Effectiveness as an Advisor and Mentor to Students...

I have enjoyed my advising duties. Advising is just another area where relationships come first, trust is essential, and personal connections endure over time as a result. My strategy for academic advising takes on an "advisor as teacher" approach. I want to establish a relationship with my new advisees, but I also want to encourage new advisees to establish a relationship/connection with the Educator Preparation Program, the specialized curriculum in their major, and the unique professional education component of the curriculum.

My advising prowess has been developed over the years in the following, varied scenarios:

• first-year students (both non-educators and those interested in education)

• new sophomores intending to declare a major in CDL w/ Licensure

• CDL w/ Licensure juniors who successfully screen into the program

• transfer students intending to declare a major in CDL w/ Licensure

• post-bacc students in a variety of disciplines, and

• K-12/Secondary Licensure students (co-advise w/ the major advisor).

In working with students in diverse advising scenarios, I have developed a substantial toolbox of advising perspectives and insights.

Being an advisor is an important role in the Educator Preparation Program. A successful EPP advisor must possess a strong understanding of the multiple programs of study, organizational competencies, strong relational skills, and the ability to foster sincere passion for the discipline. The relationship between an advisor/mentor and advisee/mentee is long-lasting and can endure over decades. There might be nothing more professionally satisfying than working collaboratively with a former student who goes on to become a superstar in the classroom.

It seems relevant to note that advising students in the licensure program can be time-consuming and high-stakes, at times. Advising a new transfer student in any area of licensure requires the development of a graduation plan during the initial advising session. The graduation plan for a transfer student provides information that can be critical for planning the number of semesters necessary for graduation. Someone who has already completed 4 semesters is sometimes not willing or financially able to commit to 3 more years of coursework. I feel obligated to share this information as early in the advising process as possible. Many times this has altered a transfer student’s plan for a specific program of study.

Formal advising is a time consuming, but rewarding, faculty responsibility. There is also quite a bit of informal advising in our program. Many students want to discuss teaching as an option or explore the path before commiting. Those conversations are just as important as advising sessions with major advisees.

Beyond academic advising, faculty have the opportunity to mentor students across all disciplines. In reflecting on my MC career and thinking about the important mentoring relationships I have enjoyed, I realized how many former students I continue to support and mentor who are not graduates of the Educator Preparation Program. Many are...but there are just as many who are not. That is a testament to the culture of and to the power of the "place" we call Maryville College.

Identified Strengths

• enthusiastic about the program, knowledge of EPP coursework, deep understanding of advising paradigms (assisted secondary/PK-12 programs in updating all paradigms last year)

• adept at encouraging students when they are discouraged and conveying tangible support when they feel unsupported

• a genuine affinity and aptitude for creating graduation plans that address complex scheduling issues

Identified Challenges

• working with content area colleagues who discount importance of graduation planning

• the work load to advise well can be intense and interfere with other responsibilities

• time needed to develop and design organizational advising support materials for the EPP

Future Goals

• utilize Zoom or Teams more efficiently for advising and connecting with advisees

• develop and plan opportunities to bring secondary/PK-12 advisees together to address isolation of the co-hort

• return to the ranks of FYS 110

Video/Letter of Support in this area...