DEPEKY

KEY FUNCTIONS OF "DEVELOPMENTAL ADVISING"

1. LIFE PLANNING: RELATING THE STUDENT'S PRESENT EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE TO FUTURE LIFE PLANS

Helping students relate their present educational decisions to their future life experiences (e.g., future major, future 4-year college choice, future post-graduate education, and future career).

2. INTEGRATIVE: "CONNECTING" & "DIRECTING" THE STUDENT TO KEY STUDENT-SUPPORT SERVICES

Serving as the critical link or "hub" which connects and directs students to the key student-support services on campus (i.e., learning center, transfer center, career center, counseling center, etc.).

3. HUMANIZING: SERVING AS A MENTOR TO THE STUDENT VIA PERSONAL, ONE-TO-ONE CONTACT

Serving as a mentor to students via personal, one-to-one contact.

4. INSTRUCTIONAL: TEACHING GENERAL EDUCATION SKILLS OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM--IN THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDENT'S LIFE

Advising as an out-of-class teaching process for promoting self-insight, clarifying values, goal-setting, motivation, critical thinking, and decision-making, etc.--in the context of the student's own life.

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National surveys have revealed that what students value most in advisors are the following:
Someone who takes a personal interest in them.
Someone who is available/accessible to them.
Someone who is knowledgeable about things they need to know.

Other important advising functions to consider:
Striking a proper balance between supporting/nurturing our students and encouraging their self-reliance/independence.
Tailoring your advising style for students at different stages of development (e.g., a first-semester freshman vs. a fourth-semester sophomore.)
Doing something special or different during the very first advising session with a new, first-semester freshman.
Doing something special or different during the very last advising session with a graduating student.
Effective handling of advisees who are poorly motivated (e.g., those who chronically fail to schedule or keep appointments, or come to advising sessions totally unprepared)

"DEVELOPMENTAL" ACADEMIC ADVISING: KEY QUOTES & RECOMMENDED REFERENCES

"Developmental academic advising is . . . a systematic process based on a close student-advisor relationship intended to aid students in achieving educational, career, and personal goals through the utilization of the full range of institutional and community resources. It both stimulates and supports students in their quest for an enriched quality of life." (Winston, Grites, Miller, & Ender [1984]. Developmental Academic Advising, p. 538).

"Developmental academic advising is not primarily an administrative function . . . . not obtaining a signature to schedule classes . . . . not a conference held once a term . . . not a paper relationship . . . . not supplementary to the educational process. . . not synonymous with faculty member." (Ender, S. C. [1983].

Assisting high academic-risk athletes: Recommendations for the academic advisor. NACADA Journal [October], 1-10.)
"Course scheduling should occupy no more than 25% of one's advising time." (Grites, T. J. [1980, August].

Improving academic advising. IDEA Paper No. 3, p. 2. Center for Faculty Evaluation & Development in Higher Education. Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas.

"The formation of relationships that assure that at least one educator has close enough contact with each student to assess and influence the quality of that student's educational experience is realistic only through a systematic process, such as an academic advising program . . . . Unless someone takes this task as a responsibility, it is unlikely to be attended to systematically by anyone. In other words, everyone's business is no one's business! In most colleges no one is assigned this important responsibility of quality control on the most fundamental level, the individual student's level." (Winston, Grites, Miller, & Ender [1984]. Developmental Academic Advising, p. 540).

"In many programs the advisor's major role is `to keep records of students' progress toward their degree and to make sure that students have fulfilled both college and major requirements' (Walsh, 1979, p. 446).

Unfortunately, this is the definition that many advising programs exemplify. For them, a redefinition of `advising' must take place if the academic advising process is ever to address the developmental needs of the whole student." (Winston, Ender, & Miller, [1982]. Developmental Approaches to Academic Advising, p. 6).
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RECOMMENDED REFERENCES
Crockett, D. S. (Ed.)(1985). Advising skills, techniques, and resources. Iowa City, Iowa: ACT Program.
Grites, T. J. (1979). Academic advising: Getting us through the eighties. AAHE-ERIC, Report No. 7. Washington, DC: AAHE.
Katz, J. & Henry, M. (1988). Turning professors into teachers. New York: American Council on Education. (See chapter 7 for useful info on academic advising.)
National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Journal Available by joining NACADA.
Write to:
NACADA Executive Office
Kansas State University
Bluemont Hall
Manhattan, Kansas 66506-5322.
Schein, H. K., Laff, N. S., & Allen, D. R. (1987). Giving advice to students: A road map for college professionals. Alexandria, VA: American College Personnel Association.
Winston, R. B., Ender, S. C. & Miller, T. K. (Eds.) (1982). Developmental approaches to academic advising. New Directions for Student Services, #17. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Winston, R. B., Miller, T. K., Ender, S. C., Grites, T. J., & Associates (1984). Developmental Academic Advising. San Francsico: Jossey-Bass.

Marymount College Fall Term
ADVISING SYLLABUS

PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Advisor: Joe Cuseo
Office: Faculty Office Building (across from Bookstore)

Room #6 (the one with cartoons covering the door)
Office Hours: Monday (12-1:45, 3:00-3:45)
Tuesday (10:30-12:00; 1:30-3:30))
Wednesday (12-1:45, 3:00-3:45)
Thursday (off campus; call me at home if
it's urgent) Friday (12:00-3:30)
Or, by personal appointment at other times.
Office Phone: (310) 377-5501 (ext. 235)
Home Phone: (310) 431-8051 [Feel free to call me at home. If possible, please try to call before 10 PM.]

