Division of Undergraduate Studies

At times academic advising seems like a thankless job. A job that is sometimes overlooked, unrecognized, and invisible. At the end of the day, the academic adviser (also known as counselor, supporter, cheerleader, and friend) is the backbone of the academic system. Even when the system seems overloaded and overly complicated, it is the academic adviser that supports students day after day. COVID-19 illustrated what academic advisers have long said, “Student success is complicated.” The fact is, there are a multitude of obstacles and barriers that impede student progress. The pandemic has illuminated these issues more clearly. COVID-19 has catalyzed a transition in the ecology of American education for all students, but especially the underserved and minoritized. Advisers have been sounding the alarm for years regarding the disparities in student experiences, many that are getting progressively wider -- in housing and food insecurity, unplanned pregnancy, lack of mental health services and health insurance, and poor high school preparation. Nevertheless, advisers persist, and it is because of them that many students make it to the finish line. During this presentation, strategies for advisers will be discussed to help them think about how best to create sustainable systems, broaden participation and build capacity in a more equitable and inclusive manner.

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Anyone who has engaged in the work of academic advising understands the myriad of emotions that an adviser can feel in the course of a given day. These emotional experiences can take a toll on academic advisers, but how? Given their focused work with students, how is emotional labor woven into the interactive experience of being an academic adviser? Drawing on interviews conducted with advisers in 2019, this session will examine possible answers to these questions. The results of this research study will lead to a conversation among attendees regarding how emotional labor is manifested in their daily advising work. The session will conclude with thoughts on opportunities for future related research, and how our institutions can support such endeavors.

Information will be presented about the College of Nursing’s Academic Success Program (ASP). We will discuss the implementation process, including involved key stakeholders and their roles, along with how the program has aided the College in enhancing student retention. Three years of aggregate data suggests the ASP has been successful in retention. Among referred students who were in academic difficulty or performing poorly in multiple courses, there were statistically significant increases in pass rates if they completed the ASP compared to students who did not.

New Title IX regulations as well as a movement, more broadly, towards restorative justice in the student conduct process have placed an increased focus on ensuring equitable—not equal—services to both respondents (the accused) and complainants (victims) associated with university misconduct cases. The presenters will discuss changes being made to address the new ​Title IX regulations, services available at Penn State for students who have been accused of ​any kind of misconduct, and strategies to help academic advisers and others professionally manage their feelings, plan for the future, and locate reliable resources regarding student conduct related issues.

In a competitive field like higher education, the climb to the top can be difficult. In 2016, a study by Marshall, Gardner, Hughes, & Lowery found that 41.7% of student affairs practitioners left their jobs after 1-5 years of service while21.7% left after 8-10 years. It can be challenging for these professionals to feel appreciated in their roles. The effects of losing mid-level advisers due to burnout, work-life conflict, and loss of passion reflect a retention issue in our industry that has existed since the 1970s. Join the conversation to learn how you can forge a rich, rewarding career independent of the conventional “ladder climbing” approach and discover how to engage in your own #HorizonalBranding on and off campus.

This presentation will unpack research on how first-generation students experience and navigate their way through college in order to help academic advisers work effectively with first-gen advisees. The goal is to inform advisers about three issues that are especially significant and challenging for first-generation students during college: (1) Learning the postsecondary “rules of the game” and how to navigate the “hidden curriculum,” (2) fitting in and identifying as a college student, and (3) managing the status transition to independence. The presentation will demonstrate how understanding concepts such as cultural capital, self-efficacy, imposter phenomenon, microaggressions, status-based uncertainty, and cultural mismatch can help advisors give first generation students validation and support to help them succeed in their college careers.

Many students at Penn State (and elsewhere) are interested in pursuing careers in healthcare that require admission to competitive graduate programs. This session will cover the basic requirements for medical school and physician assistant programs while further exploring some of the nuances within them. By utilizing national and institutional data to demystify misconceptions about what it takes for students to be successful in the application process, participants will come away with a better understanding of health professional schools’ expectations and when to refer to the Pre-Health Advising Office. Additionally, we will be discussing changes to how our office serves students. This session will conclude with a Q&A to answer any additional questions.

Students often seek the advice of their peers before consulting with their academic advisers. Why not train current upper-division students to ensure the information they are sharing promotes academic excellence and student success? In this session, participants will learn about the Peer Advising Program within the College of Engineering that launched in Fall 2019. This initiative engages pre-major students interested in majors within the college. Participants will share thoughts on how a peer advising program might support their own advising work and will be given a tangible model from which to build their own peer advising program.

"Diversity," "equity," and "inclusion" are often used as buzz words in higher education--but what do they really mean? How does higher education's past show up in the present and inform its future? At the precipice of another civil rights movement and at the crossroads of multiple forms of systematic oppression, how can we — as staff and administrators—affect meaningful and persistent change? This panel will address these topics and more.