Historical Foundations of Academic Advising: Handbook series (Part 1)

Throughout the next few weeks (and most likely into the summer) I am going to be "reviewing" the book Academic Advising: A Comprehensive Handbook (2008, Gordon et al.). Essentially what I will be doing is presenting the big ideas presented in each section and annotating each with Internet resources. My hope is also to brainstorm with readers to see what is missing from the literature, what questions we still need to answer, and generally critique the information presented within the handbook. 

Without further ado...

Chapter 1: Historical Foundations of Academic Advising (pp. 3-16  )

Defining "academic advising"

• "Situations where institutional representatives give insight or direction to a college student about an academic, social, or personal matter...the nature of this direction might be to inform, suggest, counsel, discipline, coach, mentor, or even teach" (p. 3). 
  
•  Is Academic Advising a Form of Teaching?
• Recommended Academic Advising Definitions & Role Statements (U of Wisconsin @ Oshkosh)
• The College of New Jersey Definition of Academic Advising

The 3 Eras of Academic Advising

• 1st Advising Era ( 1636-1870) "Higher Education before advising was defined" (p.3 )   
• 1. Electives did not exist; coursework was the same for all
• 2. Residential experience; students eat, sleep, study, and worship together
• 3. Focused on a classical curriculum (e.g., Latin, Greek, Math, Religion)

4. In loco parentis roles for president and faculty

5. 1870's ushered in a rigid, formal period for higher education

6. Many rules, regulations, and punishments for students 

7. Faculty no longer spoke with students on an individual basis

8. Rebellions rose up in response to discipline

9. Elective system is created in response to these rebellions

a. More student flexibility

b. Better faculty interaction improved student relations

c. Increased usage of seminars and laboratories

d. Initiated the need for academic advisors

10. Faculty responsibility shifted to research and service more so than advisement

• 2nd Advising Era (1870-1970) "Academic advising as a defined & unexamined area" (p.5)

1. Critics of the elective system wanted to ensure that students could properly navigate it
2. Daniel Gilman (Johns Hopkins) used the word "advisor" and laid out the responsibilities of the role. 
3. 1920's-Rise of freshman counseling; faculty advisors
4. 1930's-1940's-Student support systems in place
5. 1949 "Student Personnel Point of View" SPPOV: Student as a whole, attention to physical, social, emotional and spiritual wellness, responsible participant in own development, not passive recipient of imprinted economic, political, or religious doctrine or vocational skill.

• 3rd Advising Era (1970's-Present) "Advising as a defined and examined activity" (p.7)

1. NACADA created 1977
2. Relevant research articles sprung up
3. Various advising models

A. Faculty-only: No advising office

B. Supplementary Model: All students given instructional faculty member. Advising office provides general information. 

C. Split Model: Specific groups advised by advisors & rest assigned to academic units or faculty.

D. Dual Model: Each student has 2 advisors. Faculty for major requirements and advisor for general education, procedures, and policies. 

E. Total Intake Model: Staff advises until specific requirements are met. Afterwards students are transferred to faculty or academic subunit. 

F. Satellite Model: Each school, college, or division has its own approach to advising.

G. Self-Contained Model: Advising staff works with students from the date of enrollment to graduation. 

Development of Institutional Types

• Liberal Arts Colleges

1. Undergraduate Focus
2. Early colleges were shaped by aristocratic traditions and served the wealthy, white, males
3. Where we get the faculty-only model & still remains the primary example

• Normal Schools

1. First was in Massachusetts; teaching teachers how to handle classrooms in real-life settings
2. Many have become four year teacher colleges, liberal arts colleges, and then universities (e.g., Eastern Michigan)
3. Advisement by the faculty & the president (Enroll students in classes only)

• Historically Black Colleges & Universities

1. First was the Institute for Colored Youth (Philadelphia)
2. Morrill Land Grant (1862): Federal lands given to the states to open colleges that would train Americans in the applied sciences, agriculture, and engineering. 
3. Second Morill Land Grant Act (1890): States could make schools open to both blacks and whites or allocate money for segregated black colleges to serve as an alternative to white schools (Led to 16 exclusively black schools); Plessy V. Ferguson

• Community Colleges

1. 1901- Joliet Community College
2. 39 % of students attend community college

• Research Universities

1. Includes undergraduate but focuses on graduate students in mission and programs 
2. Tenure is based on grants and publishing; little emphasis on teaching
3. German Model: Teaching, Research, and Service
4. Morrill Act of 1862: Research needed to grow food, build machines, and improve & protect society

• For-Profit Universities

1. Economy is now knowledge-based
2. University of Phoenix
3. Pay taxes and have investors
4. Top-down management approach
5. Emphasize learning over faculty research 
6. Convenient locations and times
7. Market driven curriculum

Looking to the Future

• "The future of advising as an examined activity will depend on how well advising theory, practical, and research can define and study advising constructs" (p. 13).  
• Theory-"Explanation of how something works";"Allows one to describe a process and to predict future events under given circumstances" (p. 13).
• Advising Practice-"Interaction between an intitutional representative and a student that is intended to give students insight or direction about an academic, social, or personal matter" (p.14).