Intrusive Academic Advising:
An Effective Strategy to
Increase Student Success
Tom Brown
Innovative Educators Webinar
June 22, 2010
www.tbrownassociates.com
tom@tbrownassociates.com
Intrusive Academic Advising
1. What is it?
2. Why consider using it?
3. What does it involve?
4. Is it effective?
5. Can it work for your
students, your work, and
your campus?
The context for today’s
workshop:
A continued focus on
student learning,
engagement and success.
Shift in emphasis….
1970s and 80s
1980s and 90s
Today
Access
Retention
Success
Alfredo de los Santos
The core question is not
about basic “access” to
higher education…
It is not about persistence…
It is about completion of academic
credentials—the culmination of
opportunity, guidance, choice, effort
and commitment.
Paths to Degree Completion, 2/14/2006
A continuing shift….
Teaching
Learning
Student Success
Vincent Tinto, Syracuse University, 2007
The Challenge
Enhancing student
persistence is an
increasing concern in
higher education…
Higher retention rates
matter to policy makers,
including federal and state
legislators, who have a
concern about low college
graduation rates….
USA Today, 10/12/05
National Graduation* Rates
n
Two-year public
442
Four-year public MA
166
Four-year public PhD 173
Four-year private MA 348
Four-year private PhD 173
Overall
1661
Mean%
29.3
38.8
48.6
55.4
63.4
46.2
Completion in 3 years for Associates; 5 years for BA/BS
*Source: ACT Institutional Data File, 2008
www.act.org
Retention practices with
greatest impact
1. First-year programs
2. Advising interventions for
specific student populations
3. Learning support
Habley & McClanahan, WWISR 2004
Retention practice with greatest
impact
Two-year colleges:
Mandatory Assessment
Habley & McClanahan, WWISR 2004
Next to the quality of
instruction, academic
advising is consistently the
next most important area of
the college experience to
students.
Five Year Trend StudyNational Student Satisfaction Report
Noel Levitz 2006
National Student Satisfaction Report 2009
Four-year Private Institutions

Instructional effectiveness
(6.34)

Academic advising
(6.30)

Safety and security
(6.18)

Student centeredness
(6.18)

Registration effectiveness
(6.18)

Recruitment and financial aid (6.18)

Campus climate
(6.16)

Concern for the individual
(6.16)

Campus support services
(6.04)
National Student Satisfaction Report 2009
Four-year Public Institutions

Academic advising
(6.35)

Instructional effectiveness
(6.33)

Safety and security
(6.32)

Registration effectiveness
(6.21)

Recruitment and financial aid (6.16)

Concern for the individual
(6.13)

Campus climate
(6.12)

Student centeredness
(6.11)

