Prescriptive Advising

Prescriptive advising is focused primarily on providing students with information directly related to their academic program rather than playing a role in helping the student form long-term goals beyond their academic pursuits. 

The best analogy for for Prescriptive Advising is like the relationship you have with your doctor or medical professional. When you have the flu, you go to the doctor to get a prescription to help you lessen the impact of the flu systems. At that moment, you aren't worried about the other things that may be going on with your health. 

Similarly, if you continue to feel ill or contract the flu multiple times over the course of a short period of time- then you no longer want to go the doctor for just a prescription; you'd want the professional to do a deeper dive into understanding what is going on with your medical issues.  

Prescriptive advising has it's place within your Advising Tool Box- there will be times in which the pace of the day, the student's desired interaction, or the specific information requested requires a prescriptive approach. However, when working with students make sure you aren't just responding to the immediate concern each time- if those immediate concerns become more problematic there may be an underlying need that should be addressed by using one of the other advising theories  in your tool box. 

Be cognizant when using the prescriptive advising approach so you don't miss underlying questions, roadblocks, or information that should be relayed to students.