Running head: FUNCTIONAL AREA STUDY

Functional Area Study: Virtual Academic Advising and Technology

Antoaneta Topalova
Loyola University Chicago

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Shadow Study
I selected to observe Lynn Bryan, an Academic Advisor at Northeastern Illinois
University. Academic advising is one of my desired functional areas within higher education. I
sought after Lynn at NEIU, because I wanted to find out more about NEIUs culture, mission and
student population. In addition, NEIU is a state institution and thus far, I have not been exposed
to this type of an institution.
Serving as an Admissions Advisor, an Orientation Graduate Assistant and currently
holding a Graduate Academic Advising Assistantship, I had an idea of what Lynns daily
schedule would look like. During my observation, Lynn primarily met with students in her
office and also communicated with students via e-mail. NEIU first-year students are required to
register with their assigned academic advisor for the first two semesters at the institution, or until
they have 45 credit hours completed. Students gain full autonomy of their registration during
their third semester at the institution and from then on. During my time with Lynn, she
predominantly met with first-year students. They are advised to register for four classes during
their first semester so that they can get acclimated with their new school schedule and the course
work load. However, students are also advised to increase their load to six courses for their
second semester in order to be able to graduate in four years. In reference to graduation, Lynn
shared that NEIU students academic career is on average six years long.
The most common student cases Lynn saw, while I was there, were cases related to
dropping a course and questions pertaining to course registration. One of the students wanted to
drop a class, because she was not doing well in it and did not want to earn an F. Lynn
explained how dropping a class now would result in a W on the students transcript, which
stands for withdrawal, and how that withdrawal could have an impact on her Financial Aid. The

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student acknowledged that, Lynn removed the withdrawal hold from the students account and
the student dropped the course. I also noticed how once the students registration or withdrawal
holds were removed, the students immediately executed the appropriate action in front of their
advisor. Whereas the students with whom I work, at Loyola University, are encouraged to drop
or add a course independently. They do not need to execute the appropriate action in front of
their academic advisor.
Through observing Lynn, I noticed she approached each student differently. This
resonated with me, because a subjective approach is part of my personal philosophy. Not all
students are the same and therefore, as an up and coming Student Affairs practitioner, I should
not approach all of them the same way. Some students might need more guidance, while others
are at a more independent stage of their lives. When observing Lynn, I recall a male student who
wanted to withdraw from a course but, encountered technical difficulties with his login
password. Lynn provided him with the telephone number for the IT department and stayed with
him while he was on the phone with IT. After the issue was resolved he logged into his NEIU
account, Lynn removed the withdrawal hold and the student dropped the course. He was
handled with care and support from the academic advisor, which made him feel comfortable and
appreciative.
When students began to arrive with registration questions, Lynn explained to me how the
department saves spots for first-year students in general education courses such as remedial
Math, English, etc. The advisors know how quickly those courses fill and therefore ensure spots
for first-year students. However, first-year students who are dependent on the saved course spots
must have a flexible schedule, because not all of the saved sections will work with students
schedules.

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I am grateful for the opportunity to have observed one of NEIUs academic advisors,
because the experience helped define my career goals even further. Conducting this shadow
study at a state institution made me more aware of the fact that students do fail courses and
withdraw from courses more than I thought possible. Going into the student affairs profession, I
need to be cognizant of this phenomenon, because I am certainly interested in developing and
implementing programs which will aide students academic success.
Prior to entering the masters program at Loyola, I took advantage of different
opportunities at various institutions. My experience steered me in the direction of academic
advising and possibly career counseling. I certainly want to work in an area of higher education,
which will expose me to daily one-on-one student interactions. Through observing Lynn Bryan
at NEIU, I know that I will be meeting with students one-on-one and assisting them with not
only navigating their academic careers, but the institution as a whole. When I was in college, I
recall my academic advisors and my career advisors guiding me through my quarterly course
selection and internship search. I received the support that I needed while I was in college, and
going into the student affairs profession will allow me to give back to the community and assist
students who need support, guidance and mentorship.
My observations at NEIUs Academic Advising Office enabled me to notice a few
differences in the way the advisors conducted their daily responsibilities. I learned that the office
does not have a mandated appointment only policy. Advisors see students on a walk-in basis.
Initially I was surprised, however Lynn brought up a good point when mentioning how this
steers the students to schedule appointments, so that they can avoid waiting in line. This method
teaches them responsibility and time management.

