Academic advisors can have a positive impact on the progress of an increasingly diverse student population in higher education, but there is no required professional certification or educational background for academic advisors. The lack of required certification puts the onus for academic advisor training and professional development on the…

Student persistence remains an important focus for higher education professionals. National conferences and other professional development opportunities regularly highlight information on resources, supports, and programmatic efforts that are most effective at helping college students persist. Retention is a key performance indicator for…

This chapter describes a strong partnership with a long history between Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC) and Winona State University (WSU), and focuses on the advising process utilized by a shared advisor employed by both institutions that has resulted in an improved transfer experience for students.

Background/Context: The transition from high school to college marks a critical juncture for students planning to pursue higher education, particularly those from historically marginalized backgrounds. Unfortunately, many of these students are left to navigate complex financial aid requirements, registration processes, and academic placement with…

This research project examined students' perceptions of academic advising through an online survey method at select two-year colleges within the Minnesota State College and University System. The purpose of this research was to build upon scant existing research relating to student satisfaction with academic advising models utilized by individual…

Competency-based programs have gained prominence in recent years for two primary reasons. First, more students are seeking ways to apply nonclassroom learning experiences toward a degree. Second, a paradigm shift in higher education encourages postsecondary curriculum developers to accept nonclassroom experiences as demonstrations of skills and…

The real data on students' postsecondary outcomes are affordable, accessible, and unfortunately underutilized. If harnessed for advising high school students before graduation, these data could significantly change the approach to preparing students for college and career success across the country. How can we get more leaders and stakeholders to…

Mentoring and advising are critical aspects of the graduate student experience, and can have a significant impact on the professional lives of future postsecondary faculty and staff and a rippling effect throughout higher education and the global economy. This paper describes the process a new department undertook to create a graduate program that…

Librarians have continuously struggled with developing quality relationships with faculty and advisors to support students online. In 2014, Rasmussen College introduced a one-stop student support model of service that makes a student's advisor their primary point of contact for library resources, academic support, financial aid, course scheduling,…

In spite of the well-paying, in-demand jobs that many STEM degrees can lead to, just 18 percent of the 1.9 million bachelor's degrees awarded in the U.S. in 2015-16 (the most recent data available) were in STEM subject areas.3 Given that about 5 percent of workers with a non-STEM undergraduate degree work in a STEM field, a large proportion of a…

Several recent studies point to strong performance in economics PhD programs of graduates from liberal arts colleges. While every undergraduate program is unique and the likelihood of selection bias combines with small sample sizes to caution against drawing strong conclusions, the authors reflect on their experience at Carleton College to…

Librarians have collaborated with academic departments within their institutions for decades now, working with professors and administrators to bring information literacy skills to students. The librarians at National American University decided to extend this collaboration to a non-academic unit, the admissions department of the university. The…

In 2012, five foundations launched the Credit When Its Due (CWID) initiative that was "designed to encourage partnerships of community colleges and universities to significantly expand programs that award associate degrees to transfer students when the student completes the requirements for the associate degree while pursuing a bachelor's…

Prior research has classified strategies to facilitate adult learners' transitions to postsecondary opportunities into five broad categories: advising, General Educational Development-plus (GED-plus), English as a second language, career pathways, and college preparatory (Zafft, Kallenbach, & Spohn, 2006). This two-part study relied on…

Federal education benefits for veterans represent a substantial investment--$18 billion since 2009 under the Post-9/11 GI Bill--in the development of a skilled American workforce. Unfortunately, this investment does not always pay off because many veterans encounter serious obstacles as they attempt to navigate the higher education system and the…