KEY ADVISING EVENTS & DATES DURING THIS SEMESTER
Long-Range Educational Plan:
Group Advising:
Last Day to Withdraw from a Course:
Pre-Registration for Next Semester:

GOALS/OBJECTIVES OF ADVISING
1. To provide you with information and support that will enable you to successfully transfer to a 4-year institution.
2. To ensure that courses you take at Marymount will be accepted for credit at the 4-year college(s) where you expect to transfer.
3. To promote your involvement in on-campus, co-curricular experiences that may increase your satisfaction with the college experience and develop your interpersonal skills & leadership abilities.
4. To promote your involvement in off-campus, experiential learning experiences (i.e., volunteer services and internships) to help you explore and clarify your career options.
5. To help you "connect" your college experience with your plans and goals for life after college.
6. To promote your ability to think critically, solve problems, and make informed decisions about your future life plans.
7. To be a mentor to you by providing you with personal guidance, support, and advocacy.
8. To assist you in finding the campus professionals in support services who can best help you succeed academically and personally.

ADVISING PHILOSOPHY & METHODS
1. My Role as Advisor:
As your academic advisor, I'll try my best to serve as your "guide," helping you make the most out of your college experience and connect it with your future plans (e.g., future college, future major, future career). If you already think you know what you're going to do and going to be, I'll try to help you confirm your choice--to make sure it's a decision that is best for you. If you're very "undecided" about a future major, college, or career, then I'll try to help you identify some good options--choices that would "match" your personal interests, values, and abilities.
I see advising and teaching as closely related because in the process of helping you reach decisions about your future--your life, you will also be learning a lot about yourself--gaining self-insight, improving your goal-setting, clarifying your values, and developing your critical thinking and decision-making skills. Hopefully, these experiences will enable you to make decisions about your future that will improve the quality of your personal and professional life.
2. Your Role as Advisee:
I see your role as helping me help you. In other words, in order for me to be an effective advisor, I need some help and cooperation from you as my advisee. In particular you can help me by:
(a) Keeping appointments we've made.
(b) Being prepared for our appointments--sometimes, you may need to do some homework; I can't do it all for you--if I did, that would make me a co-dependent, savior, or dictator rather than a true advisor--i.e., someone who gives good advice to you--which you, in turn, use to make final decisions for yourself.
(c) Try to be honest and open with me. If you're unhappy about something in our relationship or, if you're having a personal problem that's interfering with your studies, etc., please don't be afraid to confide in me. Remember, I'm your advisor, not your superior. I'll always try to be a good listener and I'll never violate your trust. If it's a problem I can't help you with, I'll try to get you together with someone who may be better or more qualified to do so.
If we remain honest and open with each other, and if we work as a team, we should have a close relationship that will help you succeed and help me become an effective advisor.

ADVISING REFERENCES & RESOURCE MATERIALS
1. Advisee Folder
I have your individual file in my office and it contains your completed Marymount admissions-application form, high school transcripts, test scores (e.g., SAT or ACT), letters of recommendation from high school counselors or teachers, and an advisee information sheet--which you completed during new-student orientation and turned into me during your first group-advising session.
2. Transfer Agreement Sheets
I have these in my office and they include course-transfer agreements between Marymount and a wide variety of 4-year colleges in California. These 1-2 page handouts list the course requirements at a particular 4-year college and the Marymount course(s) which fulfill those requirements.
If you're interested in seeing a transfer-agreement sheet of a particular college you're considering for transfer, just let me know and I'll make you a copy.
3. Transfer Access Program (TAP) Brochure
This brochure is found in your "Strategies for Success" handbook you received at new-student orientation and is also available at the Advisement & Transfer Center. It lists the dates, times, and topics of all transfer-related workshops offered at Marymount during the Fall & Spring semesters.
4. College & University Catalogues
The Advisement & Transfer Center has college catalogues of virtually all 4-year schools in California and some out-of-state schools. The catalogues will provide detailed information on the college's educational philosophy, and its requirements for general education and specific academic majors.
5. College Guidebooks
These are large directories, such as Peterson's Guide to Four-Year Colleges, Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, and Lovejoy's College Guide, which provide short (3-4 paragraph) descriptions of all colleges in the country, organized by state. So, if you're thinking about transferring to an out-of-state college, this might be a good reference to look at first.
6. College Finder
This is a computer program which allows you to enter the characteristics of a college you would like to attend (e.g., small vs. large; urban vs. rural; private vs. public; tuition range). After you enter all the characteristics you desire, the program prints out a list of colleges which have these characteristics). This program is located in the Advisement & Transfer Center.
7. Eureka Career-Search Program
This computer program is located in Marymount's Computer Center and provides valuable, continually updated information on college careers--e.g., personal skills and educational requirements needed to become a professional in different career fields, different colleges or universities with majors and graduate programs in different fields of study, what the job market and average salaries look like for different fields, etc. This computer program will provide you with a detailed print-out of the particular career information you seek, which you can then take with you and keep for personal use. I strongly urge that you try this program. Punch in some careers that you're possibly interested in and see if any of the descriptions "match" your abilities, interests, and values. (Note: I'd recommend skipping the career-interest "test" at the beginning of the program; I don't think it's very reliable or valid.)

