Advising Frameworks: Support Students and Streamline Practice

Academic Advising reflects a practice of sharing information (e.g., degree requirements), connecting opportunities to student goals (e.g., how an elective course relates to an interest), and building relationships (we find shared experiences and practice empathy) with students. Some students need or want more of one aspect than another, and the increasing pressure on academic advising to deliver on retention outcomes makes every conversation a little more stressful to prepare for. Faculty advising has an extra layer of importance as you typically prepare students for the upper-division major courses and career conversation in your disciplines. At least 1/3 of college students change their major, and strong advising practices can help them find and stay in the program that fits their interests and goals.

As an institution, we have a mission to provide holistic, inclusive support helping students navigate the experience to meet their academic and personal goals by enacting intentional advising practices. This post outlines two frameworks that academic advisors can use to navigate sharing information while connecting students to the value of each opportunity in their degree plan. These suggestions are driven by a student-first mindset and informed through university, state, and national resources and data for academic advising practice.

The Ready, Set, Register Framework for Sharing Information

Each semester students receive an email from the Registrar letting them know it is time to Ready, Set, Register (you probably saw this in your inbox recently). Notices are sent to BearMails, posted in Canvas, and published on social media at the end of September and February. Advising practice complements that content by expanding on the steps of Ready, Set, Register to follow up with students on what to do. You can check Out the Ready, Set, Register Page to be consistent in registration language. 

1. Clear Registration Holds: A hold causes an error and keeps students from making changes to their registration accounts. Advisors can help students navigate these holds by telling them how to check (they need to click “View Your Holds” in URSA under the Registration section) and directing them on the next steps. As an advisor, you can reference the Holds and Error Messages page to learn about the most common holds and other errors.
2. Check Degree Works: We LOVE Degree Works because it shows everyone exactly what classes are complete, missing, and more. Degree Works received a redesign in 2020, making it more user-friendly, yet students may need a little guidance on what to look for. You can direct students to look at red circles (missing requirements) and blue half-circles (in-progress courses) to confirm their registration. In addition, Degree Works will sync alongside student registration, meaning they can see their degree plans adjust as they enroll in courses. As an advisor, it's a good idea to check your students’ Degree Works for missteps and items that may require adjustments on their schedules.
3. Prepare Your Academic Plan: Some advisors use worksheets and surveys to help students develop their plans before coming into the meeting. Other advisors create the plans alongside students to teach them how to read Degree Works, the catalog, and degree sequencing. This year, Degree Works has a “Planner” function that you can use as an advisor. The Degree Planner is in pilot with our professional advising centers testing the functions, and you can learn more by watching a recorded training from the Registrar.
4. Meet with Your Advisor: That is you (of course). Try using Bookings, an app included in our Office 365 suite, to streamline your scheduling. You can designate what days and time blocks you are available for advising hours, and Bookings reads your Outlook Calendar to determine when you are free within the blocks you set. You need to maintain your Outlook Calendar (for example, blocking off your class times and other appointments) to keep from being double-booked. Once your Bookings is set up, you can personalize your link through University Relations and receive something like this: unc.link/hayleyb
5. Register for Classes: As an advisor, you might set up a second appointment with students, particularly first-year students, on their registration day to help them navigate our system and address any errors. Many students receive the Time-Ticket Error because they attempt to register on the wrong day. Use this Registration Schedule and remember to only count their earned (not in progress) credits to determine their day. Students can also use URSA to look at “My Date to Register” to find their rush day.

In five steps, students are set for the next semester, thanks to your help!

The Purpose-Driven Advising Framework to Connect Opportunities to Goals

Purpose-Driven Advising is a framework that centers on three best practices in the advising conversation and experience:

• Providing career and discipline data
• Guiding students through the decision-making process to build their skill and confidence
• Preparing students to transition to their desired career through skill-building and opportunity planning

As an advisor, show students our Center for Career Readiness to help them make informed decisions and apply for career-driven opportunities. You should also use your own experiences in the discipline to guide students in these Choices. Purpose-driven Advising goes beyond “take this class” and into resume conversations, internship discussions, and personal growth chats. Students should walk away with 1-2 action steps oriented towards building their portfolios and aligning their activities on campus to their goals.

For example, the action steps could be 1) review their resume with the Center for Career Readiness and then 2) apply for an internship through Handshake. Or the actions could be 1) join a student organization and 2) take on a leadership role with skills related to their discipline/career goals.

Advising the LAC

One of the more stressful aspects of advising can be guiding students through the Liberal Arts Core or Curriculum (students in the Fall 2021+ catalog are in the new Liberal Arts Curriculum). We cannot tell students which General Education classes to take directly—seriously don’t violate Colorado Law on that one—but we need to help them understand their options and recommend opportunities that serve their interests, goals, and purposes.

It is the difference between saying “take this specific history course for your history credit” vs. saying “here are all the history options. I might consider X or Y for these reasons but let’s talk about what you are interested in.”

When discussing the LAC, try incorporating these topics or phrases into your conversation while avoiding a few big ones:

Try:

• Discussing what ethical, cultural, or societal issues exist around the future profession
  • Our industry is facing a trend in X. Which Social and Behavioral Science courses do you think will help you understand that trend better?
• Talking about transferrable knowledge
  • We use statistics often in our industry, and you will need that skill set for this upper-division course. So let’s talk about which math classes will give you some of those foundations and skills.
• Sharing YOUR experiences from non-major courses
  • I remember this X Class that didn’t relate to my major but helped me become a faster reader and build my writing skills. That class helped me do better in all my major courses.

Avoid:

• Using well-rounded as the justification
  • You need to take [X courses] to be well-rounded. (What does that even mean????)
  • Instead, try talking about a specific skill or knowledge set related to that course and connect it to your industry or their interests.
• Saying “get it out of the way” when selecting a class
  • Every course represents an opportunity for students to learn Help them find that something and don’t give in to the eye-rolling.
  • Again, that something might be an underlying skill like confronting new perspectives with civility or reading more efficiently.
• Directly telling them which class to take in the LAC
  • As a university, we cannot require a student to take a particular course to satisfy their general education requirements because any LAC course they choose for a Gen Ed category automatically fulfills the designated Gen Ed category and any gtP course they transfer in (including a class they take at a community college while also enrolled at UNC) automatically fulfills the designated Gen Ed category. Basically, our Colorado transfer pathways and agreements for the Gen Ed categories are made to empower student choice and learning across institutions.
  • We CAN require any course deemed necessary as part of a specific degree program, and if it also has Gen Ed/LAC status, it will double count. But we require it as part of the major or minor not as the only way to fulfill a LAC category. So if your major requires a specific Humanities course, for example, you can advise students that it counts for both the major and LAC requirement AND advise them that they can take another Humanities course for their LAC if they want.

The LAC conversation and course selection become purpose-driven when advisors emphasize how each class, experience, and piece of knowledge gained contribute to the whole education of students—sometimes more directly and other times as part of the pursuit for a purpose and self-growth.

As President Feinstein signs in every email, we are rowing, not drifting. Academic Advising, particularly with students valuing major-to-career experiences, can feel like uncharted waters. However, with the Frameworks of Ready, Set, Register and Purpose-Driven Advising(and UNC’s advising tools) all academic advisors from professional to faculty can row together in supporting student success and graduation efforts.