Community college students enrolled in science and technology fields face many challenges as they pursue transfer pathways to earn a 4-year degree. Despite clear links to student persistence, advising interactions that facilitate or inhibit transfer progress are not clearly understood. In this study, 82 community college students pursuing science…

Research on the influence of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) on academic advising is limited. Using a comparative case study method, I respond to this research gap by exploring how the standards influence practices of academic advising programs. Study results indicate that participating advisors knew little…

The relationship doctoral students develop with their advisor is reputed to be one of the most important of their graduate education. Research shows that advisors play a critical role in many aspects of the doctoral degree process. However, the literature is sparse regarding doctoral students' perceptions of the positive and negative attributes of…

In this article, we trace the history of NACADA from many perspectives. The NACADA mission, organization, programming, and services throughout the past 30 years provide a story of innovation and change. The effect of technology on NACADA's growth, especially in the last decade, has created enumerable opportunities for more comprehensive…

Through a case study, I address the position that academic advising can be viewed as a developmental process. I present my specific experiences in applying Hersey and Blanchard's model of situational leadership (1969) during academic advising sessions. The model demonstrates that effective leadership is based on the appropriate balance of a…

In this article, we describe a continuum of responsibilities shared by faculty and non-faculty academic advisors as well as personal counselors at 4-year colleges and universities. After addressing terminology, we describe a continuum of issues that advisors and counselors routinely address and identify some triggers that might suggest that a…

We examined the mental constructs that guide students' expectations for advisor behavior. Through exploratory factor analysis, we identified four factors that underlie students' expectations. Interpretive analysis revealed underlying dimensions reflected by the factors of advisor role and enactment level. Specifically, the first dimension…

A philosophy of advising referred to as the learning-centered paradigm is described and compared to the dominant developmental paradigm. Through the learning-centered paradigm, one can explain, better than through the developmental theory, how advising is, or can be, similar to teaching. Under the learning-centered approach, the excellent advisor…

In the role of career counselor, the academic advisor helps advisees define the process necessary to obtain employment and life fulfillment. Helping advisees select the courses necessary to realize their career goals is only part of that guidance. A model for career advising based on a developmental theory of career counseling is proposed.…

International students face a variety of challenges related to language difficulties, immigration issues, and culture shock. Asian students are less likely to seek help for their emotional and interpersonal problems than their American counterparts, due to culturally different help-seeking preferences. A study examined levels of anxiety among…

Ten professional academic advisors were observed in advising sessions with 35 traditional-aged undergraduates to determine whether advising styles are observable and whether conceptual differences between prescriptive and developmental advising approaches are distinguishable. Individuals were observed to use one of three styles and did not vary…

Describes an approach to academic advising based on the concept that the advisor's role is to increase the student's human capital. Outlines five categories of personal characteristics that add to a worker's human capital (formal education, adult education, on-the-job training, health, geographic mobility), noting issues in each category that…

Presents both advice and cautions for the academic advisor working with college students with disabilities, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Includes specific discussion of the dangers of stereotyping people or professions and a reminder to view this population as students, with disabilities secondary to student status, and…

Examines implications of postmodernism, particularly chaos theory, for academic advising. Suggests that postmodernist advising acknowledges student angst and self-doubt, views each individual as a unique person and each advising session as a unique opportunity, views change as an ally rather than nemesis, and believes the advisor's impact is not…

A membership survey (n=562) of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) revealed five groups of advisors based on their perceptions of characteristics of their work environments (quality, breadth, and resources). Profiles of each group are presented. The new groupings provide more information than previous classifications by institution…