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The most significant thing I learned from this experience is to be vigilant of students
unspoken needs and unidentified characteristics. One of the students Lynn saw requested for me
to step out during her appointment. I honored her request and waited outside of the room. After
the appointment was over, Lynn updated me that the student was simply unsure of what classes
to take next semester. However, the significance of our conversation pertained to the potential,
invisible and unidentified needs some students may have. That conversation was the greatest
take away from this experience, because it made me consider something that had never crossed
my mind before; unidentified student needs/characteristics. Yes, some students choose to
disclose a mental/learning disability on their college applications or later in their academic
careers, however, other students do not disclose such information. If that is the case, student
affairs practitioners should approach with caution. I certainly do not want to assume that a
student has an undisclosed need based on what I do or do not observe from him/her. However,
the conversation with Lynn has certainly given me a different perspective and has made me think
outside the box. I have never considered the possibility of this before, and now this has stirred
questions for me. Should this be a serious concern for student affairs professionals? How would
it impact the field? Is anyone in higher education conducting research on this? Is it ethical for
student affairs professionals to hold informational seminars on invisible needs/disabilities for
parents? I recall the presence of a Disabilities Coordinator in all of the institutions I have
worked for, because those institutions want to aid students who identify as having a disability.
Well, what about students who are hesitant to disclose their disabilities or special needs? How
can institutions take care of them without knowing what those students need? I believe I will
generate an answer for each question as I gain more experience in the field.

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Love and Maxam (2011) discussed the core values, goals and outcomes of advising. One
of which is assisting students in considering their life goals by relating their interests, skills,
abilities, and values to careers, the world of work, and the nature and purpose of higher
education (p. 415). I can confidently say that Lynn Bryan achieved this advising goal
seamlessly. Through observing her interact with each student, I picked up on several
connections Lynn made between students personal lives, career goals and academic plans. In
addition, the work of Love and Maxam (2011) mentioned the importance of advisors to assist
students in connecting their educational plan with their values and goals. This is the most salient
advising goal for me, because it resonates with me. I most certainly want to see students develop
their identity during their college careers, excel academically as well as intellectually and
socially, however, students should have a plan as to what to do with their earned college degrees.
The advising goal of having an educational plan which mirrors a students goals and objectives
exemplifies this.
Advisors are not only responsible to the individuals they advise (p. 414), but they are
also responsible for connecting students to the appropriate resources. An example that stands out
to me is of Lynn Bryan advising a student at NEIU who planned to transfer to the University of
Illinois at Chicago after her second year. The student wanted to study civic engineering at UIC
and met with Lynn to make sure she is taking courses that will transfer to UIC and be applied to
her major. Lynn pointed out the courses NEIU offered for a civic engineer major and also
advised the student to contact UIC and inquire about the credits they are willing to accept.
Interpersonal skills and problem solving play a pertinent role when it comes to core
advising competencies which I feel are necessary to master. Love and Maxam (2011)
emphasized the significance of active listening and focusing on the concerns of the student.

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Drawing from my experience in student advising, I attest to the importance of those two skills.
When a student seeks my assistance, all of my energy and attention for the time being must be
focused on the concerns of the student. I have noticed from my professional experience and
from observing Lynn, that advisors should always ask open ended questions, be aware of their
tone and body language, and affirm the student that they are listening. Problem solving is
essential when it comes to advising students. Love and Maxam (2011) accentuated Effective
problem solving requires a partnership between advisor and adviseeThe role of the advisor is
to work with the student in the problem-solving process (p. 417). I agree, because I believe
advisors should assist students in developing their own solutions to the problem. College
advisors are contributors to a students independence building and development, therefore
advisors should take advantage of teachable moments and guide a student towards developing
his/her own solutions to a problem.
The work of Love and Maxam (2011) articulated a rational system of problem solving,
involving problem identification, diagnosis, generating alternatives, selecting solutions,
implementation and evaluation/adjustment. Those are all significant parts of problem solving
which need to be modeled to a student in order for him/her to master the skill of problem
solving. When it comes to modeling this skill, I believe advisors are the perfect match, because
of the significant role they play in a students college career.
Issue Exploration
For the issue exploration part of this paper, I chose to examine virtual academic advising
and technology in higher education. Working as a Graduate Assistant at an Academic Advising
Office at Loyola University, has allowed me to see what goes on behind closed doors and how
administration and technology collide when it comes to academic advising. I witness, first hand,