ACADEMIC ADVISING AT MARYMOUNT FACULTY SURVEY
The Advising & Transfer Center is seeking your input on the academic advising process at Marymount with the intent of strengthening and improving the program. Individual responses to this survey will be treated confidentially, and only general trends will be shared with the college community.
Please return this survey through campus mail within three weeks to the Advisement Center. Thanks for your time and effort; we hope to put the information to good use.

Number of Years You Have Been Advising at Marymount: ____________
Number of Students You Presently Advise: _______________________

1. Which of the following best characterizes your attitude toward advising?
_____ I find advising pleasant and rewarding.
_____ I have neither very positive nor very negative feelings toward advising.
_____ I find advising unpleasant.

2. Which of the following best captures your perception of student attitudes toward the advising process at Marymount?
_____ Students find the advising process pleasant and rewarding.
_____ Students have neither very positive nor very negative feelings about the advising process.
_____ Students find the advising process unpleasant and frustrating.

3. My academic advising experience is best characterized by the following (check as many as apply):
____ Students often do not keep appointments.
____ Students often do not come with any pre-planned schedule.
____ I give accurate advice and answers on Marymount's requirements.
____ I give accurate advice and answers to student questions relating to their options after graduation.
____ I serve as a resource person to my advisees on matters relating to choice of a college major.
____ I serve as a resource person to my advisees on matters relating to career choice.
____ I help my advisees to resolve their personal problems.
____ I refer my advisees to campus support services for assistance on matters that are beyond my expertise.
____ I encourage my advisees to become involved in campus life and off-campus community service.

4. What do you find to be the most rewarding aspect of academic advising at Marymount?

5. What do you find to be the most frustrating or dissatisfying aspect of academic advising at Marymount?

6. What could be done to make academic advising more effective or more satisfying for you?

General Comments/Suggestions/Recommendations:

THE ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT PROGRAM AT MARYMOUNT COLLEGE INSTITUTIONAL DESCRIPTION
Marymount College is a private, two-year institution--the only independent college in California devoted solely to the liberal arts and general education. Founded in 1932, the college mission is to provide a high-quality liberal arts foundation that will enable students to transfer successfully to a 4-year college or university.
Marymount has a very liberal admissions policy, accepting 85-90% of its applicants. Recent institutional research conducted by the college indicates that 90-95% of its students transfer successfully to a 4-year college or university. This transfer rate is substantially higher than the state and national average for 2-year colleges. We feel that our highly successful transfer rate represents the realization of our institutional mission and is due, in large measure, to the quality of our academic advisement program.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
The advising program at Marymount was initiated in 1980 by the Dean of Academic Affairs who secured faculty involvement in the advising process. Out-of-class contact with faculty advisors is a feature of the Marymount program which distinguishes it from most other 2-year institutions--where advising is not typically conducted by the college faculty.
In 1981, an academic advisement committee of faculty was formed and selected a coordinator of academic advisement. In 1984, the coordinator established the "Advisement & Transfer Center"--a designated place on campus where resources are housed for two primary purposes: (a) To help students explore and crystallize their educational plans in general, and their plans for transfer in particular. (2) To serve as a clearinghouse for faculty advisors where accurate, comprehensive, and timely information on academic advisement could be obtained.
In 1990, a second full-time, administrative advisement position was created: the "Coordinator of Developmental Advising." This position was created because the demands of forging transfer agreements with 4-year institutions and equipping advisors with accurate, up-to-date information on course articulation were becoming exceedingly time-consuming for the sole coordinator; little time remained for conducting a professional development program for advisors which would prepare and support them to meet the full range of demands associated with "developmental" academic advising. Thus, a full-time Coordinator of Developmental Advising was added to the Advisement Center to complement the center's course articulation-and-transfer function with a developmental advising function.

PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The advisement program at Marymount encompasses three general goals and twelve specific objectives.

GOAL #1. Provide students with information and support that promotes their successful transfer to a 4-year institution.
Objectives:
* Establish course articulation agreements with 4-year colleges and universities.
* Regularly apprise advisors and students of changes and updates in course articulation agreements with 4-year institutions.
* Assist students in making course selections that will maximize their number of transferable credits.
* Ensure that newly developed and approved courses at Marymount will have a high probability of articulating at a large number of 4-year institutions.
* Establish "guaranteed (direct) transfer agreements with 4-year institutions, in which Marymount courses articulate as a total general-education package, enabling the Marymomount transfer student to enter as a junior and immediately begin upper- division coursework.

GOAL #2. Provide students with information and support that promotes their holistic development.
Objectives:
* Promote student participation in off-campus, experiential learning activities (i.e., internships and volunteer services) to help students explore and clarify their career options.
* Promote student involvement in on-campus, co-curricular activities to enhance student retention and develop student leadership skills.
* Sensitize advisors to the developmental sequence of adjustments and decisions encountered at different stages of the Marymount experience, so that advisement strategies and interventions are delivered in a timely manner--as part of an intentionally sequenced and ordered plan.

