Presented as a professional development workshop for advisors at the University of South Carolina.

1. Developing Your
Personal Advising
Philosophy
Facilitated by:
Mike Dial
Sara McConville

2. Think-Pair-
Share
What is a “personal best”
achievement for you as an academic
advisor during the past year?

3. What is your
purpose?

4. Advising
Philosophy
Teacher Gardner Lamplighters
Personal
Trainer
Bucket Filler Challenger
Travel Guide Supervisor Artist
Builder Cheerleader Explorer

5. The Basics
• What is an advising philosophy?
• What is the purpose of an advising
philosophy?

6. What is an advising philosophy statement?
“[My advisement philosophy] allows me to explain my role to advisees
while it gives structure to my advising sessions and my advisement
programming initiatives. My philosophy gives me a sense of clarity and
focus in my day-to-day interactions with students and in my long-term
career goals. It also helps me incorporate theories of student
development into my advising and provides a clear rationale for my work
with students”
- Nikki Allen Dyer
The New Advisor Guidebook

7. A personal
philosophy of
advising:
• Provides awareness of your beliefs
• Helps you be intentional in your advising
interactions
• Gives context to your thinking and decision
making
• Promotes consistency in advising decisions

8. Advising Philosophy
Statement Blueprint
• 1-2 pages
• Your definition of academic advising
• Your why
• How you advise
• Why you advise that way
• goals / objectives
• Tied to theory and/or research
• How you document evidence of your
effectiveness

9. Other Things to
Consider
Reflect the spirit of the NACADA (2017) Statement of
Core Values of Academic Advising
Try to include student evaluations/outcomes/quotes
Use a narrative, first-person approach. Your philosophy
should be both personal and reflective.
•Avoid jargon and technical terms. Your philosophy
statement should be meaningful to a colleague or a
student.

10. Why are you an
academic advisor?

11. Defining Advising
• What is your personal definition of academic advising?

12. Defining Advising
• What is your personal definition of academic advising?
• Highlight the key phrases or words in your definition that
are critical for someone else to understand your approach to
advising?
• What does each key word or phrase mean to you?

13. Create a List
If someone texted you, “when
you advise, what do you do,”
what would you tell them?

14. What do you want students to know, do, and value as a result of your advising?

15. Student Development
Theory and Advising
Approaches
• Advisors who understand student
development theory and advising approaches
become better practitioners.
• Theories are not static, change over time and
are not pristine.
• “Advising should be an evidence-based
practice in which theory is integrated with
best practices, results of research,
practitioner expertise, and the needs of
students and institutions.” (Jordan, 2016, p.
26).
• Theory-guided decision-making takes the
guesswork out of advising.

16. Developing
Reflective
Practice
“We do not learn from
experience... we learn from
reflecting on experience.”
-John Dewey

17. You’ve Got the Building Blocks
• 1-2 Pages
• Why are you an advisor?
• What do you hope to accomplish?
• What do you do when you advise?
• What theories/paradigms guide your work?
• How do you reflect on, assess, and improve your practice?

18. Next Steps
• When will you have your first draft
completed?
• Importance of accountability
partners
• Discussions with colleagues and
supervisor
• Update your philosophy as
necessary

19. References
• Dyer, A. N. (2007). Advisement philosophy. In Folsom, P.
(Ed.), The new advisor guidebook: Mastering the art of advising
through the first year and beyond (Monograph No. 16) (pp. 47–
48). Manhattan, KS: National Academic Advising Association.
• Core Values