We examined the hidden curriculum of doctoral advising by conceptualizing the advisor as a teacher. Using autoethnographic methods in this case study, we simultaneously explored both sides of the advisor-student relationship. The constructivist paradigm permeated all aspects of the research: data collection, analysis, and interpretation. The significance of this study lies in new understanding of the zone of proximal doctoral development and the exploration of barriers to building positive multiyear advising relationships. Findings and implications resulted in new understandings of how doctoral advisors can minimize obstacles by making expectations explicit, listening by hearing, creating relationships of trust, and judiciously negotiating power. Making the hidden curriculum explicit can be accomplished with purposefully scheduled meetings, supportive caring relationships, and ethical practices.

In this mixed-methods study we identify situations that impact students' decisions to withdraw from a course and examine their affective reasoning and attitudes toward course withdrawal. Exploring students' decision-making processes through the lens of self-authorship, we show that students frequently seek information from people with whom they have a personal rather than academic relationship, make decisions with little awareness of academic consequences, and often experience a feeling of dissonance when withdrawing from courses, even describing themselves as “quitters.” Our results lead to recommendations that can assist academic advisors in developing meaningful interventions that advance students' decision-making abilities and intellectual development.

Utilizing generational theory, we explored the relationship between Millennial characteristics and students' major selection and academic advising experiences. We conducted focus groups of students with senior standing at a private, midwestern university, and we utilized a closed coding technique to analyze the qualitative data. Consistent with documented Millennial traits, participants expressed a sense of specialness as well as conventional motivation, optimism, and a need to feel protected. The findings suggest that academic advisors should acknowledge and at times accommodate these Millennial characteristics when working with students. More specifically, we suggest a split-model advising system as a way to optimize the advising experiences of Millennial students.

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.

We used an online academic-advising program to examine the effects of preparatory training designed to elicit high states of learning-goal orientation and low states of avoid goal orientation. Results indicate that training was effective in some cases for manipulating states of goal orientation. The training did not directly affect behaviors as anticipated; however, perceptions of partner behaviors showed effects. Moreover, learning-goal orientation was related to advisee postprogram academic self-efficacy. Thus, individuals working with such mentoring programs should consider implementing goal-oriented preparatory training programs to increase mentoring relationship effectiveness.

Higher education institutions struggle in determining the best ways to provide effective academic advising for students in online degree programs. In addition, the dropout rate among online students reaches to 50%. Research on student retention reveals that lack of interaction is a key factor in a student's decision to drop out. I used a mixed-methods research design based on the prescriptive-developmental advising framework to investigate advisor interactions with students in online undergraduate-degree programs. The results indicate the need to establish practices and tools that create a more personalized and collaborative student-advisor interaction where advisors focus on providing cognitive, affective, and systemic support.

The validity and reliability of three instruments, the Counselor Rubric for Gauging Student Understanding of Academic Planning, micro-analytic questions, and the Student Survey for Understanding Academic Planning, all based on social cognitive theory, were tested as means to assess self-efficacy and self-regulated learning in college academic planning. The rubric assessed pre- and post-intervention self-regulated learning of academic-planning strategy levels. The micro-analytic questions assessed self-regulated learning during forethought and self-reflection phases. Post-intervention self-efficacy in academic planning and retrospectively evaluated pre-intervention self-efficacy were measured by the survey. All three instruments showed strong validity and reliability, but the survey did not distinguish between different self-efficacy challenge levels.