Over the years academic advising has become complicated.  Too many options for students to complete their degree is troublesome.  I have seen it listed that as much as 80% of students change their major while in college.  This stat shows that most students are unsure of what to study.  If they are not sure what they want to study, how sure are they about the courses they choose each semester?  Enter the Academic Advisor.

Academic advisor roles have become much more than people who “tell students what courses to take.”  They are professionals who act as a student’s personal concierge.  They help students with exploring majors, looking at class options, looking at scheduling options, looking at which professors teach to their learning style, offer up suggestions on how to “double dip” requirements, etc.  Because advisors are in the relationship building business, they often do low level counseling sessions with students as well.

Advising has truly become an art.  To be able to blend the details of degree requirements and be a builder and advocate for students takes special people.  Not everyone has these skills.  I have worked with advisors over the years that are great at pieces, but struggle with the whole.

Here are some of the things modern day Academic Advisors need to enhance their art form:

• Support from administration.  Case loads need to be manageable to have a real impact on student success and retention.
• Online Tools.  CRM systems are critical.  Advisors need tools that help them work more efficiently.
• Public Speaking Skills.  Long gone are the days where advisors can sit in an office or cubical and meet 1:1 with students. They are now part of orientations, class room presentations, transfer presentations, etc.
• Digging Skills.  All to often academic advisors sit on the surface with students.  Advisors need to dig down, ask follow up questions, get to the route of the problem or true questions that students don’t know to ask.  The key is that advisors must ask questions.
• Problem Solving Skills.  Not every student case is routine.  Each student is unique, treat them that way.
• Critical Thinking Skills.  Similar to problem solving, advisors need to think critically about each student session and seek creative solutions.
• A Love Of Interaction.  Advisors need to love meeting with and working with a lot of students.  Advising needs to be a volume job.  When the advising is in the off season, advisors should be reaching out to students.  High volume should not be the only measuring stick, but it should be one of them.
•  Regular Interaction With Faculty.  Advisors need to know the faculty and faculty need to know them.
• Ongoing Training.  To be an expert in your craft, you need to be constantly improving your skill sets.
• Conference Attendance.  Advisors need to talk to others outside their college and/or system to learn and grow.

On second thought, maybe we need to just simplify the curriculum and have less options for students.  Hmmmm.

My family and I spent 5 days in the Disney World parks this past week.  Here are some insights I had from the trip that are applicable to work and life.

1.  Attention to detail matters.

2.  Exceptional service still exists.

3.  Even the best has areas to improve.

4.  The past can ignite your creativity.

5.  Change is good.

6.  You don’t always have to take yourself so seriously.

7.  While the cost of admission is high, memories you make are priceless.

8.  If you spend some time planning ahead, it can really improve your experience.

9.  A little bit of rain shouldn’t ruin your parade.

10.  Never underestimate the importance of a good pair of shoes.

The still of the morning when everyone is still sleeping and it feels like I have the house to myself remains one of my favorite times of the day.  The time when I can solve the world’s problems, drink coffee, respond to some emails and see what’s happening with people on social media. This morning for some reason I was wondering what happened to time. When did I get so old?  When did getting up at 5:30am without an alarm clock happen?  When did I start to turn off the lights to save electricity?  When did I stop taking things for granted?  When did my body start making weird noises?  I guess my body has always made weird noises, but I mean weird noises that aren’t funny. I guess the big question is….When did I become a grown-up?  At what point did I cross over?  I can’t blame parenthood or marriage because social media proves that is not the case.  I guess I will never really know precisely when it happened, but I am glad it did. I have enjoyed getting older.   Not the older part so much, but the things that go along with getting older.  Sure, there are more responsibilities now, but I am having fun.  I think that is the key to life.  Have fun and enjoy it.  I guess that is why when I see you trip and fall, I laugh.  So, maybe the maturity thing is not all there yet.  HA!

Achieving greatness is really a state of mind not a destination. It is not something will take me years of setting and achieve goals to attain. It is a framework I create for myself to operate in. Every day I will have a chance to either operate in my sweet spot or not. Most of the time it will be my choice whether I operate there or not.

The sweet spot is different for everyone. You have to determine what is important to you. The challenge is your willingness to adapt when things change. My sweet spot today is not the same as it was when I was 20. I am glad for that because with the passage of time, my life has truly gotten better. I would say that my sweet spot is actually a much larger area now than it was then.

With that said, what does greatness look like for me? What is my sweet spot?   While I don’t have it 100% figured out, here are some things….

• Chasing Dreams. I am a dreamer. I love the world of possibilities. If I am not chasing dreams I am not living. If I am not chasing dreams I am nowhere near greatness.
• Partner in Crime. Kelly (my wife) is my ultimate supporter. If I am going to operate in my sweet spot, I she has to be with me. I can’t imagine chasing dreams without my partner in crime. One of the great things about having a partner in crime is that I get the opportunity to chase after her dreams too.
• Mini Me. Nathan (my son) is my ultimate balance. What is great about Nate is that he doesn’t care if my day was challenging or if something has not gone according to plan. He just wants to hang out and spend time with Dad. It amazes me how just a few minutes with him can wipe out the most difficult of days. So quantity and quality time with my son is critical.
• Doing what I love. This is about my career. Life is way to short to work at a place or someone who makes me miserable.   This is a job that challenges me to think critically, find solutions, build relationships, work as part of a team, and aligns with my values.   I was reminded of that this week while in India with some colleagues. Passion, honesty and a desire to win. I love that.
• Fulfilling my purpose. God is of the utmost importance to me. I can never achieve real greatness without keeping Him at the center of my life.