GOAL #3. Empower academic advisors for delivery of comprehensive, developmental advising.
Objectives:
* Enable the advisor to be a "life-planning" agent--one who relates the students' present college experience to their future life plans.
* Equip the advisor to be an "integrative" agent--one who serves as a "linchpin" for connecting and directing students to key student-support services.
* Prepare the advisor to be a "humanizing" agent--one who serves as a mentor to students, providing personal guidance, support, and advocacy.
* Empower the advisor to be an "instructional" agent--one who promotes students' liberal education by developing skills of critical thinking and problem-solving--within the context of students' personal life-planning and decision-making.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Academic Advisors
All advisors are recruited and selected from the full-time faculty and all new advisors receive a half-day orientation prior to assuming their advising responsibilities. New advisors are given a light "load" of advisees (less than the average 20:1 ratio) and are provided with an advising mentor--a successful veteran advisor who serves as a contact person for advising information and as a role model to be observed and emulated (e.g., the new advisor and mentor share the same room for group advising sessions--with the mentor conducting the session while the new advisor observes).
Advisor-development workshops for all advisors are conducted periodically during the academic year (e.g., twice per semester) to apprise advisor of new-course developments and to discuss effective developmental-advising strategies.
All advisors are evaluated annually by their student advisees. Advisors whose evaluations are sufficiently positive are asked to continue in the program and continue to receive one-course release time for their services. Individual advisors who receive outstanding evaluations are publicly recognized at the beginning of each academic year. (Last year, the program coordinators nominated one Marymount advisor for the ACT/NACADA "outstanding advisor award," which he subsequently received at the 1991 national conference in Louisville.)

