Betsy Griffin, Ph.D., Gardner Institute Darlena Jones, Ph.D., EBI MAP-Works 2013 NCA HLC Annual Meeting

 Research on Advising and Retention  Description of Survey Data Sets  Perceptions of Academic Advising of First- Year Students at 4-Year Institutions  Perceptions of Academic Advising of First- Year Students at 2-Year Institutions  Perceptions of Academic Advising of Transfer-Bound Students at 2-Year Institutions  Discussion and Conclusions

What is your advising model? Is your advising successful?

Astin, 1993 Retention of students is greatly affected by the level and quality of their interactions with peers as well as faculty and staff. Tinto, 1987 The factors in students leaving school include academic difficulty, adjustment problems, lack of clear academic and career goals, uncertainty, lack of commitment, poor integration with the college community, incongruence, and isolation.

Rendon, 1995 Two critical factors in students' decisions to persist are their successfully making the transition to college aided by orientation and advisement programs and making positive connections with college personnel during their first term of enrollment. Habley, 1994 Academic Advising is the only structured activity on the campus in which all students have the opportunity for one-to-one interaction with a concerned representative of the institution. Pullins, 2011 Sophomore satisfaction with advising is significantly predictive of retention in public institutions.

Student (4 yr) FoE First-Year Student Assessment 5 institutions submitted nearly 3800 responses; of those, 3071 were first-year students and 506 were transfer students Faculty/Staff (4 yr) FoE Faculty/Staff Assessment 1 institution submitted 688 responses FoE First-Year Faculty/Staff Survey 4 institutions submitted 1098 responses

Student FoE First-Year Student Assessment (2 yr) 29 institutions submitted nearly 23,000 responses; of those, 10,274 were first- year students and 11,409 were transfer-bound students Faculty/Staff (2 yr) FoE Faculty/Staff Assessment 18 institutions:4,267 responses FoE Transfer-Focus Faculty/Staff Assessment 2 institutions submitted 830 responses FoE First-Year Faculty/Staff Survey 9 institutions submitted 4,640 responses

 Matched data set ◦ Only collect responses from students and faculty/staff if institutions provided both sets ◦ Four Year Institutions: Focus on First-Year only (insufficient data on transfer students)  4 institutions, 2907 first-year students and 710 faculty/staff ◦ Two-Year Institutions: Focus on institutions submitting both 1 st Year and Transfer-Bound responses  18 institutions  First-Year: 5103 first-year students and 2834 faculty/staff  Transfer-Bound: 5867 transfer-bound students and 2448 faculty/staff

StudentsFaculty/Staff Selecting Courses Successful Behaviors Future Enrollment Plans Overall Satisfaction with Advising

Academic Advisors: In advising first-year students, to what degree do you help them select courses First-Year Students: To what degree have faculty/staff advisors helped you select courses? NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

Academic Advisors: In advising first-year students, to what degree do you discuss what it takes for them to be academically successful? First-Year Students: To what degree have faculty/staff advisors discussed what it takes for you to be academically successful? NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

Largest disconnect between students and advisors NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments Academic Advisors: In advising first-year students, to what degree do you discuss their future enrollment plans (stay, drop-out, transfer)? First-Year Students: To what degree have faculty/staff advisors discussed your future enrollment plans (e.g., stay, drop-out, transfer)?

All Faculty/Staff: Please rate the overall effectiveness of academic advising for first-year students at this institution First-Year Students: Overall, to what degree are you satisfied with academic advising at this institution? Only item where students > faculty/staff NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

Large disconnect between students and advisors on advising information Advisors are much more positive with their delivery of information than students report receiving All faculty/staff are less positive with overall advising than students Largest disconnect between students and advisors for “discussing future enrollment plans”

StudentsFaculty/Staff Selecting Courses Successful Behaviors Future Enrollment Plans Overall Satisfaction with Advising

Academic Advisors: In advising first-year students, to what degree do you help them select courses First-Year Students: To what degree have faculty/staff advisors helped you select courses? NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

Academic Advisors: In advising first-year students, to what degree do you discuss what it takes for them to be academically successful? First-Year Students: To what degree have faculty/staff advisors discussed what it takes for you to be academically successful?

Academic Advisors: In advising first-year students, to what degree do you discuss their future enrollment plans (stay, drop-out, transfer)? First-Year Students: To what degree have faculty/staff advisors discussed your future enrollment plans (e.g., stay, drop-out, transfer)? Largest disconnect between students and advisors NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

All Faculty/Staff: Please rate the overall effectiveness of academic advising for first-year students at this institution First-Year Students: Overall, to what degree are you satisfied with academic advising at this institution? Only item where students ~ faculty/staff NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

Large disconnect between students and advisors on every measure Advisors are much more positive with their delivery of information than students report receiving Students and All Faculty/Staff have approximately same view with overall advising Largest disconnect between students and advisors occurs for “discussing future enrollment plans”

StudentsFaculty/Staff Discussed Career / Educational Goals Enrolling in Transferable Courses Select Appropriate Transfer Institution Transferring Before Completion

Advising Transfer-Bound: When advising transfer-bound students, how often do you discuss their goals for further education / career goals? Transfer-Bound: To what degree has your academic advisor discussed your career and/or higher education goals? 9 of 10 advisors believe this happens; less than 50% of students receive that information NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

Advising Transfer-Bound: When advising transfer-bound students, how often do you discuss transferability of specific courses? Transfer-Bound: To what degree has your academic advisor helped you enroll in courses that will transfer? Nearly 9 of 10 advisors believe this happens; 3 of 10 students do not receive any information NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

Advising Transfer-Bound: When advising transfer-bound students, how often do you discuss choosing the most appropriate college/university for transfer? Transfer-Bound: To what degree has your academic advisor informed you about institutions you might consider for transfer? Nearly ½ of students don’t think they’re getting this information NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

Advising Transfer-Bound: When advising transfer-bound students, how often do you discuss the advantages/ disadvantages of transferring before or after completing an associate's degree? Transfer-Bound: To what degree has your academic advisor discussed the pros and cons of transferring before or after completing an associate's degree? Nearly ½ of students don’t think they’re getting this information NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

Nearly ½ of students don’t think they’re getting this information NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

8 of 10 advisors believe this happens to a very high degree NOTE: Data is from FoE/EBI Assessments

Large disconnect between students and advisors on every measure Advisors are much more positive with their delivery of information than students report receiving Nearly ½ of students are not receiving the information needed

Advisors believe their message is being delivered Students (and other faculty/staff) aren’t hearing the same message

Students… Don’t understand the language of higher education? Don’t appreciate the importance of advising? Advisors… Think they’re discussing it but not? People tend to overrate their abilities Moving Forward… Rewarding faculty advising? Training for advising? Improving advising models? Educating students on purpose of advising?

 Astin, A.W. (1993). What matters most in college: Four critical years revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  Tinto, V (1987). Increasing student retention. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.  Rendon, L. (1995, May). Facilitating retention and transfer for the first generation students in community colleges. Paper presented at the New Mexico Institute, Rural Community College Initiative, Espanolo, NM.  Habley, W.R. (1994). Key Concepts in Academic Advising. In Summer Institute on Academic Advising Session Guide (p.10). Available from the National Academic Advising Association, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.  Pullins, T. L. (2011). Predicting the Retention of College Sophomores. The Importance of Satisfaction. Ph.D. Dissertation, Azusa Pacific University.

 Betsy Griffin, Ph.D. ◦ Gardner institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education ◦ ◦  Darlena Jones, Ph.D. ◦ EBI MAP-Works ◦ x206 ◦