One of the most important components of an effective advising program is "well"-trained academic advisors. An ongoing, well-conceived training program can provide the continuity, broad base of knowledge, skills, and specific information crucial to sound advising. Another approach to training is to offer "future" faculty,…

All students are in some stage of academic and career planning; which also means they are in various phases of exploration and decision making. Some are just beginning to think about the career and life decisions they will need to make, while others are taking action to implement the decisions to which they have made a commitment. How students go…

Although developmental advising grew out of the works of many theorists prior to 1972 (Erikson, 1968; Heath, 1964; Neugarten, 1971; Perry, 1970; Super, Starishevsky, Matlin, & Jordaan, 1963), Burns Crookston was responsible for integrating these concepts into conscious thinking about academic advising. Although his landmark article grew out of…

Virginia Gordon contributed considerable and comprehensive work in the field of academic advising, including writings on topics ranging from the history of academic advising to her groundbreaking research on the undecided student population. Her model for training and developing new academic advisors stood out as exemplary. This article focuses on…

Using the ''advising is teaching'' framework, this chapter addresses the bases for the study of academic advising both from an approach to the work involved (''scholarly advising'') and as an area of inquiry (''scholarship of advising''). Emerging research trends and critical issues are explored, including implications for collaborative inquiry…

Most individuals in the field of academic advising know Virginia Gordon through the dedicated and transformative work she did for NACADA. Less well known is the equally creative and transformative work she engaged in for most of her professional life at Ohio State University. This article addresses how her ideas and convictions about academic…

Virginia Gordon was a teacher, scholar, practitioner, and leader who also served as a role model and mentor to others. Her insight and research informed the many innovative initiatives she pursued on behalf of the student advising experience. Gordon's scholarly and evidence-based approach set the stage for academic advising as a field of scholarly…

Virginia Gordon has had a significant influence on academic advising. Her scholarly work, along with that of other scholars in the field, shows how much she was respected and valued. In this article, we review her scholarly work to highlight some of her great research. Additionally, we incorporate personal narratives from those who knew her best,…

Faculty members take on the role of primary advisors on many small campuses. Many report feeling underprepared for the advising role. Assessment of academic advising can raise the awareness and perceived importance of advising and provide helpful feedback for practitioners. We developed a 14-item online advising assessment used to evaluate four…

Creating advising curricula through backward design ensures that learning objectives remain central to the process and enables those in advising units to design comprehensive assessment plans for continued curricular improvement. By incorporating measures to observe student learning directly, advisors can evaluate their curriculum objectively to…

Online courses are increasingly popular with students, and postsecondary institutions are increasing the availability of online courses and degrees. Continued improvements in the academic experience, including academic advising, for students attending online degree programs will be expected as more students take these courses. This article…

More than 80% of college students switch degree programs, and students in selective majors, such as business and nursing, often face complex processes with serious implications when leaving such selective degree programs. Therefore, using qualitative, exploratory research, we sought to understand the resources, including support, situation,…

Stakeholders at institutions across the United States are continuously looking for ways to improve the academic success and retention of students. We used logistical regression in an examination of noncognitive, cognitive, and demographic factors as predictors of academic success and retention of Division I first-year student-athletes. The results…

Practitioners and scholars of academic advising have long grappled with the professional status of the field. To better understand the characteristics of professionalization and the obstacles that stand in the way of professionalizing the field, a structured review of the literature from 1980 to 2016 was conducted. Three characteristics of…

Augmenting academic advising in the era of smart cognitive computing technologies creates new dynamics of engagement that can help academic advising evolve toward a learning-centered paradigm. We examined the self-directed learning readiness of students selected through demographic variables. The results indicate that differences in employment…