This qualitative study explores the perceptions of NACADA leaders regarding institutional and structural sources, obstacles, and opportunities related to learning and professional development (PD) for primary-role academic advisors. Through semi-structured interviews with 17 NACADA leaders, the study identifies three key themes: the critical role…

Where should academic advising be housed within a college or university organizational structure? To assure that the academic is emphasized in academic advising, the most logical and appropriate location is within the academic structure of the institution, which means being placed as close as possible to the faculty and the curriculum. This…

A cursory review of scholarly articles concerning community colleges will undoubtedly result in references to the ''cooling out'' function of academic advising. This theory remains among one of the most cited critiques of these institutions to date. Many scholars have debated the accuracy of the assertion, arguing that community college advisors…

The number of doctoral recipients per year in the United States has grown considerably, yet on average, half of all students do not persist to degree completion or far exceed the expected completion timeline. Attrition and extended time to degree negatively impact both doctoral students and institutions and costs each time, money, and effort.…

This interpretive phenomenological study explores faculty and academic advisors' experiences in supporting students with mental health challenges. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior, which suggests that personal beliefs, prior experiences, and familiarity with symptoms influence behavior, the study examines participant narratives to identify…

Students returning from suspension remain a focus for institutions that aim to improve retention and persistence rates and graduate all admitted students. Institutions need more precise mechanisms to identify students who will be academically successful upon return from suspension and to know what support those students will need. Previous…

Lowenstein first identified advising as a teaching approach that built on Crookston's developmental advising model. While Lowenstein emphasized utilizing teaching strategies, advisors come from different professional backgrounds and may not have this prior knowledge. A narrative case study approach explored the advising practices of teachers who…

Humanism, as an educational philosophy, is explored as a foundational learning and development theory to inform a new approach to academic advising. Linking humanism to academic advising, humanistic advising emphasizes the importance of advisee growth and change to become self-actualized. Thus, humanistic advising calls for advisors to see…

The purpose of this article is to address how current academic advisors became advisors. In a survey of NACADA members, participants were asked about their demographics, educational backgrounds, and initial and continued interest in academic advising. Knowing this can help advising administrators gain a better understanding of advisor recruitment…

This essay discusses the rhetorical impacts of the consumption metaphor on how advisors think about their work using student responses to the COVID-19 pandemic to highlight the problematic nature of the consumption metaphor for higher education. Academic advisors should reconsider how they "think about" their work and their messages to…

This article prompts a new examination of advising practice. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted normal modes of operation, it presents a unique opportunity to determine new approaches that address the equity gap in student degree attainment. A specific theory of racialized organizations is used as a lens for examining advising practice…

This article grew out of several conversations with colleagues in the field of academic advising, most notably Brent Lamons, Ruth Darling and Marsha Miller, as an essay on the relationship between theory and practice, also know as 'praxis'. Why do advisors do what they do in their advising practice? What challenges do they face in getting from…

In the field of academic advising, the advising and retention of students of color are of particular concern. Academic advisors can utilize practitioner inquiry to better understand the (in)equities in their interactions with and in service to these students. Our inquiry was conducted over one semester at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) in…

Academic advisors occupy an ethically fraught position in institutions of higher education and frequently have to traverse complex curricular issues. Legal theorist Lon L. Fuller's work provides advisors with new resources to ply some of these troubled curricular issues. By focusing on understanding colleges and universities as law-generating…