Program-Delivery Process
1. Assignment of Students to Advisors
Students are assigned to advisors primarily on the basis of "match" between the student's expressed academic-major interests and the advisor's academic discipline. However, special assignments are made for: (a) "high-risk" students--as determined by high school GPA and class rank, (b) athletes, and (c) transfer students. These special-needs students are paired with "outstanding" advisors--as determined by past evaluations from students and the program coordinators.
2. Freshman-Year Program Delivery
Summer advising and registration are offered to incoming freshmen and they are strongly encouraged to participate for two reasons: (a) To reduce the traditional "fall rush" in which large numbers of freshmen are hurriedly advised and herded into long registration lines. (2) To reduce "summer melt" among high school graduates accepted for college in the late spring who, during the course of a long summer vacation, eventually lose interest and never actually show up to matriculate in the fall. Summer advisement and registration serve to intercept this premature attrition by involving students in the college during the early summer, thus solidifying their college commitment with a concrete course plan for the fall.
Prior to the start of fall classes, all incoming students are required to attend a three-day, new-student orientation program. To minimize the often impersonal and bureaucratic nature of fall registration, freshmen meet in small, intentionally selected groups during orientation week; these small-group sessions are led by a sophomore who has been screened, selected, and trained as an orientation-week leader (OWL). As part of the orientation-week activities, these OWLS provide new students with "tips" on navigating their first trip through the advisement and registration process, and conduct a self-refection exercise in which the small groups of freshmen explore their reasons for coming to college and their ideas on what constitutes a "good" major and a "good" college (to transfer to after Marymount). Student responses to these questions are recorded on an "advisee information sheet" for future use by the student's advisor.
At a later point during orientation week, freshmen experience their first "group advising" session, at which time they meet their advisor and other freshmen--who often share the same intended major. During group advising, the nature of the advisor-advisee relationship is discussed and students make individual appointments to later meet with their advisor and select their fall-semester class schedule.
A "New-Parent Orientation Day" is included in the orientation week, at which time parents are apprised of Marymount's advising process and philosophy, and learn about the nature of the advisor-student-parent relationship. This New-Parent Orientation is followed by a "Parents' Weekend" which scheduled shortly after midterms of the fall semester. On this weekend, parents are apprised of the intricacies of the 2-year to 4-year college transfer process, and are encouraged to meet with their son or daughter's advisor. Within the critical first six weeks of the freshman year, all freshmen are required to meet with their advisor, as an assignment in their freshman seminar class, and develop a 2-year education plan which includes a tentative course schedule for their remaining semesters at Marymount and a discussion of their future plans for an academic major and 4-year college. This two-year educational plan is designed to provide beginning students with a visual "map" or "blueprint" of their educational future, providing them with a long-term "game plan" or goal, and a sense of direction that should serve to promote their persistence to degree completion.
In November, freshmen attend another required group-advising session, followed by another individual session with their advisor to pre-register for the spring semester. Thus, during the first semester of their first year, freshmen are required to meet with their advisor on five different occasions, assuring that frequent advisor-advisee contact is made during the pivotal first semester of the college experience.
During their second semester, freshmen are offered workshops on choosing a major and choosing a 4-year college. In addition to these workshops, a "Majors Fair" is held on campus, at which time freshmen can meet alumni, career professionals, and faculty from Marymount and other institutions who are stationed at individual tables--equipped with advice and materials representing different academic majors and related professional fields. Marymount course instructors devise required or extra-credit assignments in their classes which pertain to the majors fair--for the purpose of stimulating freshman attendance and involvement at the event.
The last required advisor-advisee contact during the freshman year involves group advising and individual advising in the spring to plan students' course schedule for the following fall. All second-semester freshmen who do not see their advisor to pre-register for fall classes are contacted (usually by phone) as part of the college's "red flag" procedure. Failure to pre-register for the sophomore year is considered a red flag for possible attrition, so the Office of Institutional Research generates student lists for all advisors, which includes the names of their advisees who have not pre-registered for the fall. Advisors are reminded (via memo from the advising coordinators) to contact these students, discuss their reasons for not pre-registering, and encourage their return in the fall (if not to Marymount, then to another college or university). The first time this red-flag procedure was used, approximately one-third of the non-registered students who where contacted by their advisors decided to pre-register and eventually returned to the college for their sophomore year.
3. Sophomore-Year Program Delivery
Paralleling the freshman-year advising program, sophomores are required to meet with their advisors for a group-advising session and individual advising sessions in the fall semester. Additionally, all graduating sophomores are required to complete a "graduation check" with their advisor at the time they pre-register for their final (spring) semester. This graduation-check process serves to alert both advisor and advisee of any remaining requirements that have not been fulfilled--before the student registers for her final-semester courses. Building this graduation check into the spring pre-registration process helps to prevent the unsettling scenario of a last-semester student belatedly discovering that she's missing a required course, which then results in the prevention or postponement of her graduation.
During the fall semester of the sophomore year, students begin the process of applying for transfer to a 4-year institution. To support sophomores in this transfer process, the advisement center's "Transfer Access Program" (TAP) offers a series of workshops on: (a) selecting a transfer college, (b) completing the transfer application, and (c) writing the college-application essay. In addition, a "College Fair" is held on campus in the fall, at which time a variety of admissions professionals representing over 25 four-year colleges and universities are invited to Marymount and given a space and place where they provide advice and application materials to prospective Marymount transfer students. 4. Advising Resources
Advisors are equipped with three different types of written resource materials to support their effectiveness:
a) "Advisee Folders" which contain the student's completed Marymount admissions-application form, high school transcripts, standardized test scores (if available), letters of recommendation, and an advisee information sheet--which is completed during freshman orientation and forwarded to the advisor in time for the student's first advising session. b) An "Advisor's Handbook" which includes course-articulation agreements between Marymount and a wide variety of colleges, plus specific strategies for effective developmental advising.
c) "Advising Checklists" which include key advising events and time-lines for their occurrence--alerting advisors about what they need to do and when they need to do it. Marymount students are provided with three types of advising resource materials: 1. An Advisement Syllabus
Consistent with the college's conceptualization of "developmental academic advising" as that which includes an instructional function, academic advisors provide all their advisees with an "advisement syllabus"--similar to the course syllabus which instructors provide their students in class. This advisement syllabus would do for the advising process what the course syllabus would do for the learning process, namely: (a) identify the goals and objectives of academic advisement, (b) organize key advising topics to be discussed, and (c) serve as a "written contract" between advisor and advisee. Also, just like any well-constructed syllabus, the advisement syllabus would include: (a) advisor information (e.g., advisor's name, office location, office and home phone numbers); (b) a statement of the advisor's philosophy and advising methods; (c) advising policies and procedures; (d) an outline of advisement topics and a schedule or timeline for their discussion; and (e) a list of written materials which may be consulted by the student for use in the advisement process.
2. A "Strategies for Success" Handbook which they receive at freshman orientation; the handbook includes information on Marymount's advising program, its various services/workshops, and the roles/responsibilities of students as advisees.
3. Advisement brochures and pamphlets are distributed at different times during the academic year for the purpose of stimulating student interest in, and attendance at upcoming advising-related campus events (e.g., TAP workshops; major and career fairs). PROGRAM ASSESSMENT
Annually, students evaluate their advisors on a Likert-scale evaluation instrument that includes room for item-specific and open-ended written comments. (Instructors voluntarily "sacrifice" a portion of class time to allow students to complete this evaluation instrument.)
The student evaluations are used primarily to assure program quality (e.g., highly ineffective advisors who do not improve after supportive intervention are not allowed to continue advising). In addition, the program coordinators keep track of repeated anecdotal events such as unsolicited student comments, egregious advising errors, and number of student requests for a change of advisor. If recurrent patterns emerge across these anecdotal events, they are deemed to be "critical incidents" and used as an additional source of assessment.
A cumulative, composite record of students' evaluations of Marymount advisors has been kept since 1989. On 12 of 13 evaluation items pertaining to different aspects of advisor effectiveness, the percentage of students "agreeing" or "strongly agreeing" that their advisor was effective with respect to these items has progressively increased between 1989 and 1991. Such a consistent pattern of improvement is not likely to be due to chance, and suggests that the college's increased emphasis on developmental advising (e.g., via new-advisor orientation, advisor mentoring, and regularly-scheduled advising workshops) has had a significant, positive impact on the quality of academic advising at Marymount.
Interestingly, the college's freshman-to-sophomore retention rate has also increased from 1989 to 1991. Though this concomitant improvement in both student perceptions of the quality of advising at Marymount and the rate of student retention at Marymount is merely correlative, it has nevertheless occurred in the absence of any changes in the pre-enrollment characteristics of the student body and in the absence of any newly implemented retention strategies since 1989--other than those that have been advising-related (e.g. mandatory 2-year plan for first-semester freshmen; "red flag" procedure for students who haven't pre-registered). Thus, it may be reasonable to infer, albeit cautiously, that improvements in the college's advising program may be causally related to the college's increased student-retention rate.
One other potential index of program effectiveness is Marymount's exceptionally high transfer rate (90-95% of those intending to transfer, actually do transfer)--relative to the national and state average for 2-year colleges (25-30% of those who intend to transfer, actually transfer). At this point, no "hard data" exist which clearly indicate that Marymount's advising program is responsible for the college's higher rate of success in promoting student transition to 4-year institutions. It could be argued that Marymount's advantage is due to the fact that, unlike public 2-year colleges, it is not an "open-admissions" institution. However, Marymount borders on open admissions by accepting 85-90% of its applicants. Thus, the significant difference in transfer rates between Marymount and other 2-year colleges seems unlikely to be due to significant differences in the motivation and academic preparedness of the students who are enrolled.
One major difference between Marymount and other 2-year colleges is its historical reliance on faculty advisors. There is a wealth of research pointing to the positive impact of out-of-class, student-faculty contact on student retention and achievement--particularly when such contact involves students' academic and career plans. Thus, a cogent hypothesis for explaining Marymount's exceptional transfer rate, relative to most other 2-year colleges, may be the quantity and quality of out-of-class contact between its students and their faculty advisors. This is a hypothesis that we hope to assess through future research.

