Issue #4 Fall 2009
Jon M. Huntsman School of Business Transitions from Prescriptive Advising to Mentor Advising
Ruth Checketts Harrison, Academic Advisor, Huntsman School of Business

The first week of school often resembles the triage scenes on M*A*S*H*.  The advising office is crammed with students having a multitude of issues of different intensities demanding help.  The advisor’s task is to determine how to best use their time and resources to serve the largest population of students in the most efficient manner.   Many of the students display the drama of a fatal injury, yet their situations are not difficult to handle, and could be better addressed in an appointment during a slower time of the semester.  Yet others take advantage of the circumstances, and fade into the corner with what could be a career ending issue.   This situation begged the questions:

  • Is this the most productive way to help our students?
  • How lasting is this relationship?
  • What opportunities are students missing due to this type of advising?
  • Are we using our advising personnel to their fullest potential?
  • Is this style of advising indicative of most advising appointments?
  • How can we improve the system for our students, staff, the Huntsman School, and USU?

 
The answers to the first five questions were obvious.  Prescriptive advising, or advising based only on students’ immediate perceived wants and needs, is productive only to the extent of having a student leave the office with the answer to this semester’s issues. Prescriptive advising builds relationships of dependency, does not take advantage of the professional advisor’s expertise, and requires students to discover academic and professional opportunities on their own.  Most importantly and unfortunately, we determined that this type of advising did carry over to most of our advising appointments.   This approach addresses an immediate need, but may be allowing a growing issue to fester.  The sixth question became the challenge of the Huntsman Advising Team. 

The Huntsman Advising Team, comprised of four advisors housed in the Huntsman School, two advisors from the Office of University Advising, and the Programs and Advising Center support staff, met together to create an advising system that would mentor students throughout their academic careers.    The results of this intensive review are summarized below.

Advising Mission Statement –The first step of the process was to define our values, vision, and mission.  This process started with a brainstorming session that produced the following mission statement: "The Academic Advising Team for the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business is committed to building relationships that foster student empowerment through the exploration and navigation of opportunities.  Our programs and services are designed as a cooperative effort between advisor and student to facilitate the student’s ability as an independent learner."

The developed mission statement was the first step in moving from prescriptive advising to mentor advising, an advising approach that emphasizes interpersonal relationships and recognizes the student as an individual. Mentor advising tailors advising to the unique academic, professional, and personal needs and goals of the student. This positions the advisor as a guide to assist the student in considering alternative opportunities and means to accelerate his or her career.  Students are also encouraged to participate in positive educational experiences aimed at personal growth and development, based on their individually identified goals.  The mission statement is being shared with students to inform and better define the advising relationship between advisors and students.

Advising Syllabus - An advising syllabus was developed for distribution to Huntsman students during the first month of school.  The syllabus contains advisor contact information, the advising mission statement, student resources, student responsibilities, advisor responsibilities, and an educational timeline.   The syllabus is distributed by email with an invitation to make an appointment with an advisor to discuss the document.  The syllabus was limited to a one-page document, printed front and back.  The educational timeline described below took one side of the page.

Educational Timeline – The educational timeline is a color-coded table, listing student opportunities and suggested times to begin.  This timeline starts prior to a student’s first semester and continues beyond graduation.  The Huntsman Advising Team felt it was vital to make students aware of opportunities creating a connection to the School which would be carried with them into the workforce.  

Huntsman Handbook – A student handbook was developed and made available online for Huntsman students. The handbook covers policies and procedures applicable to the Huntsman School, as well as to USU.   It is meant to be a resource for current and prospective students.  The handbook is an interactive tool available at www.huntsman.usu.edu/advising.

 Changes in SOAR – Students attending SOAR are told they will be receiving advising after they are dismissed from the afternoon session.  For the Huntsman School the number of students involved in these sessions does not allow us to have a mentoring experience with each student.  A group presentation is given, and then student schedules are checked and/or created.  The group presentation was altered this year to contain a brief overview of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, as well as an explanation that SOAR would be setting up a schedule, and is not an advising appointment.  It was stressed that individual advising appointments should be set up during the first month of the semester.    Many student opportunities were discussed, and the importance of building their resume and portfolio was stressed.   Students were asked to fill out an information sheet that will help advisors identify individual student needs and create educational plans that will enrich the student’s time at USU.  Each student was also given a copy of the Huntsman Handbook on a 2GB USB drive.  These changes were created to help students understand the difference between prescriptive advising and mentor advising.

Mentor advising is making a difference for the Huntsman School.  During the first three weeks of school, advisors and students have already commented on the success of these many changes.   Lindsey Thurgood, academic advisor, stated, “Mentor advising helps our students feel more valued, and assists them in thinking strategically about their academic and career goals.  It is a wonderful advising tool that assists me in building the relationship necessary to retain our students.”  For more information, contact Ruth Harrison at (435) 797-2274.

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