Impactful Faculty Advising: As Frontline Advisors Ronald J Gordon, Clark State Community College

1. Impactful Faculty Advising: As Frontline Advisors Ronald J Gordon, Clark State Community College Dr. Phyllis Cummins, Miami University

2. College Demographics • Main campus located in Springfield, OH • Multiple College Locations • Beavercreek • Bellefontaine • Xenia • Average age 28 • Enrollment approximately 6000 • Degrees and certificates offered • 123

3. College Demographics • Faculty make-up • Full-time - 88 • Health Human and Public Services - 40 • Business and Applied Technology - 20 • Arts and Sciences - 28 • Part-time - 265 • Health Human and Public Services - 55 • Business and Applied Technology - 60 • Arts and Sciences - 140

4. Professional Advising • Holistic advising model • Referral form • Comes from the faculty member • Faculty is provided an update from the professional advisor • Keeping all parties alerted • Guided pathways • Career clusters • Academic plans

5. Changing the Advising Model • Currently “Schedule Students” • Faculty to be advisor/mentor • Introduced to the “team” when accepted to college • Professional advisor • Faculty based on student major • Financial aid contact • Career services • Challenged with the current staffing model

6. Adjunct Faculty Training • Session Occurs Prior to the Start of the Term • Covers Human Resources • Student Affairs and Functions of Each Area • IT Resources • Black Board Support • Email • College Portal • Academic Affairs • College General Updates

7. Adjunct Faculty Training

8. Adjunct Faculty Training • Provide descriptive resource information • SAGE – First Alert • COPE – Internal and External Resources • Americorp Completion Coach – Referral Form • Emergency Funds • Dreamkeepers • Completion Grants • IT and RN Students

9. Adjunct Faculty Profile • Kalen Howell Sr. • Experience - Manages a team of developers and a team of system administrators at Dayton Children’s Hospital in the IT department. 18+ years of experience at LexisNexis as a software engineer, and software quality engineer. • Connection – “I started out in a community colleges and worked my way through to graduate degrees.” • “I make a point to help students understand how specific academic concepts like project planning, design, communication, testing, and coding techniques are applied to real life corporate projects.”

10. Adjunct Faculty Profile • Earl Weaver • Experience – 38 years in industry & government engineering • Connection – “I look for practical ways of relating the course material (math) to real world examples of work performed in my career field.”

11. Adjunct Faculty Profile • Michael Pickarski • Experience – 8 years as a financial advisor and owner of an accounting firm • Connection – “I try to incorporate current events into the daily teachings to see if there is something that is happening in the real world that can relate to what we are talking about in class. I make it a requirement that all of my students find a mentor in the business community. This is the person that you can go to and see what you are learning in the classroom being applied in the real world. I have hired 3 Clark State grads into my businesses as I get to see all of the students in an atmosphere in which many are uncomfortable and I can see the quality of work that they are providing on a daily basis.” • “I truly love teaching and giving what I know to the students so that they can have a step up on the competition when it comes time to get a job in the real world.”

12. Adjunct Faculty Profile • Victor Howarah • Experience – 28 years in IT industry • Connection – “I have a lot of respect for our students. Many of them are juggling work, families, and school. Quite frankly, I don’t know how they do it. I’ve had students come to classes after working third shift and be contributors to my class. • In general, I ensure the students know what is planned for each day of class. I make myself available to my students to help them in any way. Their grades are available for them to review and I have discussions with students about their grades. I regularly remind them of key dates, key assignments, and key due dates. In other words, I want to ensure that the students know that I want them to succeed. ”

13. Student Testimonial • “I am in the middle of transitioning from one career to a totally different industry. My goal was to find a job that would be rewarding following my retirement and I was not sure what direction to take. Following a discussion with my instructor, she provided a bright outcome of what it will take for me to finish the nursing program. Her advise was what I needed during my time of uncertainty.” Anna • “Being out of school for so long was one of the reasons I was hesitant to enter the classroom. No one in the ECE class looked liked me on my first day, so I turned around and walked out. It was my instructor who caught me in the hallway and ushered me back in. She has been a great help in guiding me since.” Anthony

14. Mapping Barriers for Students Age 40-Plus: A Mixed-Methods Study • Age 40-plus research by Miami University and the University of Michigan led to this conversation • Grant funded by the Institute of Education Sciences • Goal: identify barriers and malleable factors • Mixed methods – three case study community colleges in Ohio, including Clark State • Student and faculty focus groups at case study community colleges • Faculty – 3 focus groups, N = 14 • Students – 13 focus groups, N = 69 • Key informant interviews at all 23 community colleges in Ohio • N = 62

15. Access to Advising: An Important Barrier • Not original focus of research but emerged as important • Most older students attend college part-time, often in the evening • May not be on campus during the day to meet with advising staff and access other services • Rely on faculty to act as advisors

16. Multiple Faculty Advisory Roles • Older students rely on faculty to: • Provide accurate information about degree requirements and transfer options • One student was not aware of her college’s affiliation with Hiram – “You can come on weekends and in X amount of time, get a degree and your degree is from Hiram?” • Another student commented: “He also helped lay out the courses that I needed to graduate”

17. Multiple Faculty Advisory Roles • Older students rely on faculty to: • Help in navigating the system • One student expressed “I don’t understand why I can’t find this or…or get the help I need and…and can you suggest…make suggestions? Um…if they…if they were armed or knew more about, you know, things that were available, help that was available through the main office” • Be knowledgeable about programs of study • One student was not aware that her college offered a major in a medical field she aspired to until the faculty member explained “Clark State offers that program”

18. Multiple Faculty Advisory Roles • Older students rely on faculty to: • Understand their challenges in integrating academic, career, and life goals • One student expressed to her teacher she was having difficulty studying because of all the distractions at home; the faculty member suggested “you know, maybe it would be helpful if you listen to music” • While another student stated: “I’ve seen both here. Uh, it’s been the exception, not the rule to have a teacher that says ‘I really don’t care if you leave class early, you’re not going to get credit for this class’ ”

19. Multiple Faculty Advisory Roles • Older students rely on faculty to: • Provide referrals for services to address non-academic problems • When a student was asked who he turned to when facing personal issues, he responded: “your instructors - you usually start off with your instructor and then go from there - they can give you ideas on who to contact to get you some help” • Provide career advising and networking • Older students value the expertise adjunct faculty provide because of their industry experience • One student expressed her appreciation about honest career advice from faculty “what kind of jobs are available? I mean, truly, not just statistically, truly…she was very insightful in helping me out to decide to…whether or not to go and pursue this or not”

20. Questions?