Advising Guide 2010-11
GENERAL INFORMATION
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In an age where professional relations have been described as impersonal, indifferent and detached, academic advising continues to maintain one of the crucial personal connections which students need and, more often than not, seek during their collegiate experiences. At the American University of Beirut (AUB), academic advising is viewed as a regular collaborative endeavor between students and their advisers whereby mutual trust and confidence are the foundations. All parties involved in academic advising adhere to the highest ethical practices.
At AUB, academic advising is meant to help students connect to the institution?s practices, culture and values. Academic advising thus entails a variety of tasks and responsibilities, which cater to helping students, set their educational goals, achieve their maximum potential and develop into successful learners. As such, academic advising leads students to view their educational experience as meaningful, purposeful and consistent with their goals and interests.
At AUB, it is hoped that the academic advisers? regular contact with their students allows them to establish rapport with them as well as gain insights into their students? academic, social and personal experiences. Thus, with the advisers? dedication and competence, students will become self-reliant and able to make significant decisions about their educational experiences and future career plans.
Following is a description of the adviser?s and student?s role as found from a survey of academic advisers at AUB and reported in the literature on Academic Advising. It is important for the adviser to
1. have good listening/reflecting/communication skills;
2. be knowledgeable in University policies and procedures;
3. take initiative to schedule first meeting with student;
4. know campus resources and contact people;
5. have available latest edition of University catalogue and telephone directory;
6. be sensitive to mores and values of surrounding community.
7. explain to student academic and administrative processes of University;
8. convey to student expected standards of achievement at University;
9. discuss with student program requirements, policies and procedures ;
10. verify student?s taking University placement/aptitude tests;
11. help student set educational goals;
12. plan course work with student;
13. inform student of available University educational resources, student employment, financial aid, and scholarships;
14. help student set career plans;
15. offer help and encouragement that student needs;
16. reinforce student?s self-reliance and decision making skills;
17. be protective of student?s privacy of information;
18. be available for consultation especially at beginning and end of semester;
19. be familiar with student interest inventories assessment tools (see below).
John Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS) is available on-line or as a paper and pencil tool. The SDS was developed to be self-administered, self-scored, and self-interpreted and measure Holland?s types of Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. The tool will link personal profiles and occupations. A student can pay to take the tool on-line and it is found at http://www.sdstest2.com.
The Strong Interest Inventory (SII) is valuable to assist people interested in making career choices and changes. It too is organized around John Holland?s types mentioned above. Publisher: consulting Psychologists Press, 577 College Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306.
The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS) measures career interests and self-estimates of skills. Publisher: National Computer Systems, Inc., PO Box 1294, Minneapolis, MN 55440.
Career Occupational Preference System (COPS) consists of several tools, the COP SYSTEM has three components that together assess interests, abilities and work values. The complete system must be administered and machine scored. The EDITS Company is pilot testing a computerized version presently. The paper and pencil interest inventory component called the COPS can be administered and manually scored. Publisher: EDITS, P.O. Box 7234, San Diego, CA 92107.
Personality Inventories Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was developed to provide a measure of Jung?s types and give the user a four-letter profile of their personality based on their highest score on each of the four scales. Publisher: Consulting Psychologists Press, 577 College Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306. There is a free abbreviated version of this tool on-line called the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II and it can be found at http://www.keirsey.com/.
Computer-Assisted Career Guidance Systems (CACGS). These tools are currently used by many institutions. They include many of the components in the career counseling process including self-assessment. DISCOVER by ACT is one such computer-assisted career guidance system. The module entitled ?Learning About Yourself? helps the user acquire information about their interests, abilities, and work-related values. It can also accept data from other interest inventories. The program links self-assessment to the World of Work and descriptions of occupations related to the work families.
