Advising 101: It’s Time to Prepare

As the new academic year approaches our plates begin to get very full. We have a great deal to accomplish in a very short window. As we progress, some things fall to the wayside or only get done “well enough”, including preparation for our advising responsibilities.

Our advising role is something that is easy to let slide, but it’s dangerous to allow it to do so! The students in these groups, our student leaders, play a powerful role in deciding what kind of culture our campus community will have. Our interaction with these students can dramatically impact our role within that community!

Fortunately, it is possible to prepare ourselves self for the advising role by answering a few simple questions and calling upon our existing supervising and counseling tool kits. Below are the questions I ask myself every year for every group that I advise.

Who am I as an adviser?

Coming from a philosophical background, I firmly believe in the old adage “Know thyself.” Advising is unlike any other role we play in our professional lives, yet our existing knowledge, skills, and resources can serve us extremely well. Being self aware enables us to be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. Essentially, we need to be aware of our own styles, beliefs, preferences, etc. Ask yourself the following: Are you a likely to be hands on or hands off? Are you free with praise or do you hold it back for truly exemplary performance? What is your understanding of group dynamics and student development? How flexible are you?

The answers to questions like the ones above determine what kind of adviser we will be and thus determine the relationship we will have the group you advise and the leaders involved. The more aware of these things we are the more efficient and effective we will become.

Who are the students I will be advising?

Just as knowing yourself gives us a leg up, so does knowing the student leaders we will be working with. It is enormously helpful to be aware of their backgrounds, demographics, and leadership histories. I like to start with what I know about my general campus population and then really narrow in on the specific leaders I will be working with.

Knowledge is power and knowing backgrounds and demographics can help predict skill sets, preferred communication styles, and even some conflicts that may arise. It is likely that the leaders on my team will have had previous leadership roles on campus. I find it helpful to speak to other advisers my team has worked with. I can learn what strengths and challenges of my team members are. Once I have that information, I can customize training and development activities to have the most impact.

What is the organizational culture I will be working with?

This is a twofold question. First, what is the culture regarding student organizations on campus and within my department. Every institution and department is different. Remember that we as advisers are often held responsible for major mistakes or snafus. I need to know what the expectations for performance are from those who count, as well as who are “those who count”. I also need to know what resources are available to me. A good question to ask is if your department provides a budget for your group or if they need to seek funding from elsewhere, such as fundraising or the Student Government Association.

The other side of this question refers to my student organization’s culture. Is this a new group or one with an established culture? Historically, how formal or informal are they? What is the structure and reporting lines within the group? What role does the organization play in regards to other organizations on campus? Once this information is known, I try to compare it to my own styles and preferences so that I can prepare myself to adapt to something different if need be.

What is my plan for this year?

 Everything above has just been information gathering so that we can see the big picture. Now, it is time to put that information to use. We need to lay a plan around how we are going to approach our advising role with this group. Using what we now know, we can predict what the groups needs will be and begin preparing for them. For example, we need to decide how our personal communication styles will work with those of the leaders we will serve. If they are incompatible, we will have to find a way to reconcile them!

Finally, remember that, like every time we work with students, things will change. Our plan may not play out the way we expect it to or there may be some key piece of information that we missed. Maybe our plan will work like a charm and will run its course by the end of the second week! We must stay flexible and be constantly considering the needs of the group and how we can support them.

 

Joe Hawkins is the Assistant Director of Residential and Student Life at Lincoln College in Normal, Illinois.

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