Career Tracks in Higher Education: Academic Advising

Career Track: Academic Advising

My name is Sarah Craddock, and I am an academic advisor for the Mechanical Engineering department at Colorado State University. We are part of the College of Engineering, which falls under the Academic Vice President/Provost. CSU has about 29,000 students.

As for myself, I currently have a B.A. in Sociology from Minnesota State University Mankato and a M.S. in College Student Personnel from Western Illinois University. I am also working on a Ph.D. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership from the University of Northern Colorado. I had 4.5 years of professional full-time experience when I started working as an academic advisor here. If I remember the job posting correctly, a bachelor’s degree was required for application, a master’s preferred. I believe they were looking with someone with at least one year of experience in higher education (though it didn’t have to be in academic advising).

My major responsibilities include advising about half of the undergraduate students in Mechanical Engineering, including a subsection of students working on dual degrees with Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. It involves quite a bit of direct service to students – everything from meeting with prospective students, advising incoming students at Preview (our orientation), meeting each semester with all undergrads continuing on in the major (as well as those that may now meet entrance requirements), and even working with graduation contracts to ensure students have met all criteria for graduation.

My department is the 5th largest major on campus, with about 750 undergraduate students for the 2011-2012 academic year, so we have two full time professional academic advisors (myself and one other woman). I do not supervise anyone. My colleague coordinates our mentoring program, and supervises the students employed through that (about 3-5). My boss is the Associate Department Head for Mechanical Engineering, and is a full faculty member within the department. His supervisor is our Department Chair for Mechanical Engineering.

My typical day…oh, in advising, there’s not a typical day. There is a LOT of ebb and flow in this field. For example, during the summer, I have a bit more down time – but I am still working with prospective students and advising incoming students at Preview. I’m also working with students to continue to manage their schedules for next fall, including working with students who didn’t pass a necessary course, or are taking courses over the summer at another institution. However, in a month like October or April, I’m scheduled pretty much every half-hour, meeting with current students to help them determine which classes to take prior to the next semester’s registration opening. The beginning of the semester often includes students panicking about their course load (too much, not enough, times not working,etc.), and the end often includes students panicking about course grades that they’re on the fence for.

I actually think I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into before I started. I don’t know that there’s anything that’s come as a surprise to me. My time, like I said, ebbs and flows – I guess I wasn’t quite aware of just how much and how intense peak advising times can be (but I love it!).

Most important survival skill…flexibility, and prioritization. You’ve got to be able to judge quickly whether something is a real emergency and needs your attention now – and if so, what can move around, and if not, when it can be addressed. Also, a detail orientation is CRUCIAL in advising. You’re managing a lot of paperwork with substitutions, waivers, prerequisites, etc. You’ve got to have a way to manage that.

Committees and Tasks

After I started working here, we have begun to have a monthly academic advisors meeting within the college to talk about common issues. I also participate in our Professional Advisors Network and Key Advisors network to learn more information about what’s going on on campus. Because a friend of mine works in Greek Life, I’ve also helped them out with a few things (like end of the year awards).

The biggest piece of advice I have? A few things: detail orientation. Figure out how you best manage details (in general) before you start so that you can figure out a game plan quickly once you begin. Care about students. A monkey can follow a checksheet – an advisor works with the student to figure out what’s best in their situation – full time, part time, double majors, minors, etc. Finally…though many academic advising positions don’t require a degree in higher education (such as my M.S. in College Student Personnel), I would still STRONGLY encourage you to look at some student development theory and to connect to the professional organizations available and their subcommittees (NACADA, athletics advising, honors students, STEM, etc.)

Sarah submitted her article via our guest post submission form, in response to my recent call for first-person perspectives on career tracks in higher education. You can, too.

If you would like to connect with Sarah, check out her blog or e-mail her.