In order for the academic advising process to succeed, the student should fulfill her/his role. Following are some of the student?s responsibilities as found from a survey of academic advisers at AUB and reported in the literature. It is important for the student to:
1. establish initial contact with academic adviser;
2. know that the academic adviser is her/his reference point during her/his stay at the University;
3. identify who her/his academic adviser is;
4. locate his/ her academic adviser?s office;
5. observe academic adviser?s office hours unless adviser indicates walk-in-basis advising;
6. be punctual when meetings are scheduled with academic adviser, otherwise alert adviser ahead of time for being late or missing the meeting;
7. check her/his e-mail on regular basis for adviser?s messages/ advising period/ on-line registration/ drop-add/ withdrawal/ end of semester/ final exams/ holidays/ vacations etc?..;
8. be familiar with policies and regulations, academic and administrative processes, and standards of achievement at University;
9. consult with adviser at least once a semester to decide on courses, verify graduation time and requirements, and academic performance;
10. consult with academic adviser as the need arises on issues and problems of academic nature, career opportunities and possibly personal nature;
11. try to have a tentative course plan ready for the adviser to approve during announced advising time;
12. be prepared, have precise questions to discuss with academic adviser during a meeting/ announced advising period;
13. know that the adviser will not make decisions for her/him in terms of professor preference or course ?easy?;
14. check with academic adviser on financial aid, assistantships, student employment, and scholarships available at University;
15. draw on the academic adviser?s experiences in program of study requirements and not just rely on her/his peers;
16. familiarize her/himself with program requirements;
17. make sure he/she took proper placement/aptitude test required by University or program of study;
18. know the clearance process during semester of graduation;
19. develop good listening/reflecting/communication skills.
Advising is a complex process that requires careful thinking and planning. Many problems and questions emerge during academic advising. The following are a number of questions that may arise during advising at AUB. The purpose of these questions is to provide advisers with ?food for thought? when planning their advising:
1. How effective is group advising where there is a large advisee to adviser ratio?
2. To what extent is the quality of advising commensurate with student retention?
3. How can academic advising play a role in the expectations set for a faculty member in a research institution?
4. On what basis are students assigned to advisers?
5. How can the institution support effective academic advising?
6. How should the new student orientation program be utilized to benefit academic advising?
7. What is developmental advising?
8. What is the most effective model or strategy to advise undecided and freshmen students?
9. Who should resolve a personality clash between adviser and advisee?
10. How does an adviser find out about his/her advisee?
11. What should an adviser do to encourage advisees (who need advising the most and use it the least) to be involved in the advising process?
12. What skills does an adviser need to do quality advising?
13. How does an adviser help an advisee petition for exceptions to the rule?
14. What placement tests should the adviser know about and how can he/she interpret the test results?
15. Are there any legal ramifications for being an academic adviser?
16. What websites or other resources can an adviser consult to improve his/her advising practices?
17. What financial aids resources are available on campus?
18. What are effective listening skills?
19. Who should do transfer of credits from another university?
20. Should advisers know about career opportunities in their advisees? fields of specialization?
21. Should advisers help advisees in their personal problems?
The Website of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) (http://www.nacada.ksu.edu) provides valuable information about academic advising. Below please find the vision and goals of NACADA:
Vision:
NACADA will be the acknowledged leader within the global education community for the theory, delivery, application and advancement of academic advising to enhance student development.
1. Champion the educational role of academic advisers to enhance student learning and development in a diverse world
2. Affirm the role of academic advising in student success and persistence, thereby supporting institutional mission and vitality.
3. Anticipate the academic advising needs of twenty-first century students, advisers and institutions.
4. Advance the body of knowledge on academic advising.
5. Foster the talents and contributions of all members and promote the involvement of diverse populations.
Goals:
1. Foster collaboration among the various advising constituencies.
2. Pursue collaborative ventures with discipline-based organizations based upon current NACADA member strengths, e.g. MLA, ACS, etc.
3. Begin a national dialogue on academic advising's educational contributions.
4. Enhance NACADA's global visibility and credibility as the resource for concerns and needs involving academic advising.
5. Influence campus decision-makers, e.g., presidents, provosts, deans, to support the value of quality academic advising.
6. Support studies on persistence and success as connected to academic advising.
7. Identify and address the critical issues facing advising in the future.
8. Prioritize the issues that require Board attention each year.
9. Recruit new members from targeted populations, e.g., community colleges, small privates, etc. Establish a growth target.
10. Recruit underrepresented groups, e.g., grad students, minorities, faculty, etc.
11. Use commissions and interest groups to work with Membership Committee to achieve specific targeted goals.
12. Continue to assess the effectiveness of the organizational structure.
13. Deliver state-of-the-art services, determined by member desires and prioritized by the Board.
14. Conduct research and disseminate information to the academic community.
15. Embrace new technologies that enhance academic advising.
16. Determine if current administrative/leadership structure promotes maximum inclusion and individual growth opportunities.
17. Cultivate new membership opportunities. |