TRANSFERABLE (TRANSPORTABLE) FEATURES
A review of the key elements comprising Marymount's advisement program reveals five key themes or principles which could be readily adopted and practiced at any institution of higher learning--two year or four year, public or private.
1. Proactive Delivery
Take early and preventative action by "front-loading" advising services during the freshman year, particularly during the first semester of the freshman year (e.g., as Marymount does via summer advising, new-student orientation, the freshman seminar, and an "early-alert" system in which midterm-progress reports of course grades that are C- or below are sent to both students and advisors, along with a personally addressed letter to the student suggesting that he consult with his advisor to explore strategies for rectifying any low midterm grades).
2. Intrusive Delivery
Take the initiative to ensure that advising services actually reach the student--rather than passively waiting and hoping that students take advantage of the services that are available to them. This principle is illustrated by such Marymount practices as: (a) bringing the advising program coordinators to all class sections of the freshman seminar; (b) telephoning students who haven't pre-registered for next semester's classes; and (c) requiring student-advisor contact as a course assignment or as a condition for entry to registration.
3. Targeted Focus
Differentially deliver advising services to maximize its positive impact on "high-risk" students. (This principle is illustrated by the Marymount practice of "matching" high-quality advisors with high-risk students--in order to maximize their support and retention.)

4. Coordinated Effort
Encourage communication, cooperation, and partnerships between the academic advisement program and other campus programs and offices. Marymount's advisement program interfaces with, and is enhanced by close partnerships with a variety of college programs, including: (a) New-Student Orientation--during which new students and their parents are exposed to the philosophy, services, and people associated with the advising program. (b) Freshman Seminar--through which meaningful first-semester contacts between freshmen and their advisors are "built into" the course via assignments; (c) Office of Academic Affairs--which coordinates the early-alert and midterm-warning system that alerts both advisor and advisee of early academic difficulties; (d) Learning Center--which coordinates and compiles a "student success handbook" that includes key advising-support resources. (e) Career Center--which coordinates the "majors fair" in conjunction with the advisement center; (f) Office of the Registrar--which provides retention statistics and confirms the accuracy of advisor-student "graduation checks," (g) Faculty Development Office--which conceives of academic advising to be a professional responsibility that is as important as teaching and scholarship, and deems advisor development to be an integral component of an effective faculty-development program, and (g) Office of Institutional Research--which gathers relevant transfer statistics and computer-generates "red flag" lists for all advisors.
5. Administrative Support
A final, transferable principle undergirding the effectiveness of Marymount's advisement program is genuine commitment and support from high-level administrators. Central administration has provided the fiscal support needed to hire two full-time advisement coordinators, to provide course-release time for faculty advisors, and to fund annual college retreats focusing on student development and student retention which have provided the needed venue to disseminate the philosophy of developmental advising, and the creative atmosphere needed to devise new and effective developmental advising strategies.
Such administrative support not only supplies the necessary fiscal resources for a high-quality advisement program, it also sends a clear message to all members of the campus community that effective advisement is a high institutional priority which is essential to the college mission.

FUTURE DIRECTION: PLANS & GOALS
1. Strategic Review of Students' College-Application Materials to Identify and "Match" Freshman Interests and Experiences with Marymount's Co-Curricular Opportunities
For example, at college entry, students who have had extensive leadership or volunteer experiences in high school would be identified and their names passed on to the directors of the student leadership and volunteer programs, who would then contact these students via letter or phone call to congratulate them and personally invite them to continue their leadership and volunteer experiences at Marymount. The college used this strategy once in the fall of 1990 when the coordinator of academic advising made a note of all entering females who had played soccer in high school. He then passed these names on to the athletic director who, in turn, contacted them and enlisted a sufficient number of "recruits" to create a women's soccer program at the college--a program which the college futilely attempted to establish for two years prior to the advisement coordinator's initiation of this identification-referral-and-contact process.