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how imperative technology is to academic advising, especially when it comes to transfer credits,
study abroad course approvals and the overall graduation tracking. When I am reviewing student
graduation applications, I utilize tracking sheets, which our office develops through the use of
Microsoft Excel. In addition, I also reference each students LOCUS account, ran by PeopleSoft,
to make certain that the courses and grades recorded on the tracking sheet, match what the
academic advising office has in their online database.
One of the primary reasons as to why I chose to research this topic is, because many
times what I see on a students LOCUS account, does not match his/her tracking sheet. The
online system does not automatically take into account transfer credits and whether they can be
applied towards university core courses or the students major requirements. The same can be
said for study abroad course approvals. The only way this online system can remain updated at
all times, is if an administrator (i.e. academic advisor or someone else with access) maintains the
course updates every day. A few weeks into my position, I concluded this to be unattainable,
because everyone in my office is busy advising students, running grade reports, meeting with
faculty and putting out other fires. The need for a more efficient system is evident and once that
is set into place the advisors job will be made easier and students will have access to their most
accurate online graduation tracking reports.
Keeping in mind the imperfections of the technology academic advisors utilize daily, I
wanted to ask Lynn Bryan if her daily use of the technology/software was taken into account.
Generally, advisors are not consulted about mostly anything (L. Bryan, personal
communication, 11/06/2013). Leonards (2004) article supported Lynns statement. The author
stated how NACADA surveyed 818 of its members anonymously through email, and how one of
the findings of the survey was the exclusion of advisors from technology planning (p. 30).

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Respondents of the survey expressed how their input on the technology they utilize daily is never
taken into account, especially when upper level management attempts to comprise and
implement new technological tools for advisors.
Through reading Spencers (2006) article, I concluded that he is a researcher who is
cognizant of the issue related to excluding academic advisors from technology planning.
Combining his student advising experience with his teaching profession, Spencer (2006)
developed a solution to an advising problem. The professor for Electrical Engineering
Technology developed a tool which aided advisors with student schedule construction and
degree planning. My program has saved countless hours of work for our advisors, shortened
the amount of time required for students to graduate, and has increased our enrollment (p. 28).
Feghalis, Zbibs and Hallals (2011) article is geared towards alleviating some of the
administrative responsibilities of academic advisors. The researchers work centered around the
integration of the Online Advisor tool, which contains all of the student information advisors
need in order to work with students accurately and efficiently. To add, students also have access
to their most up to date information when it comes to core pre-requisites, major pre-requisites,
completed credit hours/missing credit hours and more. The Online Advisor saves advisors time
and effort, thus enabling them to have a better relationship with a student and focus on the
student development aspect (Feghali, Zbib, & Hallal, 2011).
Considering the overarching theme of this research paper to be around virtual academic
advising and technology, I also wanted to investigate research geared towards advising
assessment tools, tailoring technology for the benefit of advisors and students, and the future of
technology and academic advising. In her article, Russ (2009) talked about how distance
advising originated in the 1990s. Academic advisors used to communicate with students via