Campus support services
(6.07)
Community College
Student Priorities 2009











Instructional effectiveness
Registration effectiveness
Academic Advising/Counseling
Concern for the individual
Academic services
Admissions and financial aid
Safety and security
Student centeredness
Campus climate
Service excellence
Campus Support Services
6.18
6.16
6.14
6.09
6.05
6.03
6.02
5.98
5.98
5.64
5.48
National Adult Student Priorities Report
Noel-Levitz, 2008.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Instructional effectiveness
Academic Advising/Counseling
Registration Effectiveness
Campus Climate
Service excellence
TRIAD FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
High Quality
Teaching
Comprehensive
Support
Programs
Developmental
Academic Advising
The context for
today’s workshop:
Does academic advising
matter to student success?
Research has shown that
advising improves student
retention rates through the
establishment of relationships
with faculty or staff members
who help students to clarify
their academic and career
goals.
Noel Levitz 2006
Quality interaction with
faculty seems to be
more important that
any other single college
factor in determining
minority student
persistence.
Levin and Levin, 1991
Academic advisors have long
known what presidents and
policy makers are learning:
there is a wealth of important
research which has found a
significant correlation between
quality academic advising,
student satisfaction, and
enhanced persistence.
John Gardner & Tom Kerr, 1995
Making the Most of College
Good advising may be the
single most underestimated
characteristic of a successful
college experience….
Richard Light, 2001
For community college
students, frequent interaction
with faculty and advisers
outside of class all had a
positive impact on preventing
students from dropping out….
Regina Deil Amen
Chronicle of Higher Education 8/17/05
There is a relationship
between advising and
retention. (n=1594)
Agree/strongly agree
Disagree
86%
4%
Brown Survey, 2001-2008
Academic advising is the only
structured activity on campus in
which all students have the
opportunity for on-going
one-to-one interaction with a
concerned representative of the
institution.
Wes Habley, ACT
Redefining academic
advising:
From an event to a process
that is integrally linked to
student engagement and
learning.
Much more than a service
that supports registration….
How does XYZ Tech define advising?
The advising staff offers
support to all XYZ Tech
students in the selection
of the liberal education
courses required for their
degrees.
XYZ Tech Undergraduate Bulletin 2008 (pg. 96)
How does Local CC define advising?
Students meet with
academic advisors to
choose a major, select
courses, review degree
requirements….
Local CC 2007-2008 Academic Bulletin (Pg. 21)
Academic Advising is…
a systematic process based on a
close advisor student relationship
intended to aid students in
achieving their personal,
educational, and career goals….
focuses on helping students to
acquire skills and attitudes that promote their
intellectual and personal development.
assists students to make full use of campus
and community resources in the process.
Developmental Academic Advising
Winston, Miller, Ender, Grites & Associates. 1984
Is academic advising on
your campus a process?
If not, why? How might
this be changed?
What can you do to help
make this happen?
Academic Advising
assists students to make
full use of campus and
community resources…
Academic
Advising
Counseling
Registration
Financial
Aid
Orientation
Career
Center
TRIO/SSS
Multicultural
Affairs
Faculty
Learning
Center
Assessment
Retention
Counseling
Registration
Financial
Aid
Orientation
Career
Center
Academic
Advising
TRIO/SSS
Multicultural
Affairs
Faculty
Learning
Center
Assessment
The Hub of the Campus Wheel
W. Habley
Attributes of an environment
that supports student success:
Intentional
Structured
Proactive
Tinto, 2007
What happens to students
after they enroll frequently
has a more powerful
impact on whether they
stay and achieve their
goals or leave.
Tinto 1987, 1993
Why do students leave
college?
Isolation
Inability to connect with
significant members of the
campus community….
The more interaction
students have with
faculty and staff, the
more likely they are to
learn effectively and
persist toward
achievement of their
educational goals.
Transforming Students Through
Validation
Success appears to be
contingent on whether
faculty and staff can
validate students in an
academic or interpersonal
way.
Rendon, 1994
Why do students leave
college?
Incongruence
What I experienced is not
what I expected.
Academic advisors can
mediate the gap between
student experiences and
their expectations.
Habley
Some Institutions seem to
be more effective than others
in helping students from a
wide range of abilities and
backgrounds succeed…
Pascarelli & Terenzini, 2005
College being more proactive…
“College Move to Organize Retention Efforts”*
More students participating in orientation
70% collect midyear grades for first-year
students
Even more flag courses with high rates of
Ds, Fs, and withdrawals
Half offer some form of Supplemental
Instruction
80% require first-year students to meet
with an advisor at least once a term
*Chronicle of Higher Education 10/25/2009
Intrusive Academic Advising
What is intrusive
academic advising??
Aggressive Academic Advising?
Invasive Academic Advising?
Intrusive Advising?
Intrusive Advising?
Active Outreach Advising??
Origins of Intrusive Advising
“Reduction of Attrition Through
Intrusive Advising”
Robert Glennen & Dan Baxley
NASPA Journal, v22 n3 p10-14 Win 1985
The intrusive model of advising is
action-oriented in involving and
motivating students to seek help when
needed. Utilizing the good qualities of
prescriptive advising (expertise,
awareness of student needs, structured
programs) and of developmental advising
(relationship to a student's total needs),
intrusive advising is a direct response to
an identified academic crisis with a
specific program of action….
Earl, 1987
The theoretical framework of intrusive
advising is based on three postulates:
1.
2.
Advisors can be trained to
identify students who need and
can benefit from this kind of
intervention.
Students DO respond to direct
contact in which a problem in
their academic life is identified
and a resource or assistance is
offered.
The theoretical framework of intrusive
advising is based on three postulates:
3.
Deficiencies in the necessary
"fit" of a student to his/her
academic environment are
treatable.
Students can be taught and
can learn the skills needed to
be successful.
Guiding Principles of Intrusive Advising:


