William Paterson University of New Jersey

Policy 28: Undergraduate Academic Advisement

I. Introduction

Students are the focus of the academic advisement process. The importance, dignity, potential, and unique nature of every student is recognized in advisement. Each aspect of the academic advisement process, from admission to graduation, is focused to ensure that students achieve their personal, academic, career and professional goals as stated in the Mission Statement of William Paterson University of New Jersey.

The University has adopted a "Student Success Plan" which incorporates the concept of "Students First." This philosophy demonstrates WPUNJ's commitment to the welfare and success of all students. Academic advising assists every student to attain educational excellence and develop abilities for lifelong independent learning.

II. Goals and Outcomes of Academic Advisement

A. Immediate goals

1. To encourage students to explore aspects of their personal, intellectual, and emotional growth.

2. To provide students with accurate information on academic policies and procedures, and on student support services.

3. To engage students in the process of selecting educational directions consistent with their interests and abilities.

4. To assist students as they explore possible short and long range consequences of their curricular choices.

5. To assist students in the selection of courses as they progress toward achieving their educational and career goals.

B. Long Range Outcomes

1. To assist students as they develop a course of study and accomplish their goals, once a path has been charted.

2. To enable students to build on their successes as they move toward completion of their undergraduate studies, culminating in graduation from WPUNJ.

3. To increase student satisfaction with the educational process at WPUNJ.

4. To encourage graduates to maintain ongoing and active connections with the WPUNJ community as alumnae.

III. Developmental Academic Advisement Model

A. Stages of Development

During each student's undergraduate career, six stages of development can be mapped. However, since students develop and mature at different rates, they may not fulfill the action goal(s) specified for each stage in the same sequence or to the same degree. The stages, as pictured in Figure 1, follow:

1. Pre-Entry

The student acquires accurate expectations.

2. Freshman Year

The student establishes a connection to campus life and begins to develop academic plans.

3. Sophomore Year

The student crystallizes academic plans and explores career options.

4. Junior Year

The student integrates academic plans with career choices.

5. Senior Year

The student completes an academic program consistent with his/her career goals.

6. Graduate/Alumni

The student makes successful transition to a career or to further study, and maintains

positive ties to WPUNJ by contributing to its growth.

B. Assignment of Students to Advisors

The single consistent element from one academic year to the next is that students are given guidance and support by the same academic advisor while in a selected major.

1. Students who declare a major are assigned an advisor from the department of their selected major by the department chair.

2. Freshmen who have not declared a major are advised by their freshman seminar leader for the first two semesters. The seminar leader explores general interests and academic strengths with the student to identify possible fields of study for the student.

3. Students who have reached the sophomore year and have not yet declared a major (including transfer students) are interviewed by professional staff or faculty assigned to the Advisement Center to determine interests and academic strengths. The Advisement Center staff will refer the student to the appropriate academic department for more information, and will notify the department chair when appropriate.

IV. Student Roles and Responsibilities for Advisement

Students are expected to assume responsibility for active and ongoing participation in all aspects of the academic advisement process. Students are encouraged to maintain regular contact with their advisor and to assume a prominent role in making decisions that influence the course of their lives. They hold and are responsible for their own beliefs, opinions, attitudes, and behaviors. Although the advisor and advisee are mutually responsible for engaging in academic advisement, decisions should be made only after the resources of the advisement process and the university have been fully explored.

V. Faculty Roles and Responsibilities for Advisement

A. Academic Advisors

Academic advisors are faculty who work most directly with students and are responsible for the successful implementation of academic advisement. Foremost, the academic advisor is a teacher. The academic advisor guides students to reach their educational and career goals, and empowers them to develop an academic program to accomplish individual goals. As teacher and guide, the advisor engages in a complex and mutually trusting relationship with each student; a relationship that requires significant investments of both time and skill. To fulfill these responsibilities, academic advisors participate in a range of faculty development activities geared to increasing their knowledge and competence in all areas associated with developmental academic advising.

1. Selection.

Academic advisors should be selected on their demonstrated ability to facilitate the developmental academic advisement process with students. With prior agreement from the faculty member, the department chair identifies faculty to serve as academic advisors to students in their discipline.

