Students’ Relationships with First-Year Advisors and the Transition to Faculty Advisors: A Qualitative Study of Appreciative Advising and its Effects on College Students.

Author

Robert McLean, South Dakota State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

2019

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department / School

Counseling and Human Development

First Advisor

Katelyn Romsa

Keywords

Advising, Advising Transitions, Appreciative Advising, Faculty Advising, Student Support, Transition

Abstract

This qualitative study investigated questions that were created to (a) help improve the quality of academic advising within professional advising and faculty advising at a public university in the Midwest as well as (b) provide additional support to the importance of Appreciative Advising in the advising role and in student services. The theoretical framework for this thesis was Appreciative Education also known as Appreciative Inquiry and Appreciative Advising (Bloom, Hutson, He & Konkle, 2013). Student testimonials were gauged through face-to-face, one-on-one interviews to analyze students’ interactions with their professional and faculty academic advisors and to determine which connections with their advisors were of importance. This study found that students differed in their degree of satisfaction and levels of motivation to go back to their professional and faculty advisors, with professional advisors being rated higher in those services. In addition, this study found the importance of a student-advisor relationship especially during students’ transition from an undeclared to a declared major. While there are some limitations of this study, the findings of this research add to the body of literature by highlighting the need and importance of support and quality academic advising during students’ transitional period from a professional to a faculty advisor. Recommendations for further research and practice are discussed.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Counseling in higher education.
Faculty advisors.
Appreciative inquiry.
College student development programs.
College students.

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

79

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Recommended Citation

McLean, Robert, "Students’ Relationships with First-Year Advisors and the Transition to Faculty Advisors: A Qualitative Study of Appreciative Advising and its Effects on College Students." (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3376.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/3376