Academic and social
integration are keys to
persistence.
Motivation is not the cause but
rather the result of intrusive
intervention activities.
Sharon Holmes, 2000
There are some distinct advantages of
an intrusive mode of advising.
1.
A direct contact is established
with an advisor who deals
openly with the student's
academic situation when the
student has maximum
motivation to accept
assistance.
Earl, 1987
The Intrusive Advising model
is valuable because it assumes
that some students will not
take the initiative in resolving
academic concerns, therefore,
assigned counselors operate
intrusively.
Holmes, 2000
At-risk students have
difficulty:
Recognizing that a problem
exists
Asking for help once they
realize that they have a problem
Asking for help in time for the
assistance to be of benefit
Levin & Levin, 1991
Advantages of intrusive advising
2.
3.
the student is intrusively
placed in a position where s/he
must do academic planning
within the parameters of selfmotivation.
structured advising programs
are enhanced by a student's
involvement in contract
modules.
Intrusive advising has been
shown to improve the
effectiveness of advising,
enhance student academic
skills and increase retention.
Earl, 1987
Studies have shown that
probationary students have
higher GPAs when intrusive
advising is used.
Heisserer & Parette, 2002
There is compelling evidence
regarding the importance
students place on the value of
intrusive advising relationships
in the context of their ability to
persist.
DeAnna Burt, 2009
Intrusive Advising
Intrusive advising does not mean
“hand holding” or parenting.
Rather, it does mean active
concern and a willingness to
assist students to explore
programs and services to improve
their skills and motivate them to
persist toward their goals.
Intrusive Advising
Intrusive advising means taking a
personal interest in students and
approaching them with an open
caring attitude.
A personal relationship with a
concerned member of the campus
community can reduce the
psychological distance that hinders
academic integration.
The intrusive model is proactive
and seeks to address problems
as they emerge, rather than
being reactive. Essentially,
advisors reach out to help
students instead of waiting for
students to seek help.
University of Minnesota General College
Active Outreach Advising:
People AND Programs
Intrusive Advising Strategies
Assessment and placement
Mandated orientation programs
Required advising meetings
Learning communities
First-year seminar courses
Early alert systems

Required Advising Meetings
Structured content
What should be discussed and when?
What would be discussed at a first
advising meeting?
At a meeting three weeks into the
first term?
At a meeting following midterms?
Prior to registration for the following
term?
At the first meeting of the following
term?

Early alert systems
Identify students who are having
difficulty and also provide
recommended sources of
assistance.
These were originally sent to
faculty through campus mail, but
they are increasingly available in
web-based formats.
Intrusive Advising Strategies
Midterm grades/progress reports
Supplemental Instruction
Peer Support/Study groups
Clear statements of
responsibilities
Advising “contracts”
Mentor/Peer mentor programs
Others??

Mentor Program
The value of the mentoring
relationship seems to be long
lasting. “We have found that our
mentees from two or three
semesters ago are still our
students. We still hear from them.
It has worked beautifully….”
Gale Lammers, Phillips CC (Ark.)
FYE Peer Mentors
Attend FYE classes
Monitor student progress
Provide study skills assistance
Organize study groups
Connects to campus resources
Support faculty to motivate
students toward academic goals

