According to National Academic Advising Association*:

Academic advising is carried out by a vast array of individuals, including faculty and staff members. These guiding principles are intended for use by all who advise.

These documents support all categories of institutions with every type of advising delivery system. Intentionally, they do not address every detail and nuance of academic advising. Rather they should be used as starting points and references for a discussion of academic advising, providing the framework for a coherent approach to implementing a well-functioning academic advising program that would meet any specified institutional goals.

PREAMBLE

Academic advising is integral to fulfilling the teaching and learning mission of higher education. Through academic advising, students learn to become members of their higher education community, to think critically about their roles and responsibilities as students, and to prepare to be educated citizens of a democratic society and a global community. Academic advising engages students beyond their own world views, while acknowledging their individual characteristics, values, and motivations as they enter, move through, and exit the institution. Regardless of the diversity of our institutions, our students, our advisors, and our organizational structures, academic advising has three components: curriculum (what advising deals with), pedagogy (how advising does what it does), and student learning outcomes (the result of academic advising).

THE CURRICULUM OF ACADEMIC ADVISING

Academic advising draws primarily from theories in the social sciences, humanities, and education. The curriculum of academic advising ranges from the ideals of higher education to the pragmatics of enrollment. This curriculum includes, but is not limited to, the institution’s mission, culture and expectations; the meaning, value, and interrelationship of the institution’s curriculum and co-curriculum; modes of thinking , learning, and decision-making; the selection of academic programs and courses; the development of life and career goals; campus/community resources, policies, and procedures; and the transferability of skills and knowledge.

THE PEDAGOGY OF ACADEMIC ADVISING

Academic advising, as a teaching and learning process, requires a pedagogy that incorporates the preparation, facilitation, documentation, and assessment of advising interactions. Although the specific methods, strategies, and techniques may vary, the relationship between advisors and students is fundamental and is characterized by mutual respect, trust, and ethical behavior.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES OF ACADEMIC ADVISING

The student learning outcomes of academic advising are guided by an institution’s mission, goals, curriculum and co-curriculum. These outcomes, defined in an advising curriculum, articulate what students will demonstrate, know, value, and do as a result of participating in academic advising. Each institution must develop its own set of student learning outcomes and the methods to assess them. The following is a representative sample. Students will:

•craft a coherent educational plan based on assessment of abilities, aspirations, interests, and values
•use complex information from various sources to set goals, reach decisions, and achieve those goals
•assume responsibility for meeting academic program requirements
•articulate the meaning of higher education and the intent of the institution’s curriculum
•cultivate the intellectual habits that lead to a lifetime of learning
•behave as citizens who engage in the wider world around them

SUMMARY

Academic advising, based in the teaching and learning mission of higher education, is a series of intentional interactions with a curriculum, a pedagogy, and a set of student learning outcomes. Academic advising synthesizes and contextualizes students’ educational experiences within the frameworks of their aspirations, abilities and lives to extend learning beyond campus boundaries and timeframes.

According to UNESCO, academic advising fulfills the following purposes**:

1.To assist students in developing educational plans that are consistent with their life goals.
2.To provide students with accurate information about academic progression and degree requirements.
3.To assist students in understanding academic policies and procedures.
4.To help students access campus resources that will enhance their ability to be academically successful.
5.To assist students in overcoming educational and personal problems.
6.To identify systemic and personal conditions that may impede student academic achievement and developing appropriate interventions.
7.To review and use available data about students academic and educational needs, performance, aspirations and problems.
8.To increase student retention by providing a personal contact that students often need and request, thereby connecting them to the institution.

Further, the organization has identified the following activities as typical of those found in academic advising processes:

1.Assisting students with decision-making and career direction.
2.Helping students understand and comply with institutional requirements.
3.Providing clear and accurate information regarding institutional policies, procedures and programmes.
4.Assisting students in the selection of courses and other educational experiences (e.g. internships, study abroad).
5.Referring students to appropriate resources, on and off campus.
6.Evaluating student progress towards established goals.
7.Collecting and distributing data regarding student needs, preferences and performance for use in refining or revising institutional/agency decisions, policies and procedures.
8.Interpreting various interest/ability inventories that provide students with information related to their career choices.
9.Utilizing a variety of supplemental systems such as online computer programmes to deliver advising information.

*National Academic Advising Association. (2006). NACADA concept of academic advising. Retrieved May 24,2010 from http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/Concept-Advising.htm
**United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2002). The role of student affairs and services in higher education: A practical manual for developing, implementing and assessing student affairs programmes and services. Paris, pp 25-26.