NACADA Journal Volume 37: Issue 1

We begin this, our inaugural issue of the Journal as co-editors, with heartfelt acknowledgement and thanks to Drs. Leigh Shaffer and Rich Robbins, who have served the NACADA Journal as co-editors for the past 6 (yes, count them, six) years. During that time, these conscientious colleagues took on the task of expanding the Editorial Board to ensure sufficient reviewers for the continued growth in the number of manuscript submissions, the latter evidence of their success in building the reputation of the Journal as a highly regarded peer-reviewed publication. To them, we tip

Popular and news media sources may play a key role in influencing undergraduate choice of major, yet their unique impact has not been investigated. Most research has focused on the influence of unmediated salient referents, such as parents, on students' major choices. Therefore, we developed a scale to examine the role of media professionals and celebrities (mediated salient referents) and unmediated salient referents on career selection. Overall, we investigated the ways media exposure, technology use, mediated salient referents, and unmediated salient referents influenced variations in the likelihood students choose the media-related major of journalism through a survey of communication undergraduates (N = 2,401). Results showed mediated referents and news consumption positively predicted the choice of journalism as a major, while unmediated referents influenced students' selection of other communication-related majors.

We sought to determine whether receiving major re-selection (MRS) advising benefits undergraduate students' grade-point averages (GPAs). We used a quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design to compare a treatment group (n = 219) of undergraduates who changed their majors after receiving MRS advising with a control group (n = 206) who changed majors without advising during the same semester as the treatment group. Findings showed that, on average, students who received MRS experienced no change in their program GPA but an increase in their semester GPA; however, the control group experienced a decrease in program and semester GPAs. Multiple regression analysis confirmed that MRS advising had a positive effect on posttest semester GPAs (β = .33, p < .001) and program GPAs (β = .28, p < .001). Implications for student advising are discussed.

In this study, we explored the career variables of goal instability, vocational identity, and career decidedness levels in two groups of student-athletes. We compared scholarship student-athletes who had been selected to participate in a summer academic-support program designed for at-risk students to scholarship athletes who were not included in the summer-support program. Both groups consisted of student-athletes from various sports with football and basketball the primary sports for the summer program participants and swimming and cross country the primary sports for student-athletes not included in the summer-support program. Results of the study indicated that no significant differences were found between the two groups of college student-athletes with regard to their goal instability, vocational identity, or career decidedness. Implications for academic and career advising as well as future research are discussed.

From the Co-Editors

From the Co-Editors

ERRATUM

Impact of Media on Major Choice: Survey of Communication Undergraduates

Major Re-selection Advising and Academic Performance

Comparing Two Groups of Student-Athletes: Implications for Academic and Career Advising

Who Are Athletic Advisors? State of the Profession

The Advising Palaver Hut: Case Study in West African Higher Education

Think About It: Philosophy and Dialogic Advising

Frequency of First-Year Student Interactions With Advisors

Experiences of Male Undergraduates That Lead to Academic Failure

From the Co-Editors

Understanding Athletics Academic Advisors’ Experience with