Provided to the FPED Accreditation Committee by Jennifer Morgan Dollman April 2009

Proposal to Restructure the Advising Program At Qatar University Spring Term 2008

Introduction and Overview This document will provide a brief overview of advising, address the major academic advising issues at QU, and propose a framework for creating an appropriate model for student advising at Qatar University.

Overview of Advising In recent decades the emphasis of academic advising in the U.S. has shifted from a prescriptive course selection process to a developmental one. Grounded in student development theory, developmental advising recognizes the importance of various interactions between the student and the campus environment, focuses on the student as a whole person, and engages the student at his or her own stage of personal development. In this view advising is seen as a system of shared responsibility in which the goal is to facilitate students’ rational processes and behavioral awareness, as well strengthen their problem solving and decision-making skills. Through this holistic advising process, students ultimately learn to take responsibility for their decisions and actions.

Just as advising is an integral part of the educational process, the advisor serves as the link between the student and the institution. Advisors introduce and assist students with their transitions to the academic world by helping them recognize value in the learning process, gain perspective on the university experience, become more responsible, set priorities and evaluate their progress, and accurately assess their individual successes and limitations. As advisors enhance student learning and development, advisees have the opportunity to participate in and contribute to their own education.

"Advising is a key to student retention. The best way to keep students enrolled is to keep them stimulated, challenged and progressing toward a meaningful goal. The best way to do that--especially among new students--is through informed academic advising."

Anderson, Edward "Chip". (1997). Academic Advising for Student Success and Retention. Noel-Levitz, Iowa City, IA.

Advising at QU The current advising system at QU does not assign ownership for advising services to any particular entity at the University. Although there have been several attempts by the University to rectify this, none have been successful in eliciting a positive change in the quality and delivery of advising services; consequently, the fundamental concerns arising from the lack of ownership (i.e. advisor training, consistency, quality of services) have not been resolved.

1 SS-2-1 Provided to the FPED Accreditation Committee by Jennifer Morgan Dollman April 2009

The recent CSI pilot study identified the importance of strengthening student support services at QU and further highlighted the need for an improvement in advising services for QU students, particularly for those students deemed at-risk by the study.

In order to provide high quality, consistent, student-centered advising services, QU will need to adopt a permanent, sustainable solution for restructuring the delivery of advising services for all students. This solution should also address the creation of an entity which has oversight and ownership of the advisement program at QU.

Formulation of Committee on Advising Under the direction of Dr. Omar Al Ansari, a committee was formed to examine the various models of advising and to discuss the feasibility of implementing a new advising model at Qatar University. The following is a brief outline of the discussions from the meetings and also the committee’s recommendations.

The committee members were: Dr. Rashid Al Kuwari, Associate Dean of Student Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Khalid M. Faraj, Director of the Counseling Center, Student Affairs Dr. Yassar Semmar, College of Education Mr.s. Morgan Dollman, Director of the Student Learning Support Center, Student Affairs Mr. Sean Dollman, Consultant, Admissions and Registration, Student Affairs Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar, Consultant, Student Affairs, Student Affairs

The committee met on several occasions to discuss the current advising practices at QU and to evaluate potential advising models suggested by various committee members. After reviewing a variety of advising models and the advantages and disadvantages of instituting each model at QU, the committee members indicated a preference for the supplementary model, or a decentralized model, of advising. In this advising model, each College oversees advising for their respective majors and a coordinating staff member within Student Affairs trains and prepares College advisors. The committee members determined that the sharing of advising responsibility between the Colleges and Student Affairs is essential in:

 Ensuring high-quality, consistent advising services for all QU students  Guaranteeing that established advising practices and procedures are followed by all advisors  Facilitating communication between the various advising entities at QU

Variations on this approach include:  A centralized advising center for specific cohorts of students, advising for declared students within the academic departments, and a freshman seminar/first-year experience component.

 A centralized campus advising center that would house all College advisors in one location.

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 A college-focused model that would provide professional advisors within the Colleges who would be responsible for the case management and follow-up of probationary/at-risk students.

Proposed Advising Model The committee agreed that an oversight office is necessary to train, equip, and monitor the advising services offered at the college level. This oversight will foster a sense of shared ownership between the Colleges and Student Affairs.

From this point forward we will refer to this model as the ‘decentralized’ model of advising, whereby one central advising unit under the umbrella of the Student Learning Support Center (SLSC) within Student Affairs, will support local advising offices within each College.

*It should be clear that there is an expectation that physical offices in each of the Colleges will be established, and that professional trained advisors will be hired to work within these offices, which we will now refer to as ‘local’ offices.*

Under this shared model each enrolled undergraduate student would seek advising from the advising office at his/her respective College. Foundation Program students would seek advising from an advising office in the Foundation Program. Because Foundation Program students have historically felt isolated from the rest of the university, this model encourages Foundation Program students to connect with a caring and concerned individual at the University and allows for advisors to work proactively to retain at-risk students during their first year at QU.

The central unit would be tasked with offering ongoing workshops, seminars, and other training opportunities for advisors in the local offices. This unit would also serve as a resource for the local offices on general academic policies and procedures. Additionally, the central unit would assume the advising responsibility for students changing majors and for coordinating the advising component of new student orientation at the start of each fall term.

Advising Special Student Populations In addition to coordinating the advising component of orientation for new students, the centralized office will provide advising services to certain at-risk student cohorts as well as other categories of special students, including students conditionally admitted to the university, non-degree seeking students, and visiting students. Graduating students and most at-risk student cohorts will be advised by their local advising offices.

Staffing Plan The central advising unit will be housed within the Student Learning Support Center (SLSC), Student Affairs. The local offices will be physical spaces, staffed by designated advising professionals, located in each of the Colleges.

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Central Advising Unit Staff Requirements 1. Unit Head, with a minimum of a Masters degree in Student Personnel, Counseling, or Education, who will oversee the delivery of advisor training and the evaluation of advising materials.

2. Coordinators, with a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Education or related field, who will help oversee the advising offices in the various colleges and also provide training and ongoing resource materials a. One staff member should have experience in advisor training/development b. One staff member should have experience in the proactive retention and advising of at-risk students

Local Office Staff Requirements for the Colleges 1. A number of full time advisors in each College that will provide proactive assistance to students in their programs, attend all training sessions provided by the central advising office, and also be accountable for services offered. a. Faculty who volunteer to serve as advisors (no faculty should be forced into this role as it is often counterproductive) should be required to spend 10 hours in the local advising office for which they will be given release time from one 3 credit hour course.

2. Students will be able to choose from a group of advisors that are present in their college (i.e. advisor assignments will not be made). a. The student-advisor ratio should be 400:1. The number of advisors needed will vary from College to College, depending on enrollment.

b. It is critical that advisors are not faculty who are forced to advise, but instead they are faculty volunteers with reduced teaching loads or newly hired staff members who are trainable professionals.

Implementation Scheme A possible timeline for the implementation of the decentralized model of advising follows.

Sept. 2008 - Announcement of the restructured Advising Program Jan. 2009 Informational sessions about the decentralized model shared with Deans of Colleges and Associate Deans Preparations for local office space in the Colleges

Dec. 2008 – Recruitment of professional staff in central advising unit. (and local offices as needed.)

Sept. 2009 Training of new staff in central unit and local offices

Sept. 2009 Launch of new advising program Advising made available to students

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