Online Advising: Evidence-Based Best Practices For Virtual Advising

Description  Overview “A lot rides on the shoulders of college advisers. They're the ones who make sure students have the right mix of courses to graduate. They help out with information and guidance about transfer credit and policy, financial aid, personal concerns, study abroad opportunities, academic petitions or special requests, complaints about instructors, dropping and adding courses and making referrals to other campus services. They're often expected to help students set life goals and explore career options. They evaluate student academic progress and help steer them toward reaching their academic goals. It's a heavy load, but when you take into consideration the fact that many advisers are responsible for hundreds of students at once, the task seems almost superhuman. As a result, institutions have turned to online systems to streamline the process, helping automate administrative tasks and giving students self-service access to decision-making tools.” -- Dian Schaffhauser (Campus Technology)Advanced technologies are moving academic advising into the virtual world, where students can have access to the guidance they need anytime and anywhere. As financial resources have become more scarce at many institutions at the same time demands have become more acute, online advising has become more pervasive. Online advising systems offer faculty, staff and other professionals a way to do more with less while increasing retention and enhancing completion rates. The evidence is clear: when done appropriately, online advising can provide colleges and universities with significant benefits in some key areas.This webinar will cover the essential components of a successful online academic advising program, including the pros and cons of the various platforms that are available, how to use them effectively to develop and maintain advising relationships that have all the feature of face-to-face meetings, and concrete solutions to the problems that inevitably arise in an online environment. The focus will be on both the individual academic advisor as well as those responsible for overseeing the process in general. Also included will be opportunities for participant involvement through the use of case studies and real-time feedback via chat. Objectives Review the essential components of successful academic advising in the 21st Century Explore evidence-based best practices in academic advising Learn how to adapt those components to an online environment Understand the essential components of advising online Assess and anticipate student needs using online tools and strategies Learn the benefits and challenges unique to online advising Investigate the available platforms and applications for online advising Improve the ability to truly connect in a virtual advising session Critique real-life examples of effective and ineffective ways of interacting with students in an online environment Examine issues of confidentiality and security, connectivity, and clarity associated with online advising Discover strategies for engaging students in a meaningful, productive advising relationship in an online environment Who Should Attend 2-year & 4-year institutions Student Services/Affairs Faculty Advisors Advising & Counseling Online Learning Professionals Anyone interested in learning more about online advising best practices