| Academic advising significantly impacts student achievement, persistence, and retention, yet it continues to be an area of weakness for many institutions. The purpose of this sequential mixed-methods case study was to explore the experiences of faculty advisors to identify strengths and weaknesses in their knowledge and skills. Appreciative inquiry was used as the conceptual framework and guided the design of this study. The central research question focused on identifying advising strategies and practices that were being used by faculty advisors. Faculty advisors were invited to voluntarily participate in the study via an e-mail message. Data were collected via 116 researcher-developed electronic surveys and 17 focus group participants by using maximum variation sampling. Data analysis included calculating descriptive statistics for electronic surveys, coding focus group data, and triangulating data to identify major themes. Member checking and an external auditor were used to increase the reliability and validity of the results. The key results suggested that faculty advisors had various trainings, are available to students, use informational and conceptual knowledge, and use relational skills when they perform academic advising. Despite these strengths, faculty advisors lacked knowledge related to program-specific information, policies and procedures, campus resources, and curricular requirements; they also lacked time to perform academic advising. These results informed a plan to develop a more effective culture of academic advising at the institution. This research is important for college administrators, academic advisors, and students because academic advisors must effectively perform academic advising so that students can achieve their academic goals in a timely manner. |
