Editor's note: This is the last in a series of seven articles written by students who were enrolled in Dr. Jennifer Bloom's course, Developmental Academic Advising in Higher Education, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign during the 1999 summer semester. For an overview of the course, along with a description of all seven articles, please refer to Dr. Bloom's article, “Developmental Academic Advising in Higher Education: The Class.”
As the turn of the century quickly approaches, many higher education institutions are internally evaluating and assessing each of the challenges and opportunities that affect their continued success. While this is an opportune time for appraising the core values that underlie current and future programming, academic leaders must also look outside the institution to identify criticism and threats to its mission. Without a doubt, these strategic visions must address the condemnation of various stakeholders – students, parents, alumni, taxpayers, legislators – and especially their demand for increased accountability and a focus on the educational process for undergraduates.
Despite growing enrollments, increased democratization of access, more curriculum opportunities, and stronger linkages with corporate America, public dissatisfaction continues to surface and surround college campuses. Public criticism often articulates that many colleges and universities are not meeting their fundamental mission – providing effective undergraduate experiences. As colleges and universities across this nation recognize that higher education may be deficient in addressing the needs of its undergraduates, their focus often turns to academic advising.
Pivotal to the quality of an institution's educational process, advising is vitally important in the development of a student's cognitive and intellectual abilities. Often closely linked with the daily lives of their advisees, academic advisers play an integral role in the learning process by assisting students with important academic and career choices. Despite their invaluable roles in the undergraduate experience, published work that demonstrates a relationship between advising, retention, accountability, and fiscal responsibility is hard to find. The fundamental challenge to these controversies is the struggle and confusion in identifying the economic value of advising.
Economic Value of Academic Advising
As indicated earlier, there are not many articles that document and support the economic value of academic advising. In fact, when the value of academic advising is mentioned within an article, it is often found in the context of the economic value of retention.
Oftentimes, the public views higher education institutions as fiscally irresponsible. Therefore, institutions must reorganize, reengineer, and become more efficient in order to demonstrate accountability and fiscal responsibility (Glennen, Farren, Vowell, 1996, p. 38). By examining whether a student advising center has any impact on student retention, the authors assert that the establishment of a student advising center and the utilization of intrusive advising contribute to improved retention and graduation rates. Further, the investment in advising and retention efforts brings dramatic results and helps to offset budget eductions (Glennen, Farren, Vowell, 1996, p. 41).
In addition, the average cost of a degree at a public, four-year college is more than $40,000 (Goldberg, 1993). Loss of this income to the institution because of attrition is significant, but other financial losses accrue as well, including lost gifts from alumni. In particular, one author believes that institutions can calculate the amount of private dollars that will be lost because of attrition by multiplying the number of alumni gifts by fifty years (Gardiner, 1994, p. 127).
The Value of Private Investments
As state funding has continued to decline at public institutions across this nation, higher education struggles to meet the public's needs effectively with the available state resources. In order to sustain the educational quality at public universities, private support by individuals and corporations has become indispensable.
Devoted individuals who often want to continue their connection with or demonstrate their affinity towards the college or university make contributions in myriad ways, including time, talent, effort, and financial resources. Whether attending an athletic event, serving as an alumni volunteer at programs or activities sponsored by the institution, participating in a distance learning opportunity, encouraging their son or daughter to attend their alma mater, or contributing financially to the institution, alumni impact the financial stability of an institution.
A financial investment in a college or university demonstrates an interest and concern in the well being of the institution. Obviously, private support is generated by those who understand the importance of enhancing and expanding the educational process, and it is often positive undergraduate experiences that lead to this desire to give back to their alma mater.
Academic Advising Implications for Private Support
Does academic advising impact an institution's relationship with its alumni and donors? Financial contributions to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) certainly seem to indicate that advising is closely linked to alumni's desire to invest in the institution following graduation.
As an undergraduate and graduate student, Gary Bielfeldt ('58, M.S. '59), studied under Thomas Hieronymus, a professor emeritus of agricultural economics who taught at the University of Illinois for over thirty years. Following graduation, Bielfeldt established a commodity brokerage firm and applied much of what he had learned from Hieronymus. A visionary businessman, Bielfeldt expanded his firm and eventually was elected chairman of the board at the Chicago Board of Trade.
