Distribution of Academic

Advising Functions  

Academic advising at IPFW should be primarily a department/school 

function: Research shows that students' early connections to faculty 

members and major departments are critical factors in retaining students.

Guided Studies students should be advised by SACS, as should truly

undecided students (as identified through an upgraded application form);

all others should be advised at the department or school level. 

The assignment of advising duties within departments is the duty of the 

chair, often with guidance from department committees and policies.

School-level advising duties are assigned by the dean. When workloads

permit, faculty volunteers should be encouraged to advise students

assigned to SACS; such advising might replace assignments in the faculty

member's academic unit or might generate extra compensation for the

faculty member. 

Advising at IPFW must allow for flexibility across schools/divisions, given

the diversity of their resources and their students' needs. Thus, while

advising is primarily a faculty responsibility, not all faculty need to

advise, and not all advisors at the department or school level need to be

faculty.  Some academic units may continue successfully to assign only 

selected faculty to advising duties (presumably with compensations such

as salary supplements or reduced departmental committee work for

extraordinary advising assignments); other academic units may continue

successfully to employ professional  advisors. 

Entry of registration data is not necessarily part of advising duties.

However, the ability to use the  on-line Student Information System can

help advisors  and will become increasingly useful as system  capabilities

are improved.  

While career counseling is sometimes done in Career Services, any

separation of "academic," "career," and "life" counseling is problematic in

view of the  interrelatedness of course work, career decision-making, and

real-world impingements on academic progress. 

Resources for Advising  

Resources should follow students, with adequacy in the  numbers of

advisors measured against the standard  recommended by the National

Academic Advising  Association: one full-time advisor per 300 students, 

prorated appropriately for those whose advising   responsibilities are

part-time and further adjusted as  suggested by academic-unit traditions

and needs.  Advisors in SACS and in academic units who are  responsible

for Guided Studies and other special-needs  students should be assigned a

smaller number of advisees.  

If, in the process of making student/advisor ratios equitable or moving

majors to academic units sooner,  faculty are assigned more advising duties

than have been deemed customary, resources should be allocated or

reallocated to compensate them.  

SACS is understaffed; therefore, even if more entering students go directly

to academic units for advising, a  significant reduction in SACS staff would

be unwise.  The VCAA and the VCSA should carefully monitor and

continually readjust the allocation of advising resources. 

When temporary advisors are needed for peak advising  periods,

preference in hiring should be given to  experienced advisors. 

Provisions for Special

Student Constituencies

Extra attention should be given to two student constituencies traditionally

not well-served by IPFW  academic advising: 

Pre-Majors.  A pre-major advising status should be made available within

all schools that currently have academic prerequisites. Designated school

or department  advisors should be trained to advise these pre-majors and

to implement enhanced procedures to assist students who cannot meet

academic requirements and may find success in other programs or schools. 

Evening and Summer Students.  Academic units should take special 

measures to ensure that students who attend evening classes can secure

adequate academic advising until 6 p.m., and later by special arrangement.

Academic units should make adequate provisions for carrying out their

advising responsibilities during the summer, and summertime registration

calendars and processes should allow academic units and SACS efficiently

to meet the advising needs of students. 

Coordination, Training, and

Evaluation of Advisors

The responsibility for coordinating and improving academic advising

should be shared by the VCSA and the VCAA. The VCSA should have

primary responsibility for SACS, which should advise only Guided

Studies and undecided entering freshmen (up to 30 credit hours).  The

VCAA should have responsibility for academic advising at the school and

department level. The VCAA  should address intracampus inequities in

student/faculty advising ratios and should seek to  incorporate the

evaluation and reward of advising in promotion, tenure, and compensation

policies.