Given the success of this procedure for involving freshman women in an athletic program, the college intends to explore other ways in which admissions information may be used by the advisement center to promote student involvement in a variety of co-curricular experiences. Marymount's advisement coordinator and faculty development officer are planning to meet with the director of admissions to review the questions included on the college's application form--with the intent of incorporating questions that would provide student information which could be conveniently used to link students with particular interests and background experiences to corresponding co-curricular opportunities offered at Marymount. Students would then be contacted during their first weeks on campus by peer counselors who would encourage these freshmen to become involved. Given the empirical evidence indicating a strong association between student involvement in campus life and student persistence to graduation, this linking-referral-contact procedure could be expected to have a positive impact on the retention and development of students at Marymount.
2. Computer-Assisted Advising
The college will be investigating the possibility and fiscal feasibility of utilizing a computer system to aid advisors in accessing and retrieving the myriad course-articulation agreements it was with 4-year institutions. One computer system, in particular, will be investigated for possible adoption at Marymount: California's ASSIST (Articulation System for Stimulating Inter-institutional Student Transfer). Another computer-assistance target area to be explored by the college involves an alumni "computer bank" which would include the college to which the Marymount alumnus transferred, her academic major, and her present post-baccalaureate position (if she's already entered the work world). The college would like to use this information to enable its students to contact an alumnus who is: (a) attending or has graduated from a 4-year college which the Marymount student is considering, (b) majoring or has majored in an academic subject being considered by the Marymount student, and/or (c) involved in a career field or professional position of interest to the Marymount student.
Ideally, the college would like to integrate this alumni information into its already-existing computer program for academic major-and-career exploration (Eureka). For instance, when the exploring student arrives at a computer-generated profile of a potential major or career, there would appear on the screen the name and phone number of a Marymount alumnus who has chosen that particular major/career path--someone who the Marymount student could contact for experienced-based information on that particular major or career.
3. Collaboration with Four-Year Institutions to Promote College Access & Successful Transfer for Low-Income, Underrepresented Students
Marymount is looking into the possibility of establishing alliances with neighboring 4-year institutions which would allow underrepresented students who would not ordinarily meet the admissions criteria of the 4-yr. institution of their choice, to first enroll at Marymount--with the understanding that, if the student successfully completes the A.A. degree at Marymount, he would automatically be eligible to transfer as a junior to the 4-year institution and immediately embark on upper-division coursework.
Certain 4-year colleges already are in the informal habit of "redirecting" to Marymount those students who are initially ineligible for admission to their baccalaureate program and suggesting to them that they reapply for admission following completion of coursework at our 2-year college. We would like to formalize this redirection process, particularly when it involves underrepresented students, by forging binding agreements with 4-year institutions.
The rationale underlying this partnership procedure would be that underrepresented students who are exposed to Marymount's proactive and intrusive advisement program during the first two years of college are more likely to receive the early, personal support they need to persist until the end of the sophomore year, at which time they would then be assured of access to the collaborating 4-year college.
For instance, Marymount could seek funding to waive fees for underrepresented students and, if they graduate with an A.A. and 3.0 GPA, the 4-year college would then accept the student as a junior and continue to provide financial support if the student maintains a high-quality GPA until completion of the baccalaureate. Thus, colleges would share the cost of supporting these students--from college entry at Marymount to college completion at the collaborating 4-year institution.
Consistent with this intention, Marymount has constructed a grant proposal which requests funds to establish a "Summer Bridge" program for low-income, first-generation students that would enable Marymount to provide these students with a residential experience for three weeks prior to their initial semester in college. As part of the summer bridge program, students would experience residence-based "skill building" and "college adjustment" seminars led by peer counselors and college faculty (possibly their academic advisors) who would live in the college residence with the students--as part of a "living-learning" environment.
4. Expanding the Corps of Academic Advisors to Include Selected Staff, Administrators, and Students
Marymount has begun to explore the possibility of involving members of the college community who are not faculty to assume the role of advisors--in particular, those members of the college community whose personal qualities and professional backgrounds would render them well qualified to be outstanding developmental advisors.
Though the preponderance of advising would still be conducted by the college faculty (thus continuing to assure that they have frequent out-of-class contact with students), enlistment of some non-faculty advisors could provide several advantages: (a) The overall quality of student advising might be improved because the newly enlisted advisors would be selectively chosen on the basis of background characteristics and personal qualities that are essential to providing high-quality developmental advising. (b) The average advisee "load" carried by individual faculty would be reduced, thus shrinking the advisee-to-advisor ratio to a level that may be more conducive to personalized, intrusive advising. (c) Professional partnerships and a sense of common purpose between faculty and other campus professionals may emerge as a result of their involvement in a shared educational enterprise. (d) Members of the staff and administration may have the opportunity for close interaction with students, which could further sensitize them to the adjustments, needs, and concerns of their foremost "customers" --students.
Marymount is also considering the possibility of utilizing selected, specially trained "peer advisors," i.e., sophomores who would be empowered to supplement and augment the advising provided by college advisors. Present advisors would recommend any of their own advisees who they feel have potential to be outstanding peer advisors; the coordinators of the academic advising program would then conduct training workshops or tutorials for aspiring peer advisors and perhaps develop an instructional video to facilitate this training-and-development process. Though final course selection and program planning would be the responsibility of the student's advisor, these specially trained peer advisors could provide useful "pre-advisement" information on courses, instructors, course work load, etc., and may potentially serve as peer "mentors" for inexperienced freshmen.
5. Explore the Possibility of Periodically Using a Standardized, Norm-Referenced Instrument to Evaluate the Advisement Program
Marymount presently employs a "home grown" instrument to assess the quality of its advising program. Occasional use of a standardized instrument which provides national norms (e.g., ACT's instrument), would provide Marymount with a relative, cross-institutional perspective on the quality of its advising program which could serve to illuminate specific institutional strengths and weaknesses.

