Advisor Alert System—The Advisor Alert is a tool used by the faculty throughout the school year. It is a form
that includes the name of the student, the course, and the summary of concern when a student begins to falter
in a course. The instructor submits the completed form to the Academic Advising Office, that in turn forwards
it to the appropriate advisor. It should be noted that this process can occur at different times during the
semester; but Advisor Alerts are always filled out a few weeks after school begins, helping to short-circuit
problems long before mid-term when corrective action can still be taken. The advisors follow with direct
intervention—making phone calls, writing letters, and generally "tracking students down." Advisors try to
identify a student's problems in a particular class, discuss various alternatives with the student, and decide upon
a course of action. The entire process demonstrates to students that someone really cares, helps them make
good decisions and learn to accept responsibility.

Evaluation—At the end of each semester, all advisors are evaluated in two, and sometimes three, areas:
student evaluations; attrition by advisor; and, sometimes, attrition by program. Previously, we used an in-house
student perception inventory with a numerical scale for student evaluations. This year, we will use the A.C.T.
Survey of Academic Advising. [An interesting sidelight: Since we began using academic advising specialists,
ratings have been consistently higher than in previous evaluations. ]

Other Aspects—Advisors and advisees have frequent contact during the academic year. Scheduled meetings at
school are common, but an advisor and advisee often establish special bonds of friendship in other ways. Some
of our advisors report helping a student through the death of a family member, bailing a student out of jail,
having tailgate parties at rodeos, going to birthday parties, and taking phone calls at home for anything and
everything. Many of our advisors are just people caring about people. These types of personal involvement
and commitment are what make academic advising "click" at EWC.

The Results

The goal has been to decrease the attrition rate and to increase overall enrollment. From a high of 54%,
Eastern Wyoming College’s attrition rate has steadily declined: 47%, to 44%, to 38%, to 34.5%, and presently to
31.9%. Also, the fall of 1985 saw the highest enrollment ever of returning sophomores. We, of course, feel that
academic advising is working.

The Future

The Academic Advising Committee has developed a compensation plan that will -be implemented in the
spring semester of 1986. All faculty members who are advising outside of their disciplines, and the faculty
members who are working with non-routine advisees (such as undecided or general studies majors), will be
compensated for their advising efforts.

The compensation plan follows:

Number of Advisees *C.R.U. Value

17-24 1 $750.00
9-16 2/3 $500.00
1-8 1/3 $250.00

*Classroom Unit is the equivalent of a three-hour teaching load. Advisors will be compensated either by
reducing their teaching load or by giving them additional pay, as circumstances determine.
Conclusion
_ Eastern Wyoming College has found a way to monitor a student’s academic progress and to intervene at the

appropriate times to keep that student in school: the Academic Advising System. An additional benefit is the
social maturity our students gain through interaction with caring, empathetic advisors. Because our faculty
members believe in the high priority of academic advising, EWC is a productive place for students to learn.

The academic advising specialists have exemplified this spirit by volunteering to accept the extra duties of
advising E.A.S. students. At this point, other faculty members are asking to become a part of the team of
specialists. Hopefully, the entire Eastern Wyoming College faculty will become academic advising specialists.

Teri Kinkade
Eastern Wyoming College

For further information, contact the author at Eastern Wyoming College, 3200 West C Street, Torrington, WY
82240.

 

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor
May 9, 1986, Vol. VIII, No. 15

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin,
Austin, Texas 78712, (512) 471-7545. Subscriptions are available to nonconsortium members for $35 per year. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg
Foundation and Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly when classes are in session during fall and spring terms and monthly during the summer.

© The University of Texas at Austin, 1986
Further duplication is permitted only by MEMBER institutions for their own personnel. ISSN 0199-106