Efficacy of Advising Outreach on Student Retention, Academic Progress and Achievement, and Frequency of Advising Contacts: A Longitudinal Randomized Trial
Previous research on advising outreach, including intrusive or proactive advising, suggests required advising improves contact frequency, student retention, and academic achievement, especially for students on probation. We show results of a 4-year randomized trial of 501 students at an urban state university. One half the cohort received advising outreach every semester of enrollment. The other half received typical university announcements about advising but no additional outreach. Advising outreach increased student contact with professional advisors but offered minimal support for outreach to improve retention. Future researchers should continue evaluating advising outreach and proactive advising to improve student success.
Contributor Notes
David C. Schwebel is professor of Psychology and Associate Dean for Research in the Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He served for several years as Director of Undergraduate Studies, including advising, in the UAB Psychology Department. He has published extensively on psychological aspects of understanding and preventing children's unintentional injuries and has developed injury prevention techniques for child pedestrian, playground, and swimming pool safety. His research has been funded by the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Dr. Schwebel earned his BA in psychology from Yale University and his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Iowa.
Nancy Walburn is retired as the Director of the Division of General Studies at University of Alabama at Birmingham. In that role, she oversaw advising of exploratory students (undeclared, pre-nursing and pre-health), provided leadership for a university-wide advising network (Committee on Academic Advising), and oversaw initiatives that promoted students' success in the academic context of the university. Ms. Walburn has been active in NACADA since 1986, serving in a variety of leadership roles including the Board of Directors and most recently as Vice President. She has presented at numerous conferences in higher education, served as a consultant for numerous institutions on advising and advising initiatives, and served on the advisory board for the Noel Levitz training video on academic advising.
Katherine Klyce served as an academic advisor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Psychology for several years. She has participatedin NACADA since 2008. Her research interests include issues about undergraduate student populations and group advising strategies. Ms. Klyce earned graduate degrees from Auburn University and Illinois State University.
Kevin Jerrolds serves as lead advisor for undeclared advising in the Division of General Studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He meets individually with undeclared students, provides leadership for the undeclared advising team, advises the UAB chapter of the Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society for First Year Students, and serves in various leadership roles on several campus-wide task forces and committees. Mr. Jerrolds earned his MEd in Counseling from the University of Mississippi and has been active in the NACADA since 2002.
Thanks to Doug O'Neil and Jason Womack for computer database assistance and also to Sharon Jacobsen for her contributions to the early phases of this research. Communication should be directed to David C. Schwebel, Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, schwebel@uab.edu.
