Graduate students at a distance require an advising approach that allows them to connect to their peers, faculty, and the University as a whole. In addition, they need to be empowered to develop transferable skills and self-directed behaviors from the advising process just as they are through the learning process. Faculty from the adult education and training specialization at Colorado State University conceptualized and built a self-directed advising model to achieve these goals. A framework drawing from previous advising and adult learning theories, such as the integrated lens of adult development (Baumgartner, 2001), self-directed learning, and the integrative advising approach in conjunction with the program's teaching philosophy applies the conceptual model to achieve the aforementioned goals.