Academic Advising: The Big Picture

 

We have established some lofty goals this academic year, big-picture endeavors that might prompt an inclination to overlook one of the most fundamental — and important — roles we serve for our students: that of advisors. As faculty members, you have the privilege of making a vital connection with students who need your counsel. You offer the human relationship in their academic pursuits, the personal touch that balances all the seemingly impersonal processes and procedures.

 

Describing advising as a privilege might seem like a stretch, I realize, considering all of the other tasks on your plate. But the rewards of establishing a sound partnership with an advisee are gratifying for both student and professor alike.

 

We all have benefited at some point from the caring guidance of a mentor. A mentor’s advice and support helped us reach a decision or overcome a challenge that, at the time, seemed overwhelming. Likewise, we have known the satisfaction of lasting contact with a former student whom we took time to guide. An e-mail or holiday card is a welcome sight on a hectic day, one that reaffirms our commitment to teaching.

 

With the ever-increasing competition for students resulting in declining enrollment and retention rates, good advising is all the more important.

Consider these statistics:

·         Our first-year retention rate for the Athens campus has dropped from 85 percent just a few years ago to 82 percent for students who began classes in fall 2003. That is higher than the 81 percent average for Ohio’s other main campuses with selective admissions, but significantly lower than Ohio State’s 88 percent rate and Miami’s 90 percent figure. It also is lower than six of our 10 self-identified peer institutions.

·         Meanwhile, the Athens campus’ six-year graduation rate of 70 percent exceeds the state average of 56 percent and is second only to Miami’s rate, which is 80 percent. Five of the peer institutions have the same or lower graduation rates.

·         We have experienced a rise in the number of students who graduate in four years, a statistic one could argue is directly tied to good advising. That figure stood at 43 percent for students who began classes in 1997, and has climbed steadily to 48 percent for students who entered in 2000.

 

Advising and mentoring are so vital to the educational experience that it is specifically mentioned in the draft document for Vision Ohio, one of those big-picture initiatives that — to be successful — must build on something as simple as a good conversation.       

 

— Roderick J. McDavis, Ohio University President