Why Academic Advisers Need Sabbaticals: Support for Scholar-Practitioners

Andrew Wahlstrom

doi:10.26209/mj2462437

Authors

Andrew K. Wahlstrom University of Oregon

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26209/mj2462437

Keywords:

sabbatical leave, scholar-practitioner, adviser retention, advising research, advising role, advising profession

Abstract

Academic advising leaders have called repeatedly for academic advisers to engage in research to encourage research-informed advising practice and to advance the advising profession. However, most primary role academic advisers have little time, few incentives, and minimal institutional support to pursue the requisite level of scholarly activity. To stimulate such research, I propose sabbatical leave for academic advisers as an essential practice and a direct implication of the scholar-practitioner paradigm. Sabbaticals for academic advisers would be comparable to the semester or academic year leave available to tenure-line faculty. During the sabbatical, academic advisers would pursue advising research and writing, free from advising practice duties. Establishing sabbatical leave would confer multiple benefits. Academic advisers would experience improved advising practice anchored to research and scholarship, and the profession would gain a strengthened practitioner-driven knowledge base. Institutions would find these sabbaticals a valuable resource to attract advising job candidates and to mitigate the primary causes of academic adviser attrition—burnout and lack of recognition. To reap these benefits requires re-imagining academic adviser positions as an intermediate blend of regular faculty and administrative roles. Doing so is needed to create the structural framework to support advising research (including expectations, incentives, and funding) that most primary role adviser positions lack. I conclude with strategies for advisers and advising administrators to implement reformulated positions designed to support advisers as scholar-practitioners.

References

Aiken-Wisniewski, S. A., Smith, J. S., & Troxel, W. G. (2010). Expanding research in academic advising: Methodological strategies to engage advisors in research. NACADA Journal, 30(1), 4–13. https://doi.org/10.12930/0271-9517-30.1.4

Ali, M., & Johns, S. (2018, December). Compassion Fatigue and Self-Care for Academic Advisors. Academic Advising Today, 41(4). https://nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Academic-Advising-Today/View-Articles/Compassion-Fatigue-and-Self-Care-for-Academic-Advisors.aspx

Anderson, J. E., Guido-DiBrito, F., & Morrell, J. S. (2000). Factors That Influence Satisfaction for Student Affairs Administrators. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2000(105), 99–110. https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.10509

Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: Tiny changes, remarkable results: an easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones. Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Davidson, O. B., Eden, D., Westman, M., Cohen-Charash, Y., Hammer, L. B., Kluger, A. N., Krausz, M., Maslach, C., O’Driscoll, M., Perrewé, P. L., Quick, J. C., Rosenblatt, Z., & Spector, P. E. (2010). Sabbatical leave: Who gains and how much? Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(5), 953–964. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020068

Habley, W. R. (2009). Academic advising as a field of inquiry. NACADA Journal, 29(2), 76–83. https://doi.org/10.12930/0271-9517-29.2.76

Harman, E. (2018, September). Recharging our emotional batteries: The importance of self-care for front line advisors. Academic Advising Today, 41(3). https://nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Academic-Advising-Today/View-Articles/Recharging-Our-Emotional-Batteries-The-Importance-of-Self-Care-for-Front-Line-Advisors.aspx

Hatfield, L. J., & Wise, V. L. (2015). A guide to becoming a scholarly practitioner in student affairs. Stylus.

Kezar, A. J. (2000). Higher education research at the millennium: Still trees without fruit? Review of Higher Education, 23(4), 443–468. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2000.0018

Kidder, R. (2010). Administrators engaging in the research process. ACPA Developments, 8(1). https://developments.myacpa.org/administrators-engaging-in-the-research-process/

Kuhn, T., & Padak, G. (2008). From the co-editors: Is academic advising a discipline? NACADA Journal, 28(2), 2–4. https://doi.org/10.12930/0271-9517-28.2.2

Lowenstein, M. (2011). Academic advising at the university of utopia. The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal, 13. https://doi.org/10.26209/mj1361342

Marshall, S. M., Gardner, M. M., Hughes, C., & Lowery, U. (2016). Attrition from student affairs: Perspectives from those who exited the profession. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 53(2), 146–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/19496591.2016.1147359

Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 397–422. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397

McGill, C. M. (2019a). On professionalization through scholarship: A conversation with Dr. Leigh Shaffer (1947-2017). The Mentor: Innovative Scholarship on Academic Advising, 21, 11–31. https://doi.org/10.26209/mj2161221

McGill, C. M. (2019b). The professionalization of academic advising: A structured literature Review. NACADA Journal, 39(1), 89–100. https://doi.org/10.12930/NACADA-18-015

Menke, D. J., Duslak, M., & McGill, C. M. (2020). Administrator perceptions of academic advisor tasks. NACADA Journal, 40(2), 85–96. https://doi.org/10.12930/NACADA-20-12

Nguyen, T., Grites, T. J., & Aiken-Wisniewski, S. A. (2019). Virginia Gordon: Pioneering the concept of scholar-practitioner in academic advising through her own scholarship and practice. NACADA Journal, 39(2), 42–51. https://doi.org/10.12930/NACADA-19-013

Rosser, V. J., & Javinar, J. M. (2003). Midlevel student affairs leaders’ intentions to leave: Examining the quality of their professional and institutional work life. Journal of College Student Development, 44(6), 813–830. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2003.0076

Schulenberg, J. K., & Lindhorst, M. J. (2008). Advising is advising: Toward defining the practice and scholarship of academic advising. NACADA Journal, 28(1), 43–53. https://doi.org/10.12930/0271-9517-28.1.43

Shaffer, L. S., Zalewski, J. M., & Leveille, J. (2010). The professionalization of academic advising: Where are we in 2010? NACADA Journal, 30(1), 66–77. https://doi.org/10.12930/0271-9517-30.1.66

Sorcinelli, M. D. (1986, April 16-20). Sabbaticals and leaves: Critical events in the careers of faculty [Paper presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

Stebnicki, M. A. (2008). Empathy fatigue: Healing the mind, body, and spirit of professional counselors. New York: Springer Publishing Company.

Steele, G., & White, E. R. (2019). Leadership in higher education: Insights from academic advisers. The Mentor: Innovative Scholarship on Academic Advising, 21, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.18113/P8mj2161110

Troxel, W. G. (2019). Scholarly advising and the scholarship of advising. NACADA Journal, 39(2), 52–59. https://doi.org/10.12930/NACADA-19-203

Walters, W. H. (2016). Faculty status of librarians at U.S. research universities. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(2), 161–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2015.11.002

Zahorski, K. J. (1994). The sabbatical mentor: A practical guide to successful sabbaticals. Anker PubCo.