Editor's note: This is the fourth in a series of articles written by students enrolled in Jennifer Bloom's graduate seminar on academic advising at the University of South Carolina for the 2007 fall semester. As part of her course syllabus, Dr. Bloom required each student in her class to submit an article to The Mentor or other publications for consideration.
Whether it is deciding how much time they can afford to devote to committee work, preparing for courses they have not yet taught, or scrambling to understand how to advise students, new faculty are rarely prepared for these time-consuming activities. To help better prepare doctoral students for their future roles as academic advisers, doctoral programs need to incorporate academic advising elements into their curricula. Several methods for doing this are proposed in this paper.
Reasons for Doctoral Programs to Include Academic Advising Training
At most institutions, doctoral students receive a great deal of experience teaching classes and conducting research; however, little attention is given to their other roles related to advising, institutional service, and outreach. Austin (2002a) states many graduate students have a “limited understanding of the variety of roles that faculty members must fulfill beyond teaching and research, such as advising, institutional service and public outreach” (p. 109). Most graduate students feel unprepared to be advisers, as a separate article by Austin (2002b) confirms:
Teaching preparation generally is limited to lectures. In an earlier study of 187 doctoral students at six universities, Golde (1997) found that 90 percent felt prepared to conduct research, whereas only 63 percent felt prepared to teach undergraduates, 33 percent to teach graduate students, 30 percent to advise undergraduates, 26 percent to advise graduate students ... (p. 134)
A new faculty member who lacks understanding of and preparation for the role of an academic adviser risks giving incorrect advice to students. This lack of preparation for the role of faculty adviser is unfair to the new faculty member, the institution, and, most importantly, the faculty member's advisees.
Doctoral students cannot wait until they have obtained their first jobs to learn about advising. Not all institutions have adviser training programs in place, leaving new faculty members to their own devices when it comes to handling the various issues that inevitably arise during the course of advising sessions. Institutions that do have training programs in place typically emphasize information related specifically to the degree program requirements and institutional policies (Higginson, 2000). While this is necessary and important, it is but one component of a good academic advising training program. There are additional and equally important aspects of advising with which new faculty may not be familiar. Adams (2002) tells us that many new faculty are uncomfortable “advising students about personal issues” (p. 4) and that managing the advising tasks and teaching can often be an issue for them, too. Adams (2002) also acknowledges the “extraordinary effort” required of new faculty to balance these activities with “only a small foundation of experience on which to draw” (p. 4).
Therefore, it is imperative that doctoral programs teach graduate students to be successful in their academic and research roles, as well as in the role of adviser. The demands on new faculty are numerous. It is often difficult for a new faculty member to find the time needed to learn how to be an academic adviser. Preparing graduate students during their doctoral programs to be successful advisers enables them to begin new faculty positions with a definite understanding of academic advising. This will give the new faculty member the opportunity to be a good faculty adviser from the very start. Institutions and, more importantly, their students will benefit from hiring new faculty with prior advising knowledge and the ability to address the variety of needs a student brings to an advising session. Studies show that positive interactions with faculty members increase student satisfaction with college and their persistence toward earning degrees (Hampton, 2004). New faculty who start their careers with skills and knowledge of advising are more likely to have positive and meaningful interactions with their advisees. According to Light (2001), who has done extensive research on the undergraduate experience, “... good advising may be the single most underestimated characteristic of a successful college experience” (p. 1).
Knowledge of advising will aid new faculty members, their advisees, as well as their institutions. Additionally, this knowledge may give doctoral students a competitive edge in obtaining their first faculty positions. According to the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (2007), competition for positions at four-year institutions remains high across disciplines. This is especially true for degree areas like American history that produce an oversupply of graduates each year. In a comparison of job advertisements to the number of Ph.D.'s awarded in American history during 2005–2006, approximately 28 percent of the jobs advertised were for American historians, while approximately 40 percent of doctoral degrees earned were in that field (Townsend, 2007).
Characteristics of Good Adviser Training
It is vital to understand the most important content components before addressing ways in which doctoral programs can include academic advising elements in their curricula. As cited by Higginson (2000), Wes Habley identifies three essential content components for academic adviser training: concepts, information, and relationships. The conceptual component addresses “... what the adviser needs to understand about the student ...” (Higginson, 2000, p. 301), while the informational component includes such things as “institutional rules and regulations, program and course offerings, and referral sources and services” (Higginson, 2000, p. 301). The relational component is concerned with:
... behaviors that the advisor needs to demonstrate in order to be effective in advising students, including demonstrating an attitude of warmth and welcome, asking questions that invite students' involvement in discussion, and helping students use effective decision-making strategies (Higginson, 2000, p. 301).
Due to the importance of each of the three components described above, training specific to each element is crucial.
Doctoral Program Advising Training Tips
How can doctoral programs better prepare students for their future roles as academic advisers? One approach is to incorporate an advising module into the professionalization course(s) within the current curriculum. Such courses could include academic advising definitions and theories, student development theory, and student learning theories. By incorporating theories and definitions into current professionalization courses, doctoral programs would give their students a conceptual understanding of the key elements related to advising. Having this conceptual background will help doctoral students understand that advising is more than simply helping students select courses. They will learn that advising also involves listening to students' stories and attending to the issues they are facing. According to Higginson (2000), “The advisor's conceptual understanding of the student ... [is] a crucial foundation for effective advising relationships” (p. 302).
Another approach is for the graduate division or school to sponsor mandatory academic adviser training workshops. Such workshops would explore in a more in-depth manner some of the topics touched on in the professionalization courses. The workshops could draw on the expertise already available on campus and/or bring in outside consultants to cover a wide range of topics. For example, the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) offers a plethora of professional development opportunities, including national, regional, and state conferences; Webinars on hot topics; podcasts; speakers; and consultants' bureaus, as well as an advising clearinghouse. (More information about these opportunities is available at www.nacada.ksu.edu.) Counseling centers on campus could also be utilized to facilitate workshops. By intentionally incorporating activities such as role playing into the workshops, doctoral students would be able to practice their advising skills and techniques, thus enhancing their relational skills, one of the three essential content components previously identified.
A third option for training doctoral students is to allow them to participate in existing adviser training for new and/or continuing faculty members. This would give them an opportunity to consult with and ask questions of experienced faculty or professional advisers. If adviser training is not available, doctoral students could partner with professional advisers or successful faculty advisers through job shadowing opportunities. Sitting in on actual advising sessions would allow a more in-depth look at the realities of advising and may be the best way for doctoral students to fully understand the variety of issues that come up during an advising session.
It is important that the training opportunities are designed with adult learners in mind. Lieb (1991) characterizes adult learners as goal oriented and practical and needing to feel that what they learn is relevant. Considering these characteristics of adult learners will be important when planning the workshops and other activities.
By providing doctoral students with the knowledge and skills needed in their future roles as academic advisers, doctoral programs will ensure that these students enter their first faculty positions with an understanding and appreciation for those roles. More importantly, these new faculty members will be in a position to give their advisees the best possible advice, making interactions with advisees more meaningful. By adding academic advising components to professionalization courses, requiring doctoral students to participate in academic advising workshops, allowing them to attend existing academic adviser training for faculty, and encouraging them to observe academic advising sessions with professional or faculty advisers, doctoral programs can provide a solid professional development plan for enhancing their advising skills. Institutions, new faculty members, and, most importantly, students will all benefit from this preparation.