Life for me needs to be an adventure. It can’t one that I measure with a rubric. It needs to be however one that I think about regularly and hold myself accountable to ensure that I give my best effort every day. I can’t ever achieve greatness by giving less than my best.

When is the last time you chose to be great?  Do you even know what that means for you?  I have been thinking about this a lot over the past several days. There are several challenges I see for myself in achieving this.

1.  How do I define this for myself?

2.  How was it defined for me by others?  Can I break that and go my own way?

3. What is my commitment to achieving this?

4.  Am I specific enough in my definition to know when I have gotten there?

5.  Once I do get there, can I maintain it?  Do I need to re-evaluate greatness?  Can I live up to the new expectations?

I am making a commitment to myself to define this for me and go for it.  I am in Mumbai India and have a nice looooooooong flight home to Phoenix beginning Thursday night.  No better time than that to come up with a plan!

My challenge for you is to do the same.  Well, minus the long flight part.

What does achieving greatness mean for you?  What will it take for you to get there?  I think we owe it to ourselves to  maximize our potential and our lives.

I will share mine once I figure it out:)

Today I witnessed recognition at its finest.  Most times when “everyone gets a trophy” I am one of the first to roll my eyes.  This was different.  Why?  Because it was done uniquely for each person.  This was not a manager in a company, but a 1st grade teacher.  She had a certificate for each student.  No student got the same certificate.  She commented on each student and why she thought they were special and what they brought to the class.

This was my son’s class (I don’t typically hang out in 1st grade classrooms).   I was enamored with what I saw.   I could see each student filling with joy and excitement as their name was read and they got to go to the front of the class to get their certificate.  It was meaningful to each student because the teacher was recognizing them for their accomplishment.   It was meaningful because it was personalized.  It was meaningful because she cared.  It was meaningful because she showed them they matter.

This had a profound impact on me.  Some of my feeling is personal as it was for my son, but I will say it was more than that.  It got me thinking about how we recognize a job well done in the workplace.  It is a rare manager that takes the time to publicly recognize an employee for the great work they do.  Even more rare is a public recognition for a specific accomplishment.  Today was not about recognizing mountains, but recognizing the specialness of the individual.  I was humbled by the gesture.  Well done Ms Brooks, well done.

My hope is that I learn from this and my staff benefit from it:)

When you come to a fork in the road (and there is always a fork in the road), remember to seek wise council.  I have grown fond of that saying “none of us is as smart as all of us.”  Leveraging other’s thinking can only improve outcomes.

What I have learned about this over the years is that it is not just about seeking wise council.  It is seeking wise and trusted council.  When you reach forks in the road, whether personal or professional, you want to be able to talk with someone who has your best interest at heart.  Someone who will keep things confidential.  Someone who can offer good, solid advice.

The forks can sometimes be for small decisions.  Things like:  I am looking to contract out a service for X.  I have two companies that seem reputable.   If I go with company A, I get this.  If I go with company B, I get that.  You can obviously make the decision yourself, but having someone who is not in the thick of it may be able to offer a perspective you did not see.

So, long story short.  Forks are good.  Forks are opportunities. Wise council can help to ensure that you make the most of your opportunities

Does higher education need accreditation reform or an overhaul?  I have been thinking about this question a lot lately.  We seem to want to tweak the system in hopes that it will improve.  Is it getting better?  Ahh….No.  I think it’s time to actually fix it by starting anew.

I don’t understand the need for both regional and national accreditation.  It seems that we should have one.  Figure out what the standards should be and make all higher education institutions jump through those hoops.  I agree that there needs to be some set of standards, but two sets creates a class system.   Regional is considered better than national, but is it really?  Do we honestly believe that if colleges/universities are “for profit,” then they only care about money?  I have spent a huge chunk of my career working for nonprofit colleges and universities.  I can tell you first hand that they too focus on the all mighty dollar.  All businesses (for profit and non profit alike) need money to operate successfully.  More is always better.

Times have changed.  Needs have changed.  Options have increased.  Methods have increased.  Time to do this differently.

Some random questions for this fine Friday.

• Would the work week be more fun if every day felt like Friday?
• Does working from home make you feel like you never leave the office?
• Is routine the killer of creativity or the foundation for it?
• Why does Converse make the Chuck Taylor shoe a 1/2 size too big?
• Why are some of the most critical professions paid the least?
• Is one rock any dumber than a box of rocks?
• Why do people not value online learning as much as in-person?  Is it the lack of learning or the crummy content and delivery?

Ok, discuss.

Higher Education has been pushing “Student Success” as an outcome model.  I would say that over the past 5 years or so, this term has been used to define a wide variety of things relating to students.  I’ve heard it talked about with small wins, like course completion.  It is also used to celebrate larger wins like degree completion and university transfer.

Don’t get me wrong, measuring and celebrating small and large wins are important.  Knowing the uniqueness of each student can be important as well in measuring true success.  The challenge in higher education is coming to a consensus on what “Student Success” really means.  It seems like the target constantly moves.  I also wonder if the definitions that institutions use is coming up short.

Should we be measuring student success beyond what they did at our colleges?  If you are a community college, should you measure the graduation rates of your transfer students?  What about job placement in you occupational programs?  For Universities, should you be measuring job placement?  What about graduation rates from graduate programs for your students who moved on to graduate schools immediately after their undergraduate degree?  I guess I wonder if student success should be tied more to longterm outcomes rather than short term wins?

If your average student goes to college to get a job in their chosen field after graduation or make more money, it seems like this should be a top indicator of student success.

What your definition of “Student Success?”