The Role of the Entry Level Academic Advisor

As the first academic advisor a new or transfer student will encounter, you have a unique opportunity to influence students and to help them understand their role in creating and maintaining mastery over their academic destiny.

In the initial advisement session, you will prepare a new student for his or her first semester at TC3. During the initial advisement session, it will be up to you as the advisor to address the following:

• Welcome the student to college, and to TC3 in particular
• Assist the student in clarifying career and life goals
• Be sure that the student has chosen the best degree program to pursue his or her goals
• Introduce the roles of advisor and advisee in a college setting
• Using assessment data and degree program requirements, help the student to select appropriate courses for the first semester
• Make students aware that many resources are available at the college to enhance their education

TC3 has a diverse student population. Our students range widely in age as well as in academic preparedness. Some have very clear plans for their future; others are at the beginning stages of exploration. Because of this diversity, advising community college students can be a challenge. Initial expectations of an advisor will also vary among new students. Some students will expect the advisor to make all their decisions for them. Other students may be thinking they need no help at all choosing the right courses for each semester to complete a degree program. It is up to you as the initial advisor to determine the expectation each student may have of an advisor and to explain the college level advising relationship.

Tompkins Cortland Community College is strongly committed to providing a variety of academic advisement services to its students. Advisement at the College is considered to be a decision-making process by which students are enabled to realize their maximum potential. It is ongoing, multi-faceted, and the responsibility of both the student and the advisor. Because of the diversity of the student population, you may find it necessary to develop a repertoire of advisement techniques and approaches in order to best meet the needs of the students you assist in their initial advisement session at TC3.

The object of the initial advising session is not to inundate the student with information, but to set the stage for a fruitful advising relationship with the program advisor. The student should be encouraged to touch base with the program advisor early in the semester. The program advisor can be an excellent guide to the student in subsequent semesters. It is important to convey the concept that an academic advisor can assist the student to find answers to his or her questions. The advisor will not just produce answers like a vending machine, but will supply information as needed, and direct the student to valuable resources so that the student can find his or her own answers.

There will be many moments in an initial advising session when the advisor’s manner may need to adapt to the topic under discussion and the response of the student to the subject. For example, a student may seem uncomfortable discussing the idea of a career goal, if he or she has not decided upon a goal. The advisor may then choose to suggest some steps the student might take, using resources at the college, to explore possible career options. A reassuring tone at this time can be quite helpful. A student may become upset or angry upon learning the results of his or her assessment of basic skills. It can help to listen, provide options, and calmly explain why developmental courses will be required.

During the initial advising session, many important topics will be discussed, and the student may feel bombarded with information. He or she may later remember very little of the exact content of that discussion. The initial advisor will assist the student in planning his or her first semester courses, provide information about deadlines, forms, rules and regulations, but more importantly, the initial advisor will help the student to know that no student has to face the many decisions of an academic journey alone. The student will have a person to turn to get help in finding information, finding resources, interpreting requirements, and planning a course load for each semester. That person is the program advisor. If the student can walk away from the session ready to register for his or her first semester, that is the minimum expectation. If he or she has an idea of where to turn the next time help is needed, that is ideal.

It is important for the advisor to listen to students, determine their concerns, and respond in an appropriate and professional manner. If the student’s experience with the initial advisor is a positive one, that student will be more likely to expect good things from an advisor, and therefore more likely to seek help from his or her program advisor once the semester is under way.