2. Roles and Responsibilities.

The actions in which academic advisors engage include the following:

a. Assist students in adjusting to the WPUNJ community and the academic program

b. Provide advisement throughout the academic year, but especially prior to and during Registration Periods

c. Monitor student progress and maintain up-to-date records related to students' progress

d. Assist students to explore and examine major fields of study based on interests, aptitudes and skills

3. Compensation for Academic Advisors.

In recognition of the critical role played by academic advisors in contributing to student success and student retention, academic advisors receive compensation. Either release time or overload credit, depending on advisor preferences and the needs of the department, is an option. Compensation for academic advisors is a matter of negotiation between the William Paterson University Administration and the William Paterson Federation of College Teachers, Local 1796.

4. Support Services.

Faculty advisors are supported by the individuals and offices specified in sections VI and VIII of this policy.

B. Department Chairs

Department chairs facilitate the identification and selection of the department's academic advisors, the assignment of students to advisors, and the assessment of advisor effectiveness.

1. Academic Advisor Selection.

Selects faculty, with their consent, to serve as academic advisors to students in their disciplines.

2. Academic Advisor Preparation

Provides an annual overview/review of advisement issues pertaining to general education, and requirements and options for the specific major(s).

3. Assignment of Students to Academic Advisors.

Links students to academic advisors in the department.

4. Advisor/Student Change.

Provides alternative assignments, as needed.

5.Academic Advisor Assessment.

Assesses the performance of academic advisors each academic year.

VI. Administrative Responsibilities for Academic Advisement

A. College Deans

College deans assume overall responsibility for the successful implementation of the academic advisement process for their college.

B. Assistant deans

Assistant deans share responsibility for planning, and implementing the developmental academic advisement model at WPUNJ, including:

1. Provide regular communication to their college's dean and department chairs concerning advisement, including implementation of university policies and procedures.

2. Work with academic support units to promote student retention and success.

3. Assist the Advisement Center in the planning, scheduling, and coordinating faculty development activities that cover all aspects of academic advisement.

4. Plan and devise procedures and instruments to assess implementation of the academic advisement process.

VII. Accountability and Assessment

A. Responsibility

The Advisement and Registration Council formulates policy for consideration by the Faculty Senate, which recommends policy to the Provost. The Provost determines policy regarding academic advisement and the mechanisms through which it is implemented.

B. Lines of Authority

Figure 2 illustrates the lines of authority associated with developmental academic advisement.

C. Accountability

Faculty are compensated for academic advisement. Regular assessment is conducted to increase the likelihood of successful outcomes for both students and the university.

Academic advisors are required to have regular contact with their advisees, and are accountable to their department chair. Department chairs and assistant deans report to the college dean. The college deans and the Assistant Provost and Dean of Student Development are accountable to the Provost regarding all advisement issues.

D. Assessment

Department chairs are responsible for the assessment of academic advisors with the assistance of the Senate's Assessment Committee, WPUNJ's Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), and the Office of the Provost.

VIII. Advisement Center

The Advisement Center coordinates a range of activities that support the developmental academic advisement process. In addition to functioning as a clearinghouse for information and referrals, the Center provides advisement services and administers specific programs to strengthen advisement at WPUNJ.

A. Advisement

Advisors designated by the Director of the Advisement Center provide advisement to the following categories of students:

1. Sophomore undergraduate students, entering transfers, second degree students, and newly readmitted students (prior to the assignment of an academic advisor).

2. Students in declared majors who wish to explore other options.

3. Students seeking an alternative major, following dismissal from their desired major.

4. Non-degree students.

B. Academic Information and Referral

The Advisement Center serves as an information resource on academic policies and procedures. Responsibilities include:

1. Distributing academic materials, e.g., academic requirements sheets, master schedules, approved academic department brochures, faculty registration packets, academic orientation materials for new students, information on majors and minors, and other appropriate items.

2. Operating an academic information counter and an academic hotline where student peer advisors respond to routine questions on academic issues.

3. Publishing a master list containing the office hours of the assistant deans, the faculty advisors, and all other faculty, each semester.

4. Coordinating the declaration of major and change of major process.

C. Faculty Development (Preparing Academic Advisors).

The Advisement Center coordinates and supports the preparation of advisors, with input from assistant deans:

1. Planning and providing preparation in developmental academic advising techniques to new academic advisors.

2. Planning and providing in-service preparation and update seminars for experienced academic advisors.

D. Early Alert Warning System

The Advisement Center maintains a campus wide, systematized early alert warning program, which includes:

1. Coordinating communication with faculty to identify students in their classes who may require special assistance/support.

2. Coordinating communication with the student and advisor to arrange appropriate assistance, (e.g., tutoring, counseling, etc.) to sustain academic success.

3. Identifying and implementing those procedures that will facilitate the communication noted above.

Approved by Faculty Senate, 2/9/99.