Reenvisioning and Revitalizing Academic Advising at Western Oregon University

Western Oregon University is a public, four year, comprehensive, liberal arts university that is grounded in student access and success. Our incoming students are 51 percent first generation and 8 percent Latino/a. Located in the Willamette Valley, the university strives to help students attain a college education and change their lives. In 2004, as part of its work on a new strategic plan, the university conducted a sample survey of approximately 600 students. At that time, 50 percent of students rated academic advising as poor. Hired as the director of the Academic Advising and Learning Center in August 2005, I was given the mandate to change advising. Fortunately for me, there were already many good systems and policies in place, thanks to the hard work of the previous director. A SHARED MODEL OF ACADEMIC ADVISING Coming into the director position, I made it clear that I am a developmental adviser. Many institutions and advisers still use prescriptive advising. In the latter model, there is a distinct power differential between the adviser and student. The adviser is in charge and tells the student what to do. From a theoretical standpoint, I base my interactions with students on the work of Burns Crookston and Terry O'Banion. Both Crookston and O'Banion presented their separate views on developmental advising in 1972. Put quite simply, they believe that advising is a holistic, developmental process. Scheduling classes, while important, is not the most important thing we do in academic advising. Instead, it is the questions we ask students to reflect on-what they are doing and why they are doing it-that is of fundamental importance. When a student announces they want to be a teacher, my immediate response is Why? I want students to learn how to articulate their academic goals, but in relation to their values and their life plans. It is the bigger picture of Who are you and what do you want to do with your life? Developmental advising focuses on student potentiality and student values, and how these values and potential relate to their academic goals. Western Oregon University has a shared model of academic advising. The Academic Advising and Learning Center (AALC) works primarily with exploratory students, pre-education majors, and those who have questions about the general education program, known at Western as the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum. Prospective students, academically at-risk students, and any students who have questions about advising often use the AALC. Western Oregon faculty are committed to working with students and helping them succeed. Once a student has selected a major, he or she meets with a faculty adviser in the chosen discipline. New faculty members are not assigned advisees until they have spent a year at the university. This allows them the opportunity to get to know the university and the policies and procedures prior to advising students. Upon coming to Western Oregon University, my first task was to assess the current operations. In speaking with the staff, it became apparent that no one knew what or where the office mission was, and, therefore, no one was using it. An old copy of the mission was finally located, but it did not align with the university's current mission statement. Around this time, one of the advisers decided to return to teaching, as she had been offered a position that paid more. Shortly afterward, the other academic adviser accepted a position in his academic field. Finally, the receptionist decided to move to the East Coast. Only one staff member remained. In a matter of three months I had almost a complete turnover in staff. Another challenge that I faced as the new director of academic advising was that my predecessor was still on campus in another position. Since I had been charged with revamping the advising system, I risked treading on a lot of sacred ground. TAKING ADVISING PRACTICES TO THE NEXT LEVEL In the midst of all this doom and gloom there was, however, a bright side. …