
Through a series of surveys and interviews with advising directors across North America, Academic Impressions has identified a number of frequently missed opportunities that prevent institutions from maximizing the effectiveness of academic advising to improve student retention and academic success. The following are among the most significant:
- As academic advisors find themselves overwhelmed with high student traffic and high student/advisor ratios, too often advising remains focused on course schedules -- rather than taking a developmental and proactive focus on helping students problem-solve to reach academic and career goals.
- At many institutions, interventions with students who may be academically at risk are still occurring too late.
- Although the majority of institutions rely heavily on faculty advisors, few have a system in place for assessing and improving faculty advising.