Midterm Semester Evaluations
(MSEs) target low SES and first
year students and is one of the
most successful initiatives at
CSU San Marcos pertaining to
identifying and assisting at-risk
students before they find
themselves in difficulty.
Parisa Soltani, 2007
Supplemental Instruction
Professor
Supplemental
Instruction
Study Groups
A
B
C
Tutor A
Tutor B
Tutor C
D
Tutor D
Course:
Chemistry I
http://web2.umkc.edu/cad/SI/
Your turn to teach…
What are some examples of
activities on your campus
that could be called
intrusive or active outreach
advising?
Why Intrusive Advising Works:



Students who know that an
advisor will contact them are
motivated to keep up with their
work. (Heisserer & Parette, 2002)
Intrusive advising helps students
make connections to campus
services.
Referrals to sources of assistance
informs students that some one
cares about them.
Earl, 1998; Backus, 1989; Holmes, 2000
Academic Advising:
A Shared Responsibility
Student Responsibilities
Ohio University
Contact your advisor and every
instructor regularly.
Read email and Blackboard
postings carefully and follow
instructions.
Utilize instructor and advisor office
hours.
Make appointments in advance and
keep them.
Follow-up on advice and referrals

In loco parentis has been
replaced by the philosophy
that students are responsible
for their own survival and
relate to their experiences in
the same way that other
adults relate to their
environments…
While functioning relatively
well for [many] services, it
is not functioning well in the
campus environment for the
delivery of academic
assistance services.
Earl, 1987
A Shared Responsibility:
A Model
Changing Environment & Changing Students
1st Year
2nd Year
3rd Year
4th, 5th, 6th Year
Need for Information
Changing
Needs for
Advising
Creamer, 2000
Need for Consultation
Changing Environment & Changing Students
1st Year
2nd Year
3rd Year
4th, 5th, 6th Year
Need for Information
Changing
Needs for
Advising
Moving In
Need for Consultation
Moving Through
Creamer, 2000; Lynch, 1989
Moving On
Changing Environment & Changing Students
1st Year
2nd Year
3rd Year
4th, 5th, 6th Year
Need for Information
Changing
Needs for
Advising
Need for Consultation
Moving In
I
Moving Through
I/S
I/S
I = Faculty, advisors, etc.
S = Student
Lynch, 1989; Creamer, 2000; Brown, 2006
Moving On
S/I
S
Changing Environment & Changing Students
1st Year
2nd Year
3rd Year
4th, 5th, 6th Year
Need for Information
Changing
Needs for
Advising
Need for Consultation
Moving In
I
Moving Through
I/S
I/S
Moving On
S/I
S
I = Faculty, advisors, etc.
S = Student
PRESCRIPTIVE
DEVELOPMENTAL
Lynch, 1989; Brown& Rivas, 1994; Creamer, 2000; Brown, 2006
The question students should
seek to answer through
advising...
NOT….
“What courses do I need to
take?”
The questions students should
seek to answer through
advising...
“How do I want to live my life?”
“What can I do in college to
help move me toward this
vision of my future?”
Big enough questions…
What is it you plan to do
with your one wild and
precious life?
The Summer Day
Mary Oliver
HIERARCHY OF ADVISING
Life goals, values, abilities,
interests, limitations.
Career/vocational opportunities
Academic Programs/Field of Study
Course selection
Class scheduling
Terry O’Bannion, 1972, 1994
Student Expectation of
Advisors
•Availability/Accessibility
•Knowledge
•Care and Concern
Why do students leave
college?
Isolation
Inability to connect with
significant members of the
campus community….
Caring…
•Early and frequent contact
•Comprehensive orientation
•Intrusive advising
Buyer & Connolly, 2006
Cultivating Intrusive/Proactive
Academic Advising
Take photos of students and post in
their advising folders.
Follow up personally on early alerts.
Postcard, email, and/or text
reminders of important deadlines,
meetings, etc.
Attend co-curricular activities.
Explore opportunities for residence
hall advising.

