EDD/581
Action Research
Proposal
Jami Anderson
Action Research Proposal
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Problem Statement
• The problem is that a
significant number (75%) of
admission advisors are not
proficient in prospective
student admission
requirements into the
physician associate program
at the University of
Oklahoma.
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Problem Description
Problem Description
• Based upon the observation of prospective student applications
that have been submitted the admission advisors are doing a poor
job of advising students of what processes they should complete
to be a competitive applicant to obtain acceptance into the PA
program
 Admissions advisors are not current on departmental updates
 Recommendation letter are being submitted through CASPA and we do
not accept CASPA
 Student are not being enrolled in appropriate prerequisite courses
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Purpose of the Project
The purpose of this project is to increase
the number of admission advisors that are
proficient in advising prospective PA
students
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Writer’s Role
Describe how you relate to the topic.
Being an academic program specialist it is my
responsibility to ensure students are being advised
properly with the appropriate program information
I have 11 years experience in a higher education
advisement environment
Describe why you picked this topic.
Being properly or improperly advised heavily impacts a
student’s future
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Writer’s Role
Describe how this topic influences
or is influenced by your role in your
current setting.
 As an academic program specialist I
feel like I am responsible for
ensuring prospective students are
taking the appropriate courses and
completing the processes required in
order to obtain admissions into the
PA Program
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Problem Statement
Problem Statement
The problem is that a significant number (75%) of admission advisors
are not proficient in prospective student admission requirements into
the physician associate program at the University of Oklahoma.
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Problem Documentation
A survey will be conducted with prospective
students that have completed the application
process to evaluate the quality of advising they
received focusing on students perceptions of
advisor effectiveness and in what areas advising
might be improved.
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Problem Documentation
• The survey will consist of
10 questions
• The questions will verify that
some academic advisors are
not meeting program goals
and student learning goals are
not being met
• Identify commonalities and
inconsistencies among the
admission advisors.
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Survey Questions
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Literature Review –
Study 1
Study Author(s)
Study Title
Study Purpose
Pertinent Findings
Marie J. Lindhorst
Janet K.
Schulenberg
The Curriculum of
Academic Advising:
What We Teach,
How We Teach, and
What Students
Learn
Gain better
awareness and
understanding of
the strengths and
weaknesses of
advisory to improve
campus advising
Findings revealed
that academic
advising has
increased student
knowledge and
understand of
academic programs
and resources
increasing learning
outcomes
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Literature Review –
Study 2
Study Author(s)
Study Title
Study Purpose
Pertinent Findings
Sarah Keeling
The Influence of
the CAS Standards
on Academic
Advisors and
Advising Programs
Study to see how the
Council for the
Advancement of
Standards in
influence academic
advising programs
Results indicate that
participating
advisors knew little
about the standards
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Literature Review –
Study 3
Study Author(s)
Study Title
Mary L. Ward
The Essential
Identify essential
Characteristics of
characteristics of
Academic Advisors academic advisors
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Study Purpose
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Pertinent Findings
There are
relationships
between essential
advisor
characteristics and
the NACADA
framework for
academic advising
Literature Review –
Study 4
Study Author(s)
Study Title
Study Purpose
Pertinent Findings
George Mikluscak
Jr.
A Qualitative
Inquiry into the
Training and
Development
Provided to
Community
College Academic
Advisors
Investigate factors
academic advisors
believe are crucial
to their support as
advisors
Lack of training
and development,
lack of advising
support from
higher
management, and
the need for
additional funding
and staff
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Literature Review –
Study 5
Study Author(s)
Study Title
Study Purpose
Pertinent Findings
Vanessa JohnsonDedeaux
An Investigation of
Students'
Satisfaction with
Academic
Advising and
Students'
Impressions of
Academic Advisors
at a Rural
Community
College
Investigate
career/technical
students
satisfaction with
academic advising
Participants
considered their
advisors to have
above average
communications
skills, helpful, and
effective
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Literature Review –
Study 6
Study Author(s)
Study Title
Study Purpose
Pertinent Findings
Kyra L. Sutton
Student Satisfaction
with Information
Provided by
Academic Advisors
Identify the level of
satisfaction students
have with the
information
provided by
advisors on a
variety of matters
Students were
satisfied with core
issues and less
satisfied with
immediate
information they
were provided
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Literature Review –
Study 7
Study Author(s)
Study Title
Study Purpose
Pertinent Findings
Leavvernard Jones
Jr.
An evaluation of
academic advisors'
roles in effective
retention
Investigate role of
academic advisors
and their role in
retention
The results of this
study revealed
academic advisors'
roles do influence
student success and
retention rates, and
barriers exist that
negatively impact
retention rates.
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Action Goal
Action Goal
The goal of the intervention is to increase
effectiveness of admissions advisors. A three part
intervention will be implemented over a six week
period to meet the goal. The three parts will include
weekly professional development workshops,
collaborations sessions with mentors, and
observations of advisors.
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Selected Solutions
Administer admissions advisors survey to students to
gain feedback regarding the proficiency of academic
advisors
Pre-Assessment of admission advisors knowledge
 Administer an assessment to gain recognition in the proficiency of
admissions advisors knowledge of college procedures and program
requirements
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Selected Solutions
 Advisors will attend weekly Professional
Development Workshops. Training sessions
will occur in a classroom and computer lab and
will include lecture, discussion, and hands on
computer exercises.
 Provide and discuss advisement goals and
objectives of the college
 Changes and updates in departmental
requirements
 Provide People Soft and D2L software training
 Become knowledgable in credit transfers and
prerequisite program requirements
 Become familiar with ethical and legal issues
 Self assessment and training evaluations will be
conducted to monitor progress
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Selected Solutions
 Weekly collaboration with assigned mentors
 Each advisor will be assigned a mentor and
collaborate over training topics that will
meet departmental objectives.
