Designing and Implementing Effective Advisor Development

Programs

Rebecca RyanAssociate Director Cross-College Advising Service

University of Wisconsin-Madisonrjryan@wisc.edu

Goals for this session Training vs. Development

Emphasize the importance of ongoing developmental programming

Emphasize the three important skill areas effective programs must include

Establishing a needs assessment and learning outcomes for your T&D

Self-managed development

NACADA Core Values and CAS Standards call for

advisors to recognize that we are responsible to the

individuals we advise.“Effective professional development must also support advisors to develop or enhance their cultural competence…”

Tom Brown, Academic Advising Handbook, 2nd edition

Advisor Development Chart

Training: activities undertaken per-service through advisors’ first year.Development: ongoing education and learning that

academic advisors receive after the first year and throughout their careers.

Givans Voller, Miller, and Neste, 2010

Comprehensive advisor training and development: Practices that deliver

The New Advisor Guidebook (2007) provides an excellent paradigm for creating comprehensive training and development programs, recognizing the differing levels and needs of those being trained.

The Connection Between Programming

& Retention“Effective retention programs have come to understand that academic advising is the very core of successful institutional efforts to educate and retain

students”Tinto, 1996

There is also a connection between programming and

Retention of AdvisorsAdvisors are an investment in the

institution! Good training and development programs – allow advisors, new and veteran, to develop

and deepen their knowledge– Provide motivation to progress from first-year

‘survival’ to long-term goals– Integrate advisors into the advising

community as well as the larger educational community

Joslin & Yoder, New Advisor Guidebook, 2007

Learning Outcomes

Advising centers & advising professionals should develop specific learning outcomes to identify and promote ongoing professional development.

Learning outcomes should fuse the organization’s advising mission (conceptual component) with informational elements, and advisor relational development.

Development opportunities should be:• Linked to clear expectations & define

what advisors must»Understand»Know»Be able to do

• Intentionally offered in a way that addresses different learning styles and environments (one size does not fit all)

Development opportunities should be:• Developmental

– Advisors bring in a variety of experience, skills personality styles, and backgrounds.

• Deliberate attention should be paid to expectations of what an advisor should be able to do at one month, six months, 1 year, 2 years, etc. – When does training end and

development begin?

Key Elementsof Advisor Development

•Conceptual•Informational

•Relational

Conceptual• What is academic advising? What do

academic advisors do? What are (or should be) their responsibilities?

• How is advising defined by your unit? Your institution?

• What role do (could) advisors play in the greater educational goal of the institution?

Informational• “The foundation of advising”--knowledge

about current policies, procedures, curriculum requirements, and appropriate referral resources. Advisees will expect their advisors to know important information. Advisor credibility demands it Ryan & Woolston, New Advisor Guidebook, 2007

• Familiarity with the student body• Advisors are ambassadors of the institution

(adherence to FERPA and ethical standards)

Relational• Competencies that contribute to good

communication (positive nonverbal communication, reflective listening, silence, clarification, and reality testing as appropriate).

• Advisor empathy, respect, warmth, self-disclosure, the ability to confront students in non-threatening ways.

• Being ‘present’ in the moment with students; building positive working relationships with advisees. (In conferences, the advisor’s job is to empower the student to take action, make decisions) Ryan & Woolston, New Advisor Guidebook, 2007

Implementing an advisor development program

• Begin with the end in mind, and then begin…– Conduct a needs assessment (formal or informal)– Involve advisors in the process– Secure administrative support (i.e. who is hired?

What are our resources?)– Form a planning group– Pay attn. to logistics (timing, publicity, location)– Start small, encourage attendance (reward vs.

require?)– Be creative!

Enhancingyour existing program

• Assess your existing program for conceptual, information, and relational components

• What is your vision?• Ask key questions:

– Who gets hired? What is the plan for working toward mastery? What resources do you have?

• Think broadly and deeply: create a two or three--year cycle for meeting your goals, using a wide-range of methods and materials.

How?• Amass a team of interested, committed

individuals with a stake in the process, including faculty, and other constituents

• Create a list of developmental priorities• Identify internal and campus resources• Generate three program ideas per goal/priority

area• Get feedback and assess! Build on good

programming• Recognize and Reward

Engaging Faculty• ‘Advising as Teaching’; broaden from

informational component—connect with the academic perspective. A natural transferable skill!

• Conduct a needs assessment—ask your faculty what they wished they had known before they started advising…. What do they need now?

• Provide faculty with the tools they need to do the job well (print, electronic, development opportunities)

• Recognize and reward• Assess—use for future programming

Ideas, Methods, Tools

• Use campus “experts”• Training videos &

webinars• Panel (student & staff)• Readings & dialogue• Small group

discussions• Role plays/simulations• Book clubs

• Case studies• Observation/shadowing

peers• Campus tours• Standardized assessments• Self-awareness activities• Encourage involvement on

campus outside of specific advising duties

Self-Managing your development

• What do you want/need to know?• Maintain focus on conceptual,

informational and relational skill development

• Do you understand your ‘style’?• Set goals for your progress (annual evals)• Utilize day to day interactions with

students as part of your process (you have much to learn from them!)

• Team up with colleagues and supervisors, get involved in ways that allow you to become ‘well-rounded’—take a stake!

Self-managing your development

• Keep a written record of your questions and answers

• Create a wiki or a google doc to create a training manual online

• Create training folder on your server and add to it over time

How Again?

• Create a team• Work within your vision & mission• Set goals and priorities• Use campus resources• Think long term

Conclusion• Advising matters!• Advisors are professional staff-- “An

excellent adviser does the same for the student’s entire curriculum that the excellent teacher does for one course.”

Mark Lowenstein, 2005

• Advising needs to be done well• Advising goes much farther than course

selection• Advisors are partners in the institutional

mission and are a wealth of knowledge• Training and development is on-going