Scholars have long debated an idealised conceptualisation of academic advising practice, while higher education administrators have shaped their own vision for its practice on college campuses, resulting in widespread ambiguity regarding its purpose and function. This study investigated how 181 chief academic officers at two year and four year…

Although the practice of academic advising in North America has existed since the colonial era, it is only within the past century that an organized movement to shape the field has taken root. Most of the literature seeking to clarify the role, purpose, and function of academic advising is restricted to the United States. The purpose of this…

As a field's literature base deepens, an academic discipline can emerge and lead to the development of a profession. For an academic discipline to thrive, new scholars must be trained in its specialized knowledge. Kansas State University was the first institution to offer graduate programs in academic advising. Subsequently, other graduate…

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…

This qualitative study explored what support community college transfer students relied upon while transitioning to a 4-year university. Investigators examined experiences of 12 full-time degree-seeking students who previously attended a community college. Data included a series of three individual interviews with participants and reflective…

The role of academic advising in higher education remains largely misunderstood by university stakeholders, faculty and staff, students, and academic advisors. Many hold the simplistic view that academic advising is merely transmitting information to students to ensure timely graduation, a perception that limits what advising can do for student…

In the United States, academic advising is among the highest turnover professions in the university system. Academic advisors, who work at the intersection of academics and student life, bear the brunt of increased pressures and decreased resources. Yet, primary-role advisors often do not experience high salaries or opportunities for advancement.…

As higher education leaders, chief academic officers are capable of affecting the ways advising is structured and performed on college campuses, but little is known about how they regard advising. This study investigated the perceptions of 181 chief academic officers at two- and four-year public and private institutions in the U.S. regarding…

Through the professionalization process, an occupation transforms into a profession. Although much scholarship has situated academic advising as a professional endeavor, in the past few years, the authors of two papers posited that advising is not a profession, a contention not shared by all within the advising community. Despite much scholarly…

Practitioners and scholars of academic advising have long grappled with the professional status of the field. To better understand the characteristics of professionalization and the obstacles that stand in the way of professionalizing the field, a structured review of the literature from 1980 to 2016 was conducted. Three characteristics of…

Although academic advising is recognized as an important piece in college student retention, the complexity of the activity and its pedagogical potential continues to be overlooked by institutional stakeholders and advisors themselves. Many outside the field do not fully recognize its purpose and potential, but increasingly advising is seen as a…