In over fifteen years working at James Madison College (JMC), I have been involved in various aspects of supporting our mission to provide a liberal education in public affairs to undergraduate students. Advising at JMC, in a small residential college setting within the larger framework of Michigan State University, is a unique opportunity that presents extraordinary benefits and, sometimes, complex challenges. 

As I reflect on the principles that guide my daily work, I believe they all support my belief that I am a steward of the University. While these principles are connected to my personal values and dedication to high job performance, they are an evolving philosophy that becomes more informed, balanced, and complex with every student that I meet and every situation that I encounter. I believe that when I am performing at a high level in all of these areas, I have the ability to make a positive impact on the success of the students I serve.

1. Show up for my students.

It can be difficult to maintain balance in a small college where we are often wearing many hats and juggling the responsibilities of competing priorities. It would be easy to let students fight for space on my calendar while my days fill up with meetings, program planning and university wide committee work. However, in the role of Assistant Director for Undergraduate Affairs, I believe that my top priority is to be consistently available for our students.

A student who frequently finds my door closed or an away message on my email is not getting the level of support that we have promised them. Many of the most critical interactions I’ve had with students have been in those unplanned moments when they are in crisis – in those moments they need to find me in my office ready and prepared to receive them. I believe that we make people feel valued and important by making time for them when we do not actually have time. By setting down the project proposal or being late for the committee meeting, we can show students that they matter more than the administrative work. In these moments, students are the work. So, when a student shows up in my door without an appointment and says “hey, do you have a minute?” that answer is always “sure, come in”.

2. Be purposeful in the environment I create.

Creating a welcoming, supportive, and inclusive space has always been a top priority in my work. When I started at the college in recruitment, it was my job to make visitors from all walks of life feel comfortable during their visit. Now, as I meet with our students in my office, I work very hard to create an environment that demonstrates my commitment to their success on all levels. Part of the environment is created by my interactions with students. I send messages to students about my acceptance of them, their concerns, and their decisions through my body language, the words I speak, my facial expressions, my focus, and the attention that I give. I strive to create a relationship with my students where they know they can bring any issue to my desk, and I will help them without judgement. To do this, I must create a space where they feel safe and supported.

The second aspect of creating a purposeful environment is related to the physical space. I have created a physical space in my office that is conducive to the types of conversations I hoped to have with students. This required significant changes to everything from my organization system to the lighting that I use. At first I thought that this would be an undetected change for my students or that, at most, they may comment that my office looked nice or they liked my new desk. What has been shocking to me is the number of times a day that students sit down, take a deep breath, and comment on how calm and relaxed they feel in my office compared to the hustle and bustle of campus. Advisors often work hard to be purposeful in the subtle messages that we send students through our personal interactions, but the messages that our physical space sends to students should be part of this work too.

3. Be informed and seek new information.

As an advisor who works in a freshmen admit program, many of the students I work with are focused on a particular major from the time they arrive at MSU. However, many of our students look to add other majors or minors, take electives in other departments, or seek education abroad opportunities hosted by other colleges. All of this requires a working knowledge of the academic opportunities available outside the doors of Case Hall. It is important to have connections with other advisors and faculty around campus where I feel comfortable sending students to gain a deeper understanding of their options.

Student success is not simply about what happens in the classroom. Advisors must be a source of knowledge regarding the resources that have the ability to impact a student’s life outside of the classroom too. I have prioritized the trainings and workshops that are facilitated on campus to educate advisors on the ways that we can support students and the resources available to help us in this work.

4. Walk with students through the decision-making process.

As an advisor, it is not appropriate for me to make decisions for my students or to guide them in a direction that feels right to me. My job as an advisor is to help students better understand their options, think through the consequences of their choices, and to remind them to check their decision against their goals and their gut instincts. I do all of this by asking questions that they may not have asked themselves. I want to help students see how their options fit into a larger picture and to assess the impact their choice will have on other aspects of their life. I want to help them reach confidence in their choices by helping them dig deeper, gather more information, and remove the noise from the process. My goal is not to guide them in one direction or another, but to guide them to a place of assurance in their process and their final decision.

5. Be a resource for the team.

Outside of our Assistant Dean, I am the longest serving advisor on our team. I have worked in different offices within our college and understand the ways in which our work as advisors intersect the other work of the College. I have also worked very closely with the Office of Admissions, the other Residential Colleges/Living Learning Communities, and New Student Orientation Program. It is important that I serve as a resource for our team of advisors, our faculty members, and our staff as they all work to maintain excellence in the college.

I believe that the role of the Assistant Director for Undergraduate Affairs is to be a source of knowledge regarding university policy and college procedures to other members of the academic and student affairs team. Advisors are tasked with the job of recalling hundreds of policies related to everything from degree requirements to the legal guidelines related to confidentiality. Advising teams must be able to rely on each other to help recall and apply these policies appropriately and the Assistant Director should be a source of knowledge regarding the implementation of these policies in our daily work.