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telephone, fax and, as it became popular; email. The article also addressed the rise of an Internet
program called Second Life. The objective of the program is to assist students with their
academic planning. Second Life is an interactive program that operates in a virtual space
known as in-world (p. 108). Second Life is a three-dimensional virtual environment, in which
one can create his/her own character(s) and interact with other members from that community.
The University of Texas in Austin implemented the program and students who engaged in
Second Life gave it a positive review (Russ, 2009). Some of the advantages of Second Life are
related to student satisfaction, and the ability to experience social media in a different way. On
the flip side, the infinite freedom students gain through the program is at question. Issues around
liability of students experiences have surfaced.
Examples of recent disturbing events on Second Life campuses include an avatar opening
fire on the virtual campus of Ohio University. A professor at Vassar College created a
replica of a Sistine Chapel that can be visited by avatars. The unveiling of the
project was upsetting to those who consider the real Sistine Chapel a sacred religious
spot. (p. 112)
Remaining on the topic of virtual advising, Maples and Han (2008) conducted research
on cyber counseling, which, according to them, serves as the umbrella for academic advising and
career guidance, all done with the help of technology. For the researchers, cyber counseling
includes communicating with students via email and Web-based information access. According
to Maples and Han (2008), cyber counseling is advantageous, because it is accessible to people
and individuals are more prone to be honest with their counselors due to the lack of face-to-face
contact. On the contrary, there are disadvantages to cyber counseling such as, computers do not
offer the human interaction that is present, and some would argue, that is essential in the

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counselors office (p. 180). In addition, Student Affairs professionals cannot assume every
student has Internet access and knows how to navigate technology in order to conduct counseling
sessions online.
Thinking about online institutions, Gravels (2012) article discussed the topic of
academic advising at online degree granting institutions. The article emphasized the challenges
online institutions face when attempting to implement academic advising to students. Some of
Gravels (2012) research findings included, the dropout rate among online students reaches to
50% (p. 56). It turns out students are not satisfied with virtual advising, due to the lack of a
more personalized student-advisor interaction. Now, how can a student receive a personalized
advising experience when he/she is unable to physically meet his/her advisor? The only way,
that I think, a student can receive a more personalized advising appointment is through a Skype
video chat. Through the video chat students and advisors would be able to see each other and
pick up on body language as well as verbal cues. Personally, I am not a fan of virtual advising,
because of that lost physical interaction. During my time at the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago,
I noticed that our students were only advised by virtual advisors and word on the street was that
the students were not satisfied with the service. When interviewing Lynn Bryan at NEIU, one of
my questions was on the topic of virtual advising. Lynn did not mind the idea of face time/Skype
advising however, she seemed hesitant towards advising via email due to the high probability to
misunderstand students, as well as for students to misunderstand advisors. Lynn also disclosed
that virtual advising can benefit students who live further away from campus, disabled students
and students who do not prefer the human contact that comes along with advising (L. Bryan,
personal communication, 11/06/2013). Connecting this to Gravels (2012) work, the author
recommended more research to be done on the student-advisor interaction at online institutions.

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Steele and Thurmond (2009) acknowledged the need to restructure the technology tools
academic advisors utilize. Some of their suggestions for reconceptualizing this area include, the
re-evaluation of an institutions website and student portal, and the level of knowledge advisors
possess when it comes to utilizing the various technology resources. The researchers also
suggested for advisors to assess their communication tools such as email, Smart FAQs, telephone
and web conferencing. Through their research article, Steele and Thurmond (2009) encouraged
advisors to make certain that all of their communication tools and technology resources produce
the highest level of cognitive interactions for students. After all, it is the academic advisors
responsibility to ensure each student reaches his/her academic goal.
The computer science department in California State University- Dominguez Hills took a
different approach to online academic advising. One of the professors from the computer
science department, Kazimierz Kowalski, is a strong promoter of the online academic advising
system at CSU-DH. Professor Kowalski even hinted that in the future there might not be a need
for human advisors, that is, if students know what courses they need to take and everything goes
well (Online Academic Advising, 2004). I take it the key word here is if. I personally do not
see the role of human academic advisors to cease from existence, because of my current
experience as a Graduate Assistant and my past role as an Orientation/Registration Graduate
Assistant at Columbia College Chicago. In my experience, students have always sought the help
of an actual person, not a machine or online instructions. Some have even disclosed to me, how
they felt more comfortable and confident after communicating with me.
Similar to Online Academic Advising 2004, Phillips (2013) article also promoted the
use of an online advising tool called eAdvisor. This tool goes above and beyond in helping
students choose a major along with the required courses. For instance, a student may enter

