Professional development, performance expectations and academic advisors’ perceptions of relational skills: a sequential explanatory mixed methods study

Abstract

Academic advisors need training and development in three critical components for effective practice: conceptual (students and institutional context), informational (laws, policies, procedures) and relational (interpersonal skills). Yet, the relational component is often neglected. Limited research explores the relational component and its presence in training and professional development programs for academic advising. This two‐phase sequential explanatory mixed methods study investigates the relational component in an advising professional development program. In phase one, we found relational learning opportunities were lowest among the three areas and did not significantly impact advisor evaluation score. Themes uncovered in phase two regarding perceptions of the relational component and factors impacting advisor performance suggest more emphasis on relational training and advisor assessment of relational competencies is critical to professionalizing the field.

Academic Advisors in Australian Higher Education: Perceptions, Role Identities, and Recommendations

“…Our results also showcased the importance of professionalizing new academic advisors to equip them with the skills and systems knowledge they need to be successful (McGill et al, 2020). In a study of academic language and learning, Evans et al (2019) found that the professional development of advisors required a ''unique set of professional and personal attributes, skills and depositions'' (p. 1133).…”

Skills and Competencies for Effective Academic Advising and Personal Tutoring

“…The type of advisor may be a major consideration for the designer who is determining the content level, the delivery mode, format, and frequency of the training sessions" (Nutt, 2003, p. 11). In building advising training and development programs, there needs to be a concerted effort to add relational competencies to learning opportunities to practice skills and techniques (McGill et al, 2020). For example, through shadowing, the use of vignettes, role playing, clinical observation, and cognitive apprenticeships (Duslak and McGill, 2014), advisors can have the opportunity to bolster their relational skills and competencies.…”

“…In the second model (see Earwaker, 1992), a personal tutor is responsible for the academic progress and personal development and a student services staff member has a full-time role as a welfare officer who provides the student with pastoral support. There is an assumption anyone who is an academic member of staff can be an academic advisor or personal tutor without any training, that it will "come naturally" (Owen, 2002;Gubby and McNab, 2013;McGill et al, 2020). Beyond the credentials required to be an academic/faculty member, there are no qualifications needed to perform personal tutoring in the United Kingdom.…”

“…They attributed the variation in necessary skills identified by participants to the variety of environments that advisors practice within. To consider the impact of learning opportunities on advisor evaluation and performance, McGill et al (2020) found training of relational skills is often necessary but absent from advising training and professional development programs.…”

An ecological approach to understanding the scholarship of advising practice and administration

“…The variety and complexities of advising delivery models have led to the emergence of obstacles to the professionalization of advising, many of which were identified in Chapter 2: (a) issues facing the profession , such as the need for clear definitions of academic advising and the demands of academic advising from professional associations; (b) institution‐level administrative issues , including a lack of a consistent institutional administrative home for advising and the isolation of advising that often occurs in decentralized modes; (c) structural challenges , such as a lack of personal and professional autonomy at institutions, unclear expectations and responsibilities of faculty advisors, and workload inequity among professional advisors; and (d) training and professional development needs , including the need the need of training of using advising technology and an increasing need for professional development on advising knowledge and skills (He and Hutson, 2017; Hutson, 2013; McGill, 2019; McGill et al., 2020).…”