How Academic Advisers Can Use Facebook to Apply Appreciative Advising

James W. Pou, University of South Carolina

Editor's note: This is the fifth in a series of articles written by graduate students enrolled in Jennifer Bloom's student affairs administration course at the University of South Carolina for the fall 2009 semester. As part of her course syllabus, Dr. Bloom required each student in her class to submit an article to The Mentor or other publication for consideration.

E-mail is now “old school,” residence halls no longer even offer students the option to have a landline phone, and students regularly use computer terms such as Google and Facebook as verbs. It is painfully obvious that the way today's college students communicate has changed drastically. One thing that has not changed, however, is the importance of academic advising to student success. In order for academic advisers to remain relevant to technologically savvy college students, however, they need to be aware of modern communication strategies and how to use them effectively to communicate with students. One such strategy is the popular social-networking Web site Facebook.

Several articles relating to Facebook have appeared recently in the academic advising literature. Traxler (2007) gave advice about using Facebook as an academic advising tool and found that the site is particularly useful for informing, organizing, educating, and connecting with students. Esposito (2007) took Traxler's recommendations a step further by calling Facebook a valuable tool for student engagement. Ray (2009) found that Facebook was an effective communications tool for reaching students at the University of Oklahoma. The purpose of this article is to show how Facebook can be a useful tool within the Appreciative Advising framework (Bloom, Hutson, & He, 2008).

About Facebook

Facebook was founded in 2004 and currently has around 400 million active users (Facebook, 2010). Facebook allows users to build personal profiles, communicate using public or private messages, and share photos and information about themselves, including favorite music, movies, and hobbies.

So why would a busy academic adviser want to use Facebook? The best answer is that students like it and use it a lot. Advisers should try to reach them through this favored medium in order to improve communication. One adviser tried using Facebook in place of traditional e-mail messages to students and found it to be a “very effective” way to reach students (Ray, 2009). Another adviser made the case for Facebook by arguing that it can help advisers remain relevant, which is important because “our relevance assures student engagement, and engagement assures student success” (Esposito, 2007, ¶ 1).

When advisers are available via Facebook, students can communicate more easily with advisers, have greater access to information about upcoming events and deadlines, and learn from advisers how to communicate professionally on Facebook. This communication and information can lead to greater levels of student engagement and involvement in the college experience, which has been shown to have a positive effect on student achievement (Astin, 1985).

There are many social networking sites on the Internet, but Facebook is better for advisers mainly because students widely use it and are already familiar with it. Another reason to use it is because of certain useful features and applications found in the Facebook interface, which this article presents in detail below.

About Appreciative Advising

There are many ways for advisers to utilize Facebook to better advise and support their students. This article will focus on how to use Facebook within the specific framework of Appreciative Advising, a promising new model that is inspiring a growing body of literature.

Bloom and Martin (2002) first described Appreciative Advising, and since then a number of institutions across the country have further developed it (Bloom et al., 2009). The core of Appreciative Advising is adapted from the organizational development theory of Appreciative Inquiry (Bloom & Martin). Appreciative Advising is “a social constructivist advising philosophy that provides a framework for optimizing adviser interactions with students” (Bloom et al., 2008, p. 11). According to Bloom, Hutson, and He, Appreciative Advising has six steps:
Advisers intentionally use positive, active, and attentive listening and questioning strategies to build trust and rapport with students (Disarm); uncover students' strengths and skills based on their past successes (Discover); encourage and be inspired by students' stories and dreams (Dream); co-construct action plans with students to make their goals a reality (Design); support students as they carry out their plans (Deliver); and challenge both themselves and their students to do and become even better (Don't Settle). (p. 11)
This article highlights Appreciative Advising as a framework because of positive outcomes experienced by several schools that utilize this approach. For example, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro increased its retention rates by utilizing the framework, and advising units at Eastern Illinois and Grand Valley State universities enjoyed increases in student satisfaction after adopting the framework (Bloom et al., 2009). This article also advocates Appreciative Advising because Facebook can be easily used to carry out its six phases. Specific Facebook-related advice for each phase is provided below.

Disarm

Advisers can begin the Disarming process by ensuring that their Facebook profiles are personal and welcoming to students. Advisers should post several profile pictures that show themselves smiling and having fun. Advisers should also share appropriate personal information, such as favorite activities, information about family members, etc. These strategies can help build trust and rapport with students. Advisers should keep in mind that students and other members of the university community may be able to view their profiles, so pictures and other content should be posted accordingly.

One issue that many advisers worry about is whether they should send friend requests to students or wait for students to take the initiative. This will depend on the adviser's personal style and preferences, but making personal profiles public to members of their network will help to make advisers accessible, should students search for their Facebook pages. Rest assured that many advisers do send “friend requests” to students. Students who do not feel comfortable accepting those requests have the option to ignore such requests.

Discover

In the Discover phase, advisers should try to draw out students' strengths and passions by asking open-ended questions (Bloom et al., 2008). Examples include asking students about a time when they positively affected someone's life, overcame a challenge, or felt they performed at their best. Facebook affords a number of ways to do this, from a casual chat using the site's instant messaging feature and public messages posted on students' walls to private messages sent to students' inboxes. In addition to posting questions, advisers can look at students' Facebook profiles carefully to learn more about them and their strengths, passions, and potentials. Advisers can also invite students to take the online Appreciative Advising Inventory and bring their results to their next advising appointment (see Bloom et al.). This questionnaire uses a Likert scale to find out about a student's goals and values, and it can help advisers learn more about students' backgrounds.