 Understand the Role and responsibility
of admissions and advisors
 Providing proper course selection
 Building support, commitment, and
respect
 Communication and professionalism
 Understanding students needs and
promoting student learning
 Making a connection and motivation
students
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Selected Solutions
Observation
 Each academic advisor will be
observed one day a week to
observe their communication
relations with new students
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Calendar Plan Overview
General Plan Information
 Begins before students return
to school for the fall semester
Participants are admission
advisors and students
Plan recurs weekly with
different skills in place
Evaluation will occur weekly
during the observation and a
survey will be submitted at the
end of the fall semester to
students to evaluate the
effectiveness of their advisor
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Calendar Plan
Week 1
Week 1
• Pre-Assessment of admissions advisors knowledge
• Workshop discussing advisement goals and
objectives of the college
• Working with a mentor to understand the Role and
responsibility of admissions and advisors
• Observation of advisor and communication skills
and interaction with students
• Feedback will be provided
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Calendar Plan
Week 2
Week 2
• Workshop discussing and updates in departmental
requirements
• Working with a mentor to discuss how to make
proper course selection
• Observation of advisor and communication skills
and interaction with students continued
• Feedback will be provided
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Calendar Plan
Week 3
Week 3
• Attend a workshop that will provide Peoplesoft and
D2L software training.
• Work with a mentor to learn how to build support,
commitment, and respect from students
• Observation of advisor and communication skills
and interaction with students continued
• Feedback will be provided
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Calendar Plan
Week4
Week 4
• Attend a workshop to become knowledgable in
credit transfers and prerequisite program
requirements
• Work with a mentor to learn skills in
communication and professionalism
• Observation of advisor and communication skills
and interaction with students continued
• Feedback will be provided
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Calendar Plan
Week 5
Week 5
• Attend a work shop to become familiar with ethical
and legal issues
• Work with mentor to better understand students
need and promoting student learning
• Observation of advisor and communication skills
and interaction with students continued
• Feedback will be provided
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Calendar Plan
Week 6
 Week 6
• Post-Assessment of admission advisors knowledge
• Self assessment and training evaluations will be
conducted to monitor progress
• Working with a mentor to learn how to make a
connection and motivate students
• Observation of advisor and communication skills and
interaction with students continued
• Feedback will be provided
• Surveys will be emailed to each student that enrolled in the fall
semester to evaluate the effectiveness of their admissions
advisor
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Expected Outcomes
The overall goal is to is to
increase the proficiency of
academic advisors
Understanding and meeting
the needs of students
Increasing institutional success
Increase student learning
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Expected Outcomes
Outcome 1
Bridge the gap as to why advisors are not
proficient and meeting student expectations
Outcome 2
Resources are created and available for
admissions advisors concerning regulations,
academic policies, and procedures to
communicate to students
Outcome 3
Students will be enrolled in the correct
prerequisite courses by their academic advisor
for successful admissions into the PA program
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Measurement of
Outcomes
Outcome 1
Outcome will be measured
through student opinion
surveys, and mentor
observations that will be
conducted to assess
advisors current
proficiency to determine
effective training needs
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Measurement of
Outcomes
Outcome 2
The outcomes of the
training received
from professional
development
workshops will be
measured using
student satisfaction
surveys as well as
mentor observations.
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Measurement of
Outcomes
Outcome 3
Students will show student
success by increased
retention in the program.
This outcome can be
measured by the percentage
of complete application
packets received by the
program deadline
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Analysis of Results
How will you analyze your results
Data will be compiled in an Excel sheet. I will
take the outcomes of the survey, and mentor
observations, and percentages of completed
admissions packets and put the data into charts and
graphs. The results will be compared each
application period to see if the results have been
effective in each area.
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Analysis of Results
 How you will determine if your solution strategy was
effective
Through the graphed and charted data collected after each
application cycle. If the data shows there is an increase in
advisor proficiency provided by the survey and observation results
and there are increased completed program admission packets
then the solution strategy was effective
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Analysis of Results
 How you will present your findings and to whom you will
present them
 I will present the findings to institution’s program director so
proper training and workshops can be conducted
 The survey and observation data will be used as an analysis to
support in what areas advisors need training to become
proficient in their program areas. Findings will be presented in
graphs and charts presented the form of a PowerPoint.
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References
Johnson-Dedeaux, V. (2011, January 1). An Investigation of Students' Satisfaction with Academic
Advising and Students' Impressions of Academic Advisors at a Rural Community College.
ProQuest LLC,
Jones, L., Jr. (2011). An evaluation of academic advisors' roles in effective retention. (Order No. 3473534,
Capella University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 121. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/896067716?accountid=35812. (896067716).
Keeling, S. (2010). The Influence of the CAS Standards on Academic Advisors and Advising Programs.
NACADA Journal, 30(2), 9-18.
Mikluscak, G. r. (2010, January 1). A Qualitative Inquiry into the Training and Development Provided
to Community College Academic Advisors. ProQuest LLC,
Lindhurst, M., & Schulenberg, J. (2007). The Curriculum of Academic Advising: What We Teach, How
We Teach, and What Students Learn. The Mentor, 9(8), 1-1. Retrieved September 1, 2014,
from www.psu.edu/dus/mentor
Sutton, K. L., & Sankar, C. S. (2011). Student Satisfaction with Information Provided by Academic
Advisors. Journal Of STEM Education: Innovations And Research, 12(7-8), 71-85.
Ward, M. L. (2011, January 1). The Essential Characteristics of Academic Advisors. ProQuest LLC,
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