ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT AND STUDENT RETENTION: EMPIRICAL CONNECTIONS & SYSTEMIC INTERVENTIONS

Joe Cuseo

Purpose and Scope of this Manuscript
Advising and retention are terms found frequently married in higher education discourse; they seem to fit together like hand and glove. For example, academic advising has been referred to as the �cornerstone of student retention� (Crockett, 1978). While the practice of advising and the outcome of student retention are often connected conceptually, their empirical connection has yet to be carefully documented and systematically synthesized. The primary purpose of this manuscript is to provide such documentation and synthesis. Although a direct, causal connection between advising and retention has yet to be established, a strong case can be made that academic advising exerts a significant impact on student retention through its positive association with, and mediation of, variables that are strongly correlated with student persistence, namely: (1) student satisfaction with the college experience, (2) effective educational and career planning and decision making, (3) student utilization of campus support services, (4) student-faculty contact outside the classroom, and (5) student mentoring.
As Wyckoff (1999) notes, �To establish a high degree of commitment to the academic advising process, university and college administrators must become cognizant not only of the educational value of advising but of the role advising plays in the retention of students� (p. 3). The evidence marshaled in this manuscript may be used as a position paper to persuade high-level administrators of the power of effective academic advisement for student retention and institutional revenue. It may also be used in advisor development programs�to motivate and validate the work of veteran advisors, and in advisor-orientation programs�to inspire and energize new advisors.
The manuscript begins with a discussion of why both student retention and academic advisement deserve immediate attention in American higher education, and it ends with a series of suggested systemic strategies for enhancing the quality and retention-promoting impact of advising programs.

Final Note: For strategies relating to assessment of academic advising, see the following URL: http://www.advising.hawaii.edu/nacada/assessmentlG/advising_assess_tools.asp,

Or, contact Joe Cuseo at: [email protected]

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