CAN FACULTY AND ADVISORS COLLABORATE TO SERVE STUDENTS IN TRANSITION? - Joseph Er vin University of Nevada, Las Vegas

CAN FACULTY AND
ADVISORS
                       Joseph Ervin
COLLABORATE TO SERVE
STUDENTS IN            University of
                       Nevada, Las
                          Vegas
TRANSITION?

WHO ARE WE?

 Me: Assistant Professor-in-Residence; instructor of first -year-
  seminars for exploring majors.

 You:
   Faculty/instructors?

   Advisors?

   Both?

WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?

 Reflect on our own unique contexts
   Current collaborative relationships between faculty and academic
    advisors

 Explore a case at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)
   Collaboration between faculty and academic advisors

 Imagine the potential
   How might faculty and academic advisors collaborate within our
    contexts?

A BIT OF RELEVANT RESEARCH

 Smith, Dai, and Szelest (2006) demonstrate a successful
  collaboration between academic advisors, institutional
  researchers, and a member of the faculty.

 Burt, Young-Jones, Yadon, and Carr (2013) illustrate that
  perceived support from both faculty and academic
  advisors can have a beneficial impact on students.

REFLECTION

In your department/unit, do faculty
and advisors work together in any
way?
   If so, how?
   What are the benefits?
   What are the challenges?

                               How does your academic advising
                               integrate with the teaching of your
                               course, or vice-versa?

THE ASC AT UNLV

• At the Academic Success Center (ASC), colleagues across units work
  together in a variety of ways

• A notable example of this is the collaboration between academic advisors
  and faculty in the Academic Transitions Unit

AN ENVIRONMENT CONDUCIVE TO
         COLLABORATION

• Academic advisors who work with students exploring majors

• Faculty who teach first-year seminars for students exploring majors

• In the same building!

• Academic advisor presentations and advising assignment

TOOTING ONE’S OWN HORN

Fall and spring semesters over the past three years (Fall 2013,
Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016),
compared to the overall mean for all first -year seminar courses,
COLA 100E students indicated a higher satisfaction with the
quality of instruction and quality of advising (University of
Nevada, Las Vegas, Of fice of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate
Education, 2013 – 2016).

THE BEGINNINGS OF SAID
               COLLABORATION

 Presentation by our Director of Academic
  Advising (Brown, 2015)

 The Major/Career Development Process

 Discussion between faculty about how to
  incorporate this into our curriculum

MAJOR/CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

   Self-Assessment                                  Experiences
   Self-Reflection
                                                    Investigation

                                                    Doing

Critical Thinking                           Make a Decision

                     University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Academic Success Center (n.d.).

THE PROCESS INTEGRATED WITH THE
             CURRICULUM

 The Major/Career Development Process became a part of the
  COLA 100E curriculum.

 Fall 2015 & Spring 2016 was the first full year of
  implementation

 Final essay about the process

MY FIRST DAY OF CLASS

University Undergraduate        Major/Career Development
Learning Outcomes (UULOS)               Process

Intellectual Breadth &
Lifelong Learning

Inquiry & Critical Thinking

Communication

Global/Multicultural
Knowledge & Awareness

Citizenship & Ethics
                              University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Academic Success Center (n.d.).

ASSIGNMENTS (FROM FIRST YEAR)

                                                     Scholarly
                                                     Research
  Self-Assessment                                    Assignment
  Assignment
                                                     Major
                                                     Presentation

                                                     Interview
                                                     Assignment

The Other Wes Moore                          Final Essay

                      University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Academic Success Center (n.d.).

FINAL ESSAY PROMPT

• Using specific examples from this class or elsewhere, discuss
  what you have done to engage in each stage of the
  major/career development process: major exploration,
  discovery, and decision making.

• At this stage in the process, choose a specific
  major. Thoroughly discuss why you have chosen this
  major. What are the pros and cons to this major?

• Given that the major/career development process (major
  exploration, discovery, and decision making) is cyclical,
  discuss how you plan to continue to engage in each stage of
  the process throughout your academic career.

CURRENT SEMESTER (FALL 2016)

 4 Part Project
     Part   One: The Self-Assessment
     Part   Two: The Informational Interview
     Part   Three: The Presentation
     Part   Four: The Mid-Term Essay (former Final Essay prompt)

CURRENT SEMESTER (FALL 2016)

              University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Academic Success Center (n.d.).

BENEFITS

 Structure and Guidance

 Consistent Narrative

ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE

 “Through three key elements, which are major exploration,
  discovery and decision making. These factors helped me to
  succeed in the Cola class and narrowing down a major. But
  ultimately, I feel it has instilled a process within me to make
  better academic decisions going into the future”

                                     -From Final Essay, Fall 2015

ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE

 “The most important thing I have taken away from this course
  has been the major/career development process, as choosing
  a major is the most crucial decision a university student will
  make”

                                   -From Final Essay, Fall 2015

ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE

 “The career development process also helped me make the
  right decision about my major and I am glad that I learned all
  about it. Choosing a major or even a career can be very hard
  especially if a person has no idea of what they may want. I
  suggest to anyone to use that process because it will really
  make a dif ference and actually help a person make the right
  decision”

                                    -From Final Essay, Fall 2015

OFFICIAL ASSESSMENT?

 Unfortunately, not yet

 A potential first step
   A student learning outcomes survey at the end of the semester

REFLECTION

Is there potential for faculty –        What other collaborative efforts
academic advisor collaboration in       might be possible in your
your unit/department/institution?       unit/department/institution?
What would that collaboration look
like? How would it work? Who, or
what needs, would it serve?
                                        How might you assess or evaluate
                                        collaboration in your context?

What are the potential limits of
faculty – academic advisor
collaboration? What sorts of barriers   What is the potential for
might prevent faculty – academic        integration between your academic
advisor collaboration?                  advising and your instruction?

FINAL THOUGHTS

 Both faculty and academic advisors play a major role in
  assisting students navigate the challenging terrain that is
  higher education.

 As faculty and academic advisors, we have a lot to of fer
  students in transition (e.g., academics, non -cognitive success
  skills, course scheduling, institutional policy, etc .)

 I encourage you to think creatively about how academic
  advising and instruction can be integrated.

 Overall, what is the potential for collaboration in serving a
  common mission?

QUESTIONS?

Thanks for having me!

REFERENCES

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