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[trentsands]

Hi Dale!
(I hope the OP doesn't mind a tiny bit of a hijack here-he/she knows I'm a kindred spirit with a similar mission)

You said:
"Academic advising at the entry level/front line is not about filling out paperwork or about matching students with classes that fit their 11 am - 2 pm class-taking window."
***
Even so, I am finding in my advisor interviewing sessions that the committees are VERY squeamish about how a PhD will handle the more "repetitive" aspects of the job. They fear I won't stick around because of the drudgery aspects.

This varies from institution to institution.  At mine, we have a significant number of advisers with Ph.D. from various liberal arts backgrounds (quite a few English Ph.D.'s actually).  These are individuals who value their Ph.D. educations and the academic environment but decided that they preferred student services and administration to the classroom.

Kind of like a teaching philosophy, an applicant for an advising position should have something of an advising philosophy.  What do you think an adviser should be able to do for students, given the right conditions?

[trentsands]

I'll also repeat the advice I posted in the previous thread on this... repetitive, but I think it is good to hear other people's experience in landing full time academic advising positions....

"My institution requires a master's degree, in any field, and two years teaching or advising experience.

My primary experience was in teaching, and I doubt I would have landed my position, except that I could demonstrate a consistent interest in the overall academic well-being of college students beyond the courses I taught.  When teaching, I actively participated in the learning communities to which my freshman level courses were a part, I learned about higher education retention and student experience issues, and I was hired for two consecutive summers by my previous institution for summer advising during its orientations.  What's more, writing my cover letter and in the interview, I could use the terminology of teaching and students services to express a respect for and a belief in the mission of academic advising.

Academic advisers do more than meet with students, though that is one of our most prominent roles.  In a student appointment, we not only help students choose classes but assist with long-range planning, both in terms meetin requirements and finding experiences that will enhance their classroom learning.  We development a comprehensive understanding of student development so that we can meet students where they are at in their educational development (despite the notion, college students are not "adults" in the sense that they've been through all of the mental, emotional, and intellectual development they need to handle all academic situations).  We also run outreach projects to target students with special needs and encourage them to come in for advising.  We manage volumes of resource information and make it accessible to students; we also run efforts to make students aware of this information.  We monitor students' academic standing and intercede when students are on probation and/or driving themselves toward suspension.  We run workshops to assist students with their awareness of enrichment experiences to enhance their college educations.  We teach student life courses.  An adviser for a major may do some or all of these and additionally track graduates and their experiences after graduating, search for opportunities, internships, and research experiences directly related to the major, review transfer credits to determine whether they can be used toward the institution's major, etc."

[katrina_chaudhary]

I am currently researching careers advise for first year university students. A good source of information
on academic advising is : The Mentor,  a free open access journal on academic advising in higher education. Includes research articles, examples of advising programs etc.

http://www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/

KC

[phdiva628]

So *this* is where the other aa's have been hiding...

Dale, thank you. You have explained why I love what I do so much, and simultaneously, why I have had to chase higher paying positions so often. (Single mom, lots of bills) Congratulations and best of luck in the new position.

I'd second (third?) that academic advising necessarily prepares you to advance quickly in student affairs administration. In fact, it is because of the wide variety of tasks and collaborations with the other areas of the university that I have begun applying for Dean of Students positions. ie, evaluating student records to ensure that the courses they are enrolled in will not negatively affect their state financial aid eligibility, advising and registering new students as they walk in the door, social services resource referrals, etc. You will get to know the "average student" on your campus very well, and your session notes will eventually be a good source of information for needs assessment.