Jennifer Varney, 2007
Using Active Outreach
Advising with Specific
Student Cohorts
Adult students often
“recycle” through
developmental issues
faced by younger
students.
Chickering and Reisser, 1993
Active Outreach Strategies
Assign an adult student
advocate to identify issues,
mediate problems, etc.
Facilitate formation of support
groups and peer mentoring
Interactive on-line advising
system (Santa Fe CC, Florida)
Proactive advising system

(Friends University, KS)
Others ??

40% of first-generation
students leave college
without a degree….they
are more likely to come
from low income families.
US Department of Education, 2005
Active Outreach Strategies
First-year programs: summer
bridge, orientation programs, FYE
courses, Freshman Interest groups
(FIGs)
Learning communities
Integrated courses clusters (e.g.,
Psych course linked with English
and tutoring or SI)
Others?

Students with disabilities are
far less likely to finish high
school or college, far more
likely to be unemployed, and,
when they find work, to be
paid less than minimum
wage….
Johnson, 2006
Active Outreach Strategies
Encourage full participation
Encourage appropriate
disclosure
Connect with campus and
community resources
Be willing to act as an
advocate.
Others?

Undecided Students
Undecidedness has been linked
to low achievement, lack of
involvement and attrition.
Peterson & McDonough
Undecided but don’t
know it…
13% of
first-year
students expect
to change their
major.
12.6% of
first-year
students
expect to
change their
career choice.
2008 CIRP Survey
You are not alone…
Sources of Support
•
•
•
•
•
Academic advisor
Faculty and department chairs
Career Services
Counseling Center
Internship,s work experience,
job shadowing
An Advising Model for Undecided
Students
Peggy King, 2008
•Help students analyze and
understand their situation.
•Support them to develop a plan for
exploration
•Refer students to key resources
(e.g., Career Services, academic
departments, faculty, internships)
An Advising Model for Undecided
Students
Peggy King, 2008
•Assist students to develop
action plans
•Support students while they are
engaged in exploration and
decision making.
•Follow-up
LGBT Students
31% of LGBT students left
college for a semester or longer
and 33% dropped out altogether
(Hardesty, 1994)
Active Outreach Strategies
First-year Transition Programs
Mentoring
Creating “Safe Zones” and
developing Allies
Links to Career Development

Jennifer Joslin, 2007
Multicultural Students
Students of color base their
decisions on whether or not to
persist on the quality of their
interactions with faculty….
Cabrera, Terenzini, et. al.
Journal of Higher Education, 1999
Some minority students and
first-year students have not
established behavioral
patterns that would motivate
them to seek assistance
Sharon Holmes, 2000
Active Outreach Strategies
Peer mentoring programs
Faculty and staff mentor
programs
Active outreach to connect with
campus and community resources
Intrusive academic advising
program

First-year Students
Many students who leave
college do so as the result
of experiences they have
during the first six weeks.
Astin, Tinto, Crockett
National Drop Out Rates
Freshman to Sophomore Year
n
Mean%
Two-year public
824
46.3
Four-year public MA
220
30.0
Four-year public PhD 227
27.1
Four-year private MA 502
27.7
Four-year private PhD 220
19.6
Overall
2582
32.7
*Source: ACT Institutional Data File, 2008
www.act.org
Students need the support of
advising programs and
academic advisors as they make
three critical transitions:
Moving into college

Moving through college

Moving on from college

Students need the support of
advising programs and
academic advisors as they make
three critical transitions:
Moving into college

