When a student walks into the advising center, I wonder if this is the day that will change his or her life. Is she coming back to school after taking time off to have a family or to reach a level of financial comfort? Perhaps he wants a chance to start over in life. There may be a million reasons why a student is there. In the hustle and bustle of registration, it could be easy to herd students in and out of one's office with a schedule for the new semester, a pat on the back, and directions to the next office they need to visit; but that is not what academic advising is about.
I work with a gentleman who calls academic advising “the hope business.” That line belongs to Dr. H. Michael Kirk, and the statement sends a simple yet powerful message. Advisers simply cannot solve every student's problems; however, advisers can apply developmental advising and show students what resources are available to them (Crookston, 1994). It is in the knowledge of those resources that the true hope and power of an adviser resides. I believe it is the duty of an academic adviser to know what resources are available within the academic, financial aid, and general communities.
As a first-generation college student, I can attest to the difficulties of going to college. The entire collegiate process can seem daunting. While the community college population is booming with first-generation college students, Dale Parnell's work, The Neglected Majority, states a simple truth: “The sheer diversity of individuals attending the schools is awesome” (Parnell, 1985, p. 9). There are many ways to help this special population, however, I have found that the best resource is a truly caring adviser. As previously mentioned, advisers do not have all of the answers, but if students know that there are individuals to whom they can go for comfort and advice, their collegiate experiences can only improve.
Time is another incredibly meaningful gift we can offer students. It can be very difficult for advisers to focus on the students sitting right in front of them, when there are a million and one other things to do. This is especially true if the college requires advisers to maintain additional duties and responsibilities outside of advising—a situation playfully called multi-tasking. However, advisers must stop and consider that without these students, there would be no advising jobs at all. Students must take precedence if a community college is going to excel. Offer hope to these students. Take the time to sit down and truly apply developmental advising.
The University of Cincinnati's online Guide to Academic Advising utilizes the work of B. B. Crookston (1994), whose article “A Developmental View of Academic Advising as Teaching” is considered to be a landmark study in the field of academic advising. Crookston outlines two basic models of academic advising—developmental and prescriptive—and the University of Cincinnati uses a table to compare and contrast the models. The table indicates that, according to Crookston, an adviser who uses prescriptive advising “... tells student what he/she needs to know about programs and courses, tells student which classes to take, informs about deadlines, and takes care of academic problems” (Donnelly, n.d.). If advisers simply tell students what to take and what programs to pursue, they risk denying the student the option of truly finding a profession that calls to them. It also makes the student dependent on an adviser for registration help every semester.
On the other hand, developmental advising suggests the adviser “... helps student learn about courses and programs, teaches about schedule planning, presents options, and is knowledgeable about available help for non-academic concerns” (Donnelly, n.d.). Closely examine the difference in the wording between the prescriptive and developmental models. Words such as help, teach, and assist are consistent within developmental advising. These are words that offer hope and foster positive lifelong learning patterns. Offering students caring, informed advisers who use developmental advising is one of the wisest investments a community college can make.
First-time college students have a long and challenging road ahead of them. Recalling my first day at a university, I thought about turning my car around before I even got to campus. I went simply because I had an appointment with an adviser.
Using developmental advising, academic advisers are better able to assist students with situations and circumstances that may be life altering. A challenging and rewarding profession, advising is about showing students that reaching for and realizing their dreams are possible. Today may be the day that changes a student's life for the better. Remember that advising is more than just signing someone up for classes. It is about giving students hope.