The Creation of an Academic Adviser Evaluation at a Midwest Urban Community College

The basis of this project was to create a series of evaluations that could assist supervisory staff in determining the readiness of new academic advisors to assume advising duties. The project itself grew out of empirical observation, as well as faculty and student dissatisfaction with the advising process at a midwestern urban community college.
The literature review indicated a lack of research related to the evaluation of academic advisors on an individual basis at Michigan community colleges, focused on strengths and weaknesses. Once identified, subsequent training was developed to address those areas of advisor weakness.
This project resulted in a 3-part assessment tool focused on three specific areas. The areas included general education requirements, specific degree program requirements, and an interpretation of transcripts to determine which courses students need to enroll in to meet degree requirements. This study did not address technology competency or interpersonal skills, often referred to as ‘soft skills.’ Pre-tests were developed to pinpoint advisor weaknesses, in order to implement training to address these specific areas, with the goal of improving the accuracy and efficiency of the institution’s advising staff. After training, the pre-test was taken again as a post-test to evaluate whether the desired level of academic advisor mastery had been accomplished.
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While the project was designed for new academic advisor trainees, it was piloted during the summer of 2012 with 22 current academic advisors as part of an employer sponsored project. Each participant in the study improved their pre-test to post-test score, supporting the project’s effectiveness at raising advisor knowledge and skills.