6. Establish a System of Longitudinal Student Tracking--from Entry to Exit
The college would like to engage in more systematic assessment of its students at college entry via the College Student Inventory (CSI), which provides detailed, diagnostic information on individual students' entry characteristics and educational needs. Student tracking would then continue until the student departs from the college--either by way of withdrawal, early transfer, or graduation from the 2-year program. Tracking would continue for purposes of assessing students' post-Marymount educational experiences (e.g., percentage of Marymount students who successfully transfer to 4-year colleges; level of academic achievement of Marymount students after transfer; percentage of Marymount transfer students who persist to college graduation; average length of time taken by Marymount transfer students to complete their baccalaureate). A recently established office of institutional research at Marymount is beginning to collect reliable retention and transfer data, but a more comprehensive assessment system--coordinated by a full-time director of institutional research, is a major long-term goal of the college.
7. Provide Advisors with Information to Help Them Assess the Academic Work Load of Individual Courses
At present, when Marymount advisors assist student in planning their semester schedule, they have no idea (other than anecdotal reports) about the amount of out-of-class work required in different courses. The college once attempted to help advisors access this information by aggregating the syllabi of all its courses into one huge packet, but this proved unwieldy and insensitive to changes in course syllabi from semester to semester. The college would like to explore alternatives for conveying this course work-load information to advisors, one of which is the development of a course "matrix system" whereby individual courses would be listed and cross-hatched with the following information: (a) number of written assignments, (b) number and nature of exams (e.g., essay, short answer, or multiple choice), (c) average number of pages of required reading per week, and (d) readability of the textbook.
Colorado College already employs such a matrix system and will be contacted by Marymount's coordinator of faculty development to obtain specific details about their system and to determine its adaptability at Marymount.

ADVISEE INFORMATION CARD
(POTENTIAL QUESTIONS)
PERSONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
1. Your name (as you prefer to be called)?
2. Phone number/E-Mail number (optional)?
3. (a) Place of birth? (b) Places lived? (c) Present residence?
4. Why did you choose this college? (What brought you here?)
5. What other colleges (if any) have you attended?
6. What jobs or volunteer experiences have you had?
7. Will you be working or volunteering this term? If so, how many hours per week?
8. Will you have family responsibilities this term?
9. Has anyone in your family (parents, siblings) graduated from college?
FUTURE PLANS:
10. Intended 4-year college for transfer? (How sure are you about this choice?)
11. Intended major? (How sure are you about this choice?)
12. Intended career? (How sure are you about this choice?)
PERSONAL ABILITIES/APTITUDES:
13. What are you really good at? What comes easily or naturally to you?
14. What would you say are your most well-developed academic skills?
15. What would you say have been your (a) most enjoyable and (b) least enjoyable learning experiences?
16. How do you think you learn best?
PERSONAL QUALITIES/CHARACTERISTICS:
17. What three words do you think best describe you?
18. What would you say is most distinctive or unique about you?
19. What would your best friend(s) say is your most likable quality?
PERSONAL INTERESTS:
20. What sorts of things capture and hold your interest or attention?
21. What sorts of things do you look forward to, and get excited about?
22. What’s “fun” for you?
23. How do you relax and unwind?
24. If you had a day, week, or year to go anywhere you wanted and do anything you liked, where would you go and what would you do?
25. What do you like to read?
26. What are your favorite movies and/or TV programs?
27. What’s your favorite music or musical artist(s)?
28. Is there anyone dead or alive, real or imaginary, whom you’ve never met but would like to meet and have a conversation with? Why?
PERSONAL VALUES:
29. What do you value a lot? (What’s really important to you?”)
30. Can you think of a motto, quote, song, symbol, or bumper sticker that represents something you stand for or believe in?
31. If there were one thing in the world you could change, what would it be?
32. When you have free time, what do you usually find yourself doing?
33. When you have extra spending money, what do you usually spend it on?
34. What does “being successful” mean to you?
35. Do you tend to daydream about anything in particular?
36. Do you have any heroes? Is there anyone you admire, look up to, or believe has set an example worth following?
37. What would you say has been the greatest accomplishment, achievement, or success story in your life thus far?
38. What or who has had the greatest influence on you?
ADVISING EXPECTATIONS & GOALS
39. What do you think academic advising is all about?
40. Is there anything you hope or want academic advising to cover?

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