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Academic Advising

Chapter 18

Technological Delivery Systems

• Technology transforming higher education from a teaching institution into a learning institution.
• There is a challenge to provide quality advising services to distance learners (students who take internet-based courses and typically are not on campus).
• Technology in Person to Person Advising
• Synchronous Advising – same-time, same-pace, different-place, person-to-person advising
• Video Conferencing – provides advisor and student with audio and video communication.
• Some systems allow for text based chat and file sharing.
• Most economical systems are web-based, but some provide for point-to-point direct connections.
• Computer Chat and Computer Audioconferencing – chat allows for text based communication and audio conferencing allows for voice over the internet (VOIP?)
• Instructional Delivery Systems – Broadcasts over cable TV, radio, and satellite for delivery of advising information.
• Typically used for group advising
• Asynchronous Advising - Person-to-person advising that is delivered through technology that is anytime, anyplace, anypace advising.
• E-mail and V-mail – text-based and audio-based direct messages sent between advisor and student.
• Technology in the Self-help Age
• World wide web pages
• Content includes – applications, forms, degree audits, electronic evaluation for articulation.
• Other WWW content
• listservs, newsletters, and electronic bulletin boards
• Technology based advising
• affected by the digital divide
• students with disabilities may have a hard time benefiting from technology-based advising

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Academic Advising

Chapter 17

Technological Resources that Support Advising

• Advising by hand (i. e. not using any technology) is time consuming in terms of the amount of information, such as: information needed on each student, university and degree requirements, and academic policies.
• Technology has been developed to aid in the tedious record keeping and information gathering portion of an advisor’s job. This has lead to a shift of advising duties being prescriptive to developmental.
• IT tools to aid advisors include:
• Degree Audit tools – Matches completed coursework with sets of degree program requirements, tracking a student’s progress from declaration of major to completion of a degree.
• Reduces in clerical duties of advisor
• Can support additional peripheral tasks such as monitoring for academic honors and executing NCAA eligibility checks.
• Systems need to be “mindful” of exceptions to typical degree progress, such as course substitutions.
• Computerized Transfer Course Equivalency Systems – Systems that present to students with courses that receive transfer credit at various 2- and 4-year institutions.
• Systems can provide a vehicle by which students can “shop” for a school that offers the most expedient route to degree completion.
• Online systems tend to be more up-to-date than typical printed course-equivalency booklets
• Touch-Tone Registration Systems – Typically a telephone based system, its purpose is to allow immediate feedback to students as to their class choices and provide alternate section information for classes that are closed.
• Alleviates or eliminates the time and resource intensive in-person registration of the past.
• Many schools offer real-time course schedules and registration through the internet.
• Computerized Appointment Calendar Systems – Allows students to schedule themselves for meetings with advisors and depending on the reasons for the visit, allocates the appropriate amount of time.
• Gives students a feeling of ownership over their advising interview
• Allows for more time for advisors to prepare for student meetings.
• Electronic Advisor Notebooks – software that allows the advisor to keep advising information in an electronic form.
• Allows flexibility for taking standardized notes for recording advisor-student interactions.
• Allows for easier viewing of longitudinal information regarding the student and their progress.
• Automated Student Profile Systems – Systems that allow for gathering of secondary school information on students, beyond transcripts and grades.
• Allows for gathering of helpful information such as:
• extracurricular activities
self-assessed knowledge in some subjects

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A techy by trade, what about a section on the fact that Claremont Graduate University embraces the part time PhD student.

Although i'm making mere assumptions, the part time student will frequent campus less than the fulltime student (it only seems logical). Now by what means do these students continue communications with their graduate/dissertation advisers. Are the relationships largely technical (email,phone,blogs/wikis). And does technology impede or induce progress in the various stages of the graduate lifecycle.

It's just one more angle to adopt, since CGU is very unique to most other doctoral programs, where part timers are not welcome. (Brian)

I think this may be something we can incorporate into the survey in the form of one or two questions. It would be very interesting to see how students who are not on campus regularly keep in touch with their advisors (with the assumption that they consider their formal school-provided advisors as the person they go to for advising). Either to incorporate into the survey we are going to create or as a follow on type of thing. (Nicole)

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