BEST PRACTICE ITEM NO. 4
Establish positive relationships with all advisees, maintain a high degree of professionalism, be accessible and take pride in your role as an academic advisor.
Communicate
- Establish Canvas Advising Shell and invite all advisees to join; include links to appropriate resources and needed forms; push announcements and updates to advisees through the Canvas Advising Shell
- Maintain posted office hours and advising appointments
- Utilize an online scheduling system for advising appointments (link to instructions)
- Notify students if you need to cancel or reschedule
- Be flexible with meeting modalities for students that may find it difficult to meet in a traditional manner
- Recognize advisees and strive to call them by preferred first name
- Be accessible to students and punctual in returning messages (within one business day); being quick to respond to their needs, even when it may be inconvenient to you, goes a long way
- Maintain regular contact with all advisees
- Email advisees or selected groups
- Schedule regular meetings with all advisees (once a semester, minimum)
- Schedule frequent meetings with advisees who are having academic difficulties
- Maintain up-to-date advising notes in Griffon GPS; this benefits the advisor, the advisee, and any other University representative working with the student
- Be very honest and up front with your advisees, even when it is not the most comfortable conversation to have; if a student is not doing well in a course, then they need to know the consequences for not doing well; discuss how this can affect their GPA, as well as potential long-range consequences to their career goals and financial impact
Educate
- Educate students about the advisor and advisee roles/responsibilities (use an Academic Advising Syllabus) – Example 1, Example 2,
Example 3, Example 4 - Show an interest in students’ academic and professional advisement needs
- Be mindful of first generation college students that come from families unfamiliar with the higher education system
- Be mindful of students with disabilities that may require extra patience, time and understanding from the advisor
Connect
- Consult with and make appropriate referrals to University personnel when an advisee’s needs extend beyond professional experience and training
- Maintain a positive attitude regarding department and University colleagues and programs
- Maintain confidentiality per FERPA guidelines
