Developmental academic advising is defined as a systematic process based on a close student-advisor relationship intended to aid students in achieving educational, career, and personal goals through the utilization of the full range of institutional and community resources.
Developmental advising relationships focus on identifying and accomplishing life goals, acquiring skills and attitudes that promote intellectual and personal growth, and sharing concerns for each other and for the academic community (Winston, et al. 18-19) .
1) Academic advising is a continuous process with an accumulation of personal contacts between advisor and student. These contacts have both direction and purpose.
2) Advising must concern itself with quality-of-life issues, and the advisor has a responsibility to attend to the quality of the student's experience in college.
3) Advising is goal related. The goals should be established and owned by the student and should encompass academic, career, and personal development areas.
4) Advising requires the establishment of a caring human relationship.
5) Advisors should be models for students to emulate, specifically demonstrating behaviors that lead to self-responsibility and self- directedness .
6) Advising should seek to integrate the services and expertise of both academic and student affairs professionals.
7) Advisors should seek to utilize as many campus and community resources as possible.
These goals articulate directly the types of needs a student would meet through a developmental advising system: goal setting, care, role modeling, faculty/ staff interaction, and the introduction to resources available. Also, advisors who use a developmental approach can assess each individual's level of functioning and provide guidance based on that student's developmental capabilities