West Virginia’s academic advising community gathered this week during the second annual statewide academic advising conference to discuss the growing expectations students and parents place on academic advisers.
Hosted by the West Virginia University Academic Advising Council, in partnership with Potomac State College, Marshall University and Shepherd University, advisers from among the largest and smallest higher education institutions across the state attended “Bridging Lasting Trends to Elevate the Advising Experience.”
Joy Carr, director of University Advising through the WVU Provost’s Office, said the half-day virtual conference offered a space, free of charge, for those in the advising community to engage professionally.
“We were thrilled to bring together advisers from across the state to forge stronger connections, share ideas, and elevate the advising profession,” Carr said. “We hope participants found inspiration in their own advising practices to best support their students and show their administrators the value of these types of professional development opportunities.”
New and veteran advisers, who serve on average between 175 to 400 students, took the time to participate in an array of discussion topics and broadly agreed that the most significant change in academic advising remains the expanding needs of students.
This year’s conference planning committee member and panelist Sarah Davis, who is Marshall University’s director of advising, said the latest data has shown that advisers across the county are noticing a continued uptick in students’ mental health challenges, anxiety and loneliness.
“Students now seem to find a single source of support and advisers are often that one source,” Davis said. “We become everything. We are seeing students not only want advice but want a partner to sit with and walk through every decision, action and challenge. That just means more time, more empathy. Just more.”
Panelists also discussed how advising trends are shifting from more decentralized to centralized models, faculty advisers to professional advisers, and the importance of dedicating time for professional development and adviser wellbeing.
Attendees applauded the conference’s opportunities for collaboration and growth.
One attendee noted, “Intentional efforts like these conferences really have brought the advising community closer together, improving our work lives, our sense of community, and the evolving skillsets needed to guide our students. At the end of the day, the more we collaborate, the more we can help our students succeed, which ultimately increases retention and graduation rates. So, thank you.”