In 1985, Bielfeldt gave recognition to the influence his adviser had on his career by donating $115,000 to establish the Thomas Hieronymus Fellowship for the Study of Speculative Markets, which provides fellowships to University of Illinois students interested in that area of study. In 1993, Bielfeldt further honored his mentor with a $1 million challenge grant to the College of ACES to establish the UI Office for Futures and Options Research and the Thomas Hieronymus Distinguished Professorship in Futures Markets.
Bielfeldt and his wife have also demonstrated their benevolence to the UI by providing $6 million towards the construction of the UI athletic administration building, which is named in their honor. Crediting his instructors and the educational experiences that he received at the institution for his successful career, Bielfeldt stated, “I think you owe a great deal to the University which provides an opportunity to get this kind of outstanding education” (Illinois Alumni, March/April 1998, p. 21).
Bielfeldt is not the only College of ACES alumnus to express his admiration and appreciation for his adviser through a financial contribution to the institution. In 1995, former advisees of Dr. James Evans provided over $10,000 to establish a scholarship in honor of their academic adviser. A visionary in the field of agricultural communications, Evans was recognized internationally for his exceptional academic credentials and nationally for his leadership in the agricultural communications program. He demonstrated his strong belief in undergraduates through his persistent and effective recruiting of outstanding undergraduate students and the mentoring he provided to more than 500 agricultural communications graduates. Evans's commitment to these undergraduates was exemplified when, upon his retirement, his former academic advisees from across the United States and the world joined together to demonstrate their respect and esteem for their mentor and friend by establishing an endowed scholarship in his honor.
The impetus for these gifts – recognizing and paying tribute to an academic adviser – is certainly reflective of the advising structure within the College of ACES. The quality of academic programs and outstanding undergraduate advising are the strengths of the educational experience in ACES (www.aces.uiuc.edu/advising). Students in the college are advised by a faculty member in their selected curriculum, and a teaching/advising coordinator is located in each department to assist in the development of the student/adviser relationship. While the adviser/advisee ratio varies depending on the department, on average the adviser/advisee ratio in ACES is 1:16. Many of the advisers in the departments mandate advising, and advisers are selected for each student based on the undergraduate's academic and professional interests.
The faculty's enthusiastic dedication to hands-on learning and commitment to innovative instructional methods is the foundation of the college's student-friendly reputation. Extending the undergraduate experience beyond the classroom, ACES also provides quality programs unique to the campus including research opportunities, field trips, and international study exchanges. These opportunities for academic, personal, and professional growth are not only vital to the student's cognitive and intellectual development, but these experiences also enhance and encourage faculty and student interaction.
Student clubs and organizations also play a critical role in the ACES undergraduate experience. By serving as advisers to these student organizations, faculty members help students to develop communication, leadership, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills. Many of these organizations have strong relationships with professional affiliate groups and serve as a networking opportunity for undergraduates. Through interactions outside of the classroom, these faculty advisers take a genuine interest in their advisees' personal and career development.
Fundraising Success Reflective of Advising Structure
While there is no quick answer or solution to the struggle in determining the economic value of advising, the advising structure in ACES illustrates a strong relationship between its fundraising success and the undergraduate experience. Intellectual growth may be the primary function of a student's academic efforts, but the extracurricular activities of a student can have a significant influence on his/her personal and professional development. It is this author's belief that the greatest impact on intellectual growth stems from the collective campus experiences, particularly when academic, extracurricular, and interpersonal interactions support and are relevant to an educational outcome. Students' socialization with both their peers and faculty members plays an integral role in their development and preparation for professional challenges – the cornerstone of the educational experience in ACES.
As we enter the new millenium, there is no doubt that academic advising will have to continue to justify its existence on college campuses. This justification will have to be expanded not only to include the fiscal stability arguments based upon the concept that advising increases student retention, but also to encompass the other areas that it impacts. I hope this article will encourage advising administrators to explore the relationship between financial support by alumni and their undergraduate academic advising experiences as an additional means to justify the existence of advising. Academic advising administrators and development officers on campus should work together in a mutually beneficial relationship to reconnect alumni to their alma mater.