DESIGNING OR UPDATING A TRAINING PROGRAM FOR PROFESSIONAL ACADEMIC ADVISORS

Professional academic advisors need to be confident and knowledgeable in order to best serve students. At the same time, they should be comfortable with their colleagues and excited to be a part of a team.

One way to build an environment where new colleagues will thrive is to establish a structured training program. Such programs allow advising teams to strike a balance between getting an advisor functioning quickly and making sure that s/he has been trained thoroughly. “Structured” does not have to mean boring or inflexible—training models can provide opportunities for creativity, customization, and collaboration.

Often, academic advising offices are understaffed and advisors are pulled in many different directions. However, it is important to devote time up front to acclimating new staff, because in the long run it is more efficient--fewer mistakes will be made, and less time will be wasted in the future when searching for resources and information. Spending time on new advisors also establishes a positive work environment as advisors build relationships with each other and feel valued.

As our professional advising office grows and as turnover occurs, we constantly have new advisors joining us. Until a few years ago, there was no formal means of communicating knowledge. Training consisted of reading articles, studying websites, and learning by doing. This strategy worked for some people, but left others feeling uncertain and on their own.

The office sought to improve the quality of its advising, and creating a structure for training new staff was a good investment. Benefits of a formal training program for professional advisors are that the training sets the tone for the new advisor’s experience in the office, allows new advisors to get to know colleagues on a personal and professional level, and encourages collaboration with other campus offices. Since the first attempt at a training schedule, our training program continues to evolve.

The proposed conference session will:

1) Address the benefits and challenges of a formal training program,
2) Review a typical training schedule for a new advisor in our program, and
3) Provide suggestions for how conference attendees can incorporate or enhance formal advisor training at their own institutions.