Promoting student success: What advisors can do

Abstract

Students who are well prepared academically and highly motivated tend to do well in college and persist to graduation. But for various reasons, some of which are beyond their control, many students lack the requisite academic background for college-level work. As a result, most colleges and universities enroll students with a wide range of abilities. Some of these institutions are more effective than others in helping their students succeed in college. These schools recognize that in terms of learning and personal development, what students bring to college is less important than what they do when they get to college. Academic advisors can play an integral role in promoting student success by assisting students in ways that encourage them to engage in the right kinds of activities, inside and outside the classroom. Advisors are especially important because they are among the first people new students encounter and should see regularly during their first year. The guiding principles offered here are based on an in-depth examination of 20 diverse four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and demonstrated through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) that they have effective policies and practices for working with students of differing abilities and aspirations. These institutions are referred to below as either educationally effective schools or high-performing institutions.