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interested in people, and all majors relevant to this interest appear on the screen, along with
their requirements (p. 50). However, all systems even remotely similar to the eAdvisor are
contingent upon the curriculum. Once the curriculum is changed by faculty, the system needs to
be updated as well.
When interviewing Lynn, we happened to discuss a technological assessment tool
utilized by NEIU academic advisors called Noel-Levitz. Prior to students starting classes for the
first time at NEIU, they are asked to take a survey about their academic standing. The NoelLevitz technology evaluates each students survey and generates a report which establishes if a
student is at risk for academic failure or not. Degree Compass is a similar tool to Noel-Levitz.
In her article, Sparks (2013) talked about how multiple colleges across the United States have
began to utilize Degree Compass and how the results it has yielded have assisted both faculty
and staff when it came to course recommendations. This assessment tool suggests courses to
students based on their previous preferences and their chosen degree programs. This allows for
students to easily navigate through their majors and academic plans.
Thinking about the future of academic advising, Dahls (2004) article predicted advanced
technology integration and self-service on behalf of the student. When asked about the future of
academic advising, Lynn Bryans first response was that the advising tools will evolve as the
years pass by. She mentioned that the human contact could become less, although there will
always be students who will want to talk to a person that will explain things to them. Lynn also
foresees technology to have an impact on policies and advisors daily goals (L. Bryan, personal
communication, 11/06/2013). Jordan (2000) addressed the opportunities advisors will have in
order to further their knowledge and expertise. She also referred to theories of development,

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defense mechanisms, reframing, and narrative tools which will enhance advisors intervention
skills.
Considering the future of academic advising within higher education, I certainly see the
continuation of technology integration. However, I do not foresee online advising taking human
advisors out of the equation. I certainly would not want to be advised by a computer or some
sort of an online advisement tool. As mentioned previously, I currently work with online
advisement tools and there are ramifications that come along with such resources. In addition,
faculty members are often changing various curricula, which hinder the accuracy of online
advising tools. In the near future I do see technology impacting the way advisors go about their
job, but I do not see the human interaction disappearing simply, because it is too precious.

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References
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Feghali, T., Zbib, I., & Hallal, S. (2011). A Web-based Decision Support Tool for Academic
Advising. Journal Of Educational Technology & Society, 14(1), 82-94.

Gravel, C. A. (2012). Student-Advisor Interaction in Undergraduate Online Degree Programs: A

Factor in Student Retention. NACADA Journal, 32(2), 56-67.
Jordan, P. (2000). Advising College Students in the 21st Century. NACADA Journal, 20(2), 2130.
Leonard, M. J. (2004). Results of a National Survey on Technology in Academic Advising.
NACADA Journal, 24(1/2), 24-33.
Love, P., & Maxam, S. (2011). Advising and consultation. In Schuh, J., Jones, S., Harper, S., &
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Maples, M., & Han, S. (2008). Cybercounseling in the United States and South Korea:
Implications for Counseling College Students of the Millennial Generation and the
Networked Generation. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 86(2), 178-183.
Online Academic Advising. (2004). Academic Leader, 20(11), 6.
Phillips, E. D. (2013). Improving Advising Using Technology and Data Analytics. Change,
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Russ, D. (2009). ACADEMIC ADVISING IN SECOND LIFE: An In-World of Possibilities.
Career Planning & Adult Development Journal, 25(3), 108-114.
Sparks, S. D. (2013). K-12 Potential Seen for College `E-Advisers'. Education Week, 32(21), 1011.

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Spencer, G. (2006). A Case Study in the Use of Technology for the Optimization of the Student
Advising Process. ATEA Journal, 33(2), 27-28.
Steele, G. E., & Thurmond, K. C. (2009). Academic advising in a virtual university. New
Directions For Higher Education, (146), 85-95. doi:10.1002/he.349