Appreciative Onboarding and Professional Development of Academic Advisors

Abstract

Advisor onboarding and professional development are critical to the success of advising. This article explains the Undergraduate Academic Advisor (UAA) professional development model used in the University Advising Center (UAC) at the University of South Carolina. The Appreciative Education framework (Bloom et al., 2008) informs the practices regarding advisor onboarding and professional development. Beginning at the interview stage and continuing through promotion via the UAC’s Advising Career Ladder, advisors are encouraged to develop and contribute to the positive momentum of advising. The advisor onboarding and professional development benefits students in noticeable ways, as UAAs outperform other faculty and staff advisors on virtually every metric.