Stephen O. Wallace and Beverly A. Wallace. NACADA Training for Faculty Advisors. Edited by Dr. Wendi Prater, Director eLearning, McNeese State University.
Academic advising is an integral component in the mission of McNeese and is delivered by diverse campus professionals who fill various roles, such as faculty members, freshman advisors, academic success coaches, graduate assistants, and others. While advisors may function within diverse environments, all academic advisors face the intense challenge to deliver quality advising in response to the specific contexts of the institution and the changing needs of their students.
Advisors and their practices vary according to colleges and departments across campus, but faculty academic advising remains an integral component in fulfilling the mission of McNeese. Faculty members work within many on campus and online advising delivery models, such as faculty-only, supplementary, split, and dual. Most faculty members at McNeese advise as part of their contractual obligations while others willingly volunteer.
The use of faculty advisors offers distinct benefits for McNeese, the success of students in graduating, in addition to personal and professional development of faculty advisors. One of the advantages of using faculty for advising are their program and course knowledge, their knowledge of related career fields, the respect they hold within the community and at McNeese, and the fact that research shows a clear relationship between student interaction with faculty and student retention.
Faculty members bring unique perspectives to their roles as academic advisors. For example, faculty advisors offer experiential insights into classroom expectations, rationales for program structures, course requirements, and institutional policies. Faculty advisors have gained in-depth knowledge about course content and can help students select appropriate courses that support their evolving academic and career goals. Furthermore, faculty members use and build on their rich history of experiences to inform and assist students with opportunities for research, continuing education, and career development.
In the current economic climate in higher education, faculty members will likely assume greater roles in delivering academic advising. Therefore, the question shifts from “will faculty serve as frontline points of contact for student concerns and questions?” to “how effective will they be in responding to the questions, needs, and concerns of the students they encounter?”
Next Steps? > Continue by reading the next article in this toolkit - Faculty Academic Advising: A Dynamic, Multidimensional Process. Or go back the review the previous article The Faculty Advisor Ready or Not Pop Quiz.
