Advising as Servant Leadership: Investigating the Relationship
Advisors serve in many, often overlooked, roles. We investigated the supposition that McClellan (2007a) espoused between academic advising and servant leadership. Our hypotheses, that measures of servant leadership and developmental advising are correlated and that wisdom is the best predictor of developmental advising behaviors, were supported. We used Winston and Sandor's (1984) Academic Advising Inventory and Barbuto and Wheeler's (2006) Servant Leadership Questionnaire to examine the relationship. Our sample consisted of 223 undergraduates at a midsized university in the southeastern United States. Implications for practice include enhancing advisor training and development.
Contributor Notes
After serving as an academic advisor and the Graduate Assistant Advisor Training Coordinator for the OASIS Center for Advising at Valdosta State University, W. Kohle Paul has accepted a position as Coordinator of Student Success and Retention at Georgia Perimeter College Dunwoody campus. He is working toward a doctorate in higher education leadership at Valdosta State University. His main research area focuses on investigating the applicability of servant leadership as an effective model for advising and advisor development. He is currently developing an academic advisor servant-leadership behavior scale as a follow-up to this piece and as part of his dissertation. He can be reached at kohlepaul@gmail.com.
K. Courtney Smith served as a graduate assistant advisor for the OASIS Center for Advising at Valdosta State University while working on this research project. She graduated in July 2011 with an MS in clinical-counseling psychology. She now works as a regional manager for Special Olympics Georgia.
Brendan J. Dochney served as a graduate assistant advisor for the OASIS Center for Advising at Valdosta State University while working on this research project. He graduated in May 2011 with a MS in clinical-counseling psychology. He now works as an activity therapist at Georgia Regional Hospital in Savannah.