Moving through college

Moving on from college

Helping students move into
college is far and away the
most important task for
academic advisors.
Professor Arthur Chickering, 1994
Students usually have a realistic
understanding about the
demands of academic work and
what is required to be
successful in their classes.
(n = 1587)
Strongly agree/agree
13%
Disagree/strongly disagree
69%
Brown Survey of Faculty, 2001-2008
Do students understand what
is required to be successful in
college?
Most of them don’t have a clue!
They see college work as an
extension of high school, and for
most of them high school
involved little effort.
Brown Advising Survey, 2001-2008
58% reported A/A- as their
average high school grade.
93% earned a B average or
higher.
65% expect to earn at least
a B average in college.
2008 CIRP Survey Public Universities
Do students understand what is
required to be “successful”?
How many hours did you study during
a typical week in your last year of high
school?
36%
More than 10 hours
51%
Five hours or less
44%
Less than two hours a
week!!
CIRP Freshmen Survey Public Universities, 2008
In 1961, the average student
spent 40 hours a week engaged
in her/his studies—attending
class and studying. By 2003, this
had declined by nearly onethird…
Philip Babcock & Mindy Marks
National Bureau of Economic Research
Chronicle of Higher Education 6/21/2010 27
hours weekly.
Academic services may be
available, but if we wait for
students to come for
assistance, attrition may be the
result. Students inexperienced
in the ways of college—and
certainly most first-year
students—need to be reached
out to with intrusive programs
and services.
Levitz and Noel, 1989(!!)
Students on Probation
Factors contributing to
academic difficulty
Peer culture
Academic major/program
Lack of interaction with faculty
Organization and time management
Inadequate investment of time
Self-efficacy and perceived lack of
control
Pascarelli & Terenzini, 2005

Helping students get
back on track
Assess GPA deficit
Help develop a plan to return to good
standing--concrete, tangible, doable
Reflect on factors contributing to
unsuccessful academic performance
Accept responsibility for choices
Examine and [re]assess academic, career,
and personal goals
Acknowledge that the past does not
necessarily equal the future

Programs vary widely…
Required weekly workshops
Regular meetings with advisor
and/or mentor
Group activities/Study groups
Tutorial Services
Supplemental Instruction
Contracts for Academic Success

PROBATION CONTRACTS
Examples
Abiline Christian University
http://www.acu.edu/academics/cas/documents/Proba
tion_Contract.pdf
Morehead State University
http://www.moreheadstate.edu/files/units/acs/probati
on/Academic_Probation_Contract_Fall_2009.pdf
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
http://studentsuccess.unc.edu/docs/updated%20cont
ract.pdf
Rio Hondo Community College
http://www.oncourseworkshop.com/Getting%20On%
20Course008.htm
Active outreach to students
Advisors should be available
at times when,
and in places where,
students make
educational decisions
Habley
Why reach out?


An academic advisor is unlike any
role model the new student has
encountered.
Students receive advice from all
sorts of people and much of that
advice is inaccurate, incomplete, or
inappropriately value laden.
Why reach out?



The use of technology may
supplant rather than support the
advising process.
The first six weeks of transition are
critical to the institution’s
retention efforts.
It is easier to anticipate a problem
than it is to solve one.
Academic advising is the only
structured activity on campus in
which all students have the
opportunity for on-going
one-to-one interaction with a
concerned representative of the
institution.
Wes Habley, ACT
We should not assume
that effective advisors
will simply emerge
without structured preservice and in-service
professional development
programs.
Many key competencies are
developed after educators arrive on
campus. Therefore, colleges must
assume the responsibility for
teaching and developing their own
educators to enhance student
learning inside and outside the
classroom by providing professional
development programs.
Brown & Ward, 2007
Faculty members are left to
sink or swim when it comes
to effective student
advising—they are blamed
for something they lack the
professional training to do.
Dr. Yolanda Moses
President, AAHE
Faculty Advising Examined, 2003
When I first began to
advise, I had adequate
preparation and training.
(n=1570)
Strongly agree/agree
30%
Disagree/strongly disagree 53%
Brown Survey of Faculty, 2001-2008
Strategy for Success
Professional development
for faculty in pedagogies
and practices aimed at
improving retention and
success….
Bunker Hill CC
Derek Bok stresses the
importance of ensuring that
adjunct faculty are also
properly trained in order for
the university to attain its
educational goals…
Our Underachieving Colleges
Derek Bok, 2006
There are within each
of us the seeds of who
we might become.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Comments?
Questions?
Challenges?
Successes?
Intrusive Academic Advising:
An Effective Strategy to
Increase Student Success
Tom Brown
Innovative Educators Webinar
June 22. 2010
www.tbrownassociates.com
tom@tbrownassociates.com