Bridges to Success Motivating Students to Follow Through on Campus Referrals

Heather Luth, MPhil

Professional Background

Academic Advisor

UC Riverside School of Business 2013-2015

Assistant Director

University of Redlands Office of Professional Development 2015-Present

Alexander Astin’s Theory of Involvement

http://whitneykjones.weebly.com/knowledge-and-understanding-of-student-populations-and-student-development.html

Involvement is Positively Correlated With:

• General abilities and critical thinking

• Retention and persistence

• Academic Success

Sense of Belonging is Positively Correlated With:

• Greater sense of self-worth

• Perceived professor caring

• Lower levels of externalizing problems

0 Times 52%

1 Time 16%

2 Times 12%

3+ Times 20%

How Often Did You Visit the Academic Resource Center/Tutoring Last Year?

0 Times 1 Time 2 Times 3+ Times

Never 66%

Once 26%

More than Once 8%

How Often Did You Attend Office Hours for This Course?

Never Once More than Oncen= 600

Source: Griffin, W. et. Al., (2014). Starting the conversation: An exploratory study of factors that influence student office hour use. College Teaching, 62 (3), 94-99

0 Times 72%

1 Time 14%

2 Times 2%

3+ Times 12%

How Often Did You Visit Your Career Center Last Year?

0 Times 1 Time 2 Times 3+ Times

On average, 30% of college students

volunteered each year between 2011 and 2013

Corporation for National and Community Service

Which Factor Has the Greatest Influence On

Student Engagement?

• Gender

• Ethnicity

• Entering Ability Levels

• Size of Institution

• Previous record of involvement in high school/CC

• Institutional Policy

• Mission of Institution

• Advisor/Student Ratio

Pike, Gary & Kuh, George “Typology of Student Engagement For American Colleges and Universities” Research in Higher Education, Vol. 46, No. 2, March 2005

The Exception to the Rule: 90% of Students Visited Their Academic Advisor Last Year

0 Times 10%

1 Time 18%

2 Times 28%

3+ Times 44%

How Often Did You Visit Your Academic Advisor Last Year?

0 Times 1 Time 2 Times 3+ Times

n=50 – Consistent with findings from National Survey of Student Engagement (2007)

“

”

What looks like a people problem

is often a situation problem.

“Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard”

Student Academic Advisor

Other Student Success Offices

A Unique Advantage

Student Perceptions of Academic Advising

82%

32%

16%

28%

COURSE PLANNING CAREER GUIDANCE GETTING CONNECTED WITH PEERS (STD. ORG/STUDY GROUP)

GETTING CONNECTED TO OTHER CAMPUS RESOURCES

What Does Your Academic Advisor Assist You With?

Changing Perceptions: Advisors as Connectors

Training

Knowledge

Partnerships

Partnerships

• Invite other student success departments to staff meetings

• Become familiar with colleagues in other departments

• Attend their events and collaborate on new initiatives

Knowledge

• Learn about processes, events, workshops, and coaching offered on campus

• Collaborate with the career center to learn more about your students’

professional development and typical career pathways

• Limited on time? Use student workers and ambassadors to collect information

Training

• Include campus partnerships in new advisor training

• Encourage holistic professional development

• Use advising colleagues as professional development liaisons

Changing Perceptions: Positive Psychology

When Do Students Follow Through on Referrals?

• If they feel it is necessary for degree

completion: 86%

• If they feel that it is useful: 48%

• If they feel it is not useful but their advisor tells

them to go: 22%

58%

40%

18% 14%

24%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Not Necessary forAcademic Success

Will Not AddSignificant

Meaning to Life orEnhance Future

Prospects

Not Sure WhatThey Do

Not Sure AboutLocation or Hours

Don't Want toInteract With

New/UnfamiliarFaculty and Staff

Why Do Students Fail to Follow Through?

“I did not feel that they were relevant to

me at the time.”

“Unless necessary, I don’t seek out help.”

“I don’t need them.”

“I do not need to yet but I will.”

“There was no need to at this time.”

Mastery vs. Performance Orientation Goal Orientation Theory

“Students with mastery orientation seek to improve their competence.

Those with performance orientations seek to prove their competence.”

Schraw, G. (1998). Promoting general metacognitive awareness. Instructional Science, 26, 113-125.

Redefining College Completion

• An appreciation for lifelong learning and

a desire for constant progress

• Confidence in reaching out and

establishing relationships, even when you

don’t “need” them

• A sense of curiosity and exploration

Redefining “Successful” College Completion:

Diet vs. Lifestyle Metaphor

Leon Festinger’s

Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

1. Change our behavior.

2. Justify our behavior by

changing the conflicting

cognition.

3. Justify our behavior by

adding new cognitions.

Image Source: http://www.truthonthenet.com/cognitive_dissonance.htm

Redefining “Successful” Degree Completion

and Creating Cognitive Dissonance

Student Beliefs:

“Degree Completion = Success”

Facts that Challenge Beliefs:

44% of recent college graduates are in

jobs that do not require a bachelor’s

degree

16% of recent college graduates are

looking for work or are only employed

part time

Only 11% of employers feel that college

grads are prepared for the workforce

Effective Referrals

• Ask students about their developmental goals to

guide your referral; avoid being prescriptive

• Discuss the student’s role and responsibility in

maximizing and directing their own learning

experience

• Initiate a relationship with the third party during

the appointment

“The Assumptive Close”

• “I will give you a call at the end of this week to see if faculty

office hours were more helpful to you now that you are

writing a list of questions beforehand.”

• “The career center allows you to make appointments online,

so how about we set one up for you while you are here?”

Questions?

Heather Luth

Heather_Luth@redlands.edu

909-748-8031