Maine Perspective Front Page
BearWorks Initiative Builds Appreciation for Importance of Academic Advising
"The best universities are the best because they are always working to improve," says Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Doug Gelinas. And in that spirit, UMaine is working to improve an important component of undergraduate education - academic advising.
"I must confess that, like many of my colleagues, for many years I thought of academic advising as a routine part of a professor's responsibilities, akin to grading papers and holding office hours," says Gelinas. "But over the past few years, I have learned that it's much more than that. There's a wealth of experience that shows what works and what does not in advising, that shows its importance to student success, and that raises its standing to the level of an academic discipline in its own right, with its own professional association and professional journal. One of my goals is to build an appreciation for the importance of academic advising."
A student survey on the academic environment at UMaine conducted in 1998 by Institutional Studies, for the Faculty Senate, revealed that 60.9 percent of students responding were satisfied with the assistance they received from their faculty advisor. Nearly half of the remaining 40 percent had no opinion, and only 21 percent of students overall expressed dissatisfaction.
"That tells me that our advising system is working," says Gelinas, "but that a tune-up can probably make it work even better."
Gelinas thinks that the system works best for juniors and seniors who are well into their academic majors, but less well for beginning students and those who are undecided about their major. That's why UMaine is strengthening the Academic and Career Exploration (ACE) program for undecided students, and why the colleges have established special seminar programs for first-year students.
"We already know that more aggressive advising programs for first-year students help them to be successful," says Gelinas.
The retention rate for first-year students hovered around 75 percent for many years, but last year it increased to 81 percent. This is an excellent showing compared to other public universities around the nation, according to Gelinas, who attributes the increase mainly to the new programs instituted by the colleges.
"Asking faculty members to give more attention to advising along with their many other professional responsibilities is asking a lot," says Gelinas, "but we're trying to help out."
One example is the new Advisor's Handbook, which seeks to make readily available a wide variety of information advisors often need. Another is increasing support services for advisors, such as doing audits of general education courses in the Academic Support Services for Students when advisors request them for their advisees.
A third example is funding 100 memberships in NACADA, the national association for academic advisors. A fourth is giving more attention to advising in promotion/tenure decisions by asking departments to review their criteria to be sure that advising receives appropriate recognition.
"And one more thing that all of us will count as a blessing if we can really pull it off is the simplification of academic rules and requirements," says Gelinas, who notes that this is one of President Peter Hoff's BearWorks initiatives.
"I can't imagine that any of us really relishes the role of the talking rule book, especially when rules are made in so many different places and are so hard to track. I think most advisors would rather spend their time getting to know their students, understanding their goals, and helping them to make the appropriate academic decisions to achieve them. That, after all, is what really excellent advising is all about."