Home  |  Contact Us   

Retention: Academic Advising

Essential Elements of Academic Advising
Presented by Percell J. Hobbs, Interim Coordinator of Academic Advisors, Central Piedmont Community College, at the Student Engagement and Retention Workshop on June 17, 2008.

Integrated Counseling and Advisement Network (iCAN)
A Best Practice from Central Piedmont Community College, this award-winning collaborative advising system that includes faculty, staff, academic advisors, counselors, peer advisors, and technology fosters student development and success. Advising plays an essential part in student persistence and success. At CPCC, advising is viewed as an integrated, developmental process that contributes to a student’s total college performance. To enhance online advising services for students, the College has developed a comprehensive website including synchronous advising and a new student interactive orientation.

Advising and Registration Information at Durham Technical Community College (Adobe Acrobat File)
On its webpage, DTCC provides step-by-step instructions for incoming students. Specific instructions for students in the nursing program are provided. Both the general advising and registration information and the program-specific information could serve as a replicable model for other campuses.

"Faculty-based Advising: An Important Factor in Community College Retention" (Adobe Acrobat File)
What would happen if a department initiated an intense academic advising program designed to increase faculty-student interaction? This article by Ronald C. McArthur, Dean of Instruction, Atlantic Cape Community College (NJ), looks at data gathered following a program in which the Arts and Humanities department at the college personalized the advisement process. The survey results validate research that equates students satisfaction with retention in the community college setting.

Incorporating Appreciative Inquiry into Academic Advising (Adobe Acrobat File)
This article by Jennifer Bloom, Adjunct Associate Professor, Educational Organization & Leadership, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, offers a brief introduction to Appreciative Inquiry and how it can be used to help students develop a positive view of their future during the advising process.

Academic Advisement and Student Retention: Empirical Connections & Systemic Interventions (Adobe Acrobat File)
A very strong case can be made that academic advising is a crucial component for ensuring student persistence in college. This monograph by Joe Cuseo, Professor of Psychology and Director, Freshman Seminar, Marymount College (CA), provides ample evidence to support this claim, along with many practical strategies for enhancing the quality of academic advising.