Retention is the most prominent area of concern in academic advising departments. Retention strategies are always learned and never mastered; student services professionals are constantly searching for effective techniques to enhance student retention. From an academic advising standpoint, supporting online learners is best achieved by establishing solid, meaningful student-advisor relationships. Thus, retention strategies can be conceptualized as relationship-building strategies. Read more →
Monthly archive: May, 2012
Distance Advising: A Personalized Approach
Quality academic advising, though not easily defined, encompasses a set of values and intentions that help students integrate their dreams, goals, and abilities into a unified sense of purpose. At the core of this process is the student-advisor relationship, which may develop and unfold in ways that are as unique and diverse as our advisees. Ideally, academic advising programs should be formulated to meet the unique needs of students, rather than expecting them “to fit within the established organizational structure” (NACADA, 2010). Read more →
Enhancing student motivation
Motivation is often inferred from observable behavior. When students study diligently and manage their time wisely we tend to describe them as motivated. When struggling students do not implement the advice they’ve been given to improve their academic situation, we usually label them unmotivated. This overly simplistic view of motivation fails to account for the internal processes that we cannot see.
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Higher Education in a Digital World
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.” The words of Charles Darwin are strikingly relevant to the world of higher education. Colleges and universities are in the midst of a pervasive and radical change driven by innovations in technology. Institutions must respond to change in a way that helps shape the future of higher education or find themselves in the precarious position of obsolescence. Read more →