Dream

This stage moves past the rapport building in the first two stages and stimulates students' creativity. The idea here is to create a powerful image that will give students an aspiration or goal for which to strive. Advisers can post Dream questions on their status updates, such as “Where will you be in ten years? What will you be doing then?” Advisers might be surprised how willing students are to share this information in response to status update questions. Of course, other Facebook communication modes such as instant and direct messages can also be effective. Advisers can even take a multimedia approach by asking students to draw a picture of themselves in ten years and send it as a digital image file. Advisers can then try to make connections between the information gathered here and the other information gathered during the first two phases. After digesting this information, advisers can then send students pictures or links that correspond to their desired futures. These can help to inspire students.

Design

An important thing to remember about the Design phase is that the student and the adviser work together to create a plan of action. The adviser does not author the plan for the student but instead acts as a facilitator and guide (Bloom et al., 2008). This is done when the adviser helps the student to brainstorm options and then weigh the pros and cons of each (Bloom et al.). The Design phase is usually most effective when it is accomplished in a one-on-one meeting; however, Facebook is an excellent way to follow-up on the plan established during the meeting. Advisers or students can create an event on Facebook to clarify exactly who is responsible for what and specify deadlines for completing tasks. Advisers of students applying to medical school, for example, can create an event calendar that lists the upcoming pertinent application deadlines: This works well because it establishes an expectation of success, it makes perfectly clear who is responsible for what, it creates a conspicuous reminder on Facebook as the “event” approaches, and it affords an easy avenue for correspondence. (Note: Depending on the nature of the information, it may be best to make the event “private” so that others cannot be invited or view the event content.)

As advisers come upon news stories or Web sites that may apply to students, they can use Facebook to post this information for their advisees. Facebook affords easy sharing of links in methods both public (wall posts) and private (message sent to inbox). This action is superior to sharing Web resources over the phone, in person, or by traditional mail because it gives the student an easy-to-click link to the information.

Deliver

In this phase, the student takes charge and executes the plan co-created in the Design phase. The adviser's role is to energize and support students so that they will be more likely to achieve their goals (Bloom et al., 2008). Advisers can use Facebook's direct messages to check in to see how students are progressing in accomplishing their goals. Advisers should also reiterate that students are welcome to contact them via Facebook at any time. Also, advisers can post motivational quotes on their status updates to inspire students.

Another way to motivate students to deliver is to harness the power of group support. The adviser could create a Facebook group (or fan page) for students pursuing a common goal, such as pre-medicine. The group would serve two purposes: first, the adviser would have a central location to share new advising-related information. Second, students could potentially find greater motivation to succeed if they connect to a community of like-minded persons. The group (or fan page) wall would also be an easy way for students to share messages with one another.

Don't Settle

The final phase is intended to keep students motivated and continually challenge them to exceed even their own expectations (Bloom et al., 2008). Facebook offers a number of ways to keep in touch with students and to encourage them to continually grow and strive to meet their full potentials. Another thing advisers can do is monitor students' updates to see if anyone is struggling or in need of a pep talk. A well-placed word of encouragement can have a huge impact on students.

Conclusion

Many of today's students communicate using Facebook; therefore it is a natural medium through which advisers can reach them. Appreciative Advising has shown positive results at a number of schools; data show that it benefits students. Combining both tools yields a powerful way to communicate with students.

An important caveat is that there is no substitute for face-to-face communication with students. The Appreciative Advising model was created with in-person interactions in mind. However, in recognizing that today's students are becoming increasingly dependent on electronic media, this article advocates using Facebook as an additional tool to effectively communicate with students. Facebook can also be used to enhance interactions with distance-education students, including those serving in the military.

References

Astin, A. W. (1985). Achieving educational excellence: A critical assessment of priorities and practice in higher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Bloom, J. L., & Martin, N. A. (2002, August 29). Incorporating appreciative inquiry into academic advising. The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal, 4(3). Retrieved from http://www.psu.edu/dus/mentor

Bloom, J. L., Hutson, B. L., & He, Y. (2008). The appreciative advising revolution. Champaign, IL: Stipes.

Bloom, J. L., Hutson, B. L., He, Y., Amundsen, S., Buyarski, C., Christman, P. D., et al. (2009, April 22). How eight institutions have incorporated appreciative advising. The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal 11(2). Retrieved from http://www.psu.edu/dus/mentor

Esposito, A. (2007). Saving Face(book): Engage through Facebook and retain relevance. Academic Advising Today, 30(3). Retrieved from http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/AAT/index.htm

Facebook. (2010). Press room: Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Ray, B. J. (2007, August 30). Reaching the masses: E-newsletters and Facebook in advising. The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal, 9(3). Retrieved from http://www.psu.edu/dus/mentor

Traxler, J. (2007). Advising without walls: An introduction to Facebook as an advising tool. Academic Advising Today, 30(1). Retrieved from http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/AAT/index.htm

About the Author

James Wesley Pou is a graduate student in the University of South Carolina's Higher Education and Student Affairs program. He is also a library specialist for the university's Thomas Cooper Library. He can be reached at pouj@mailbox.sc.edu.

Published in The Mentor on March 10, 2010, by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies
Available online at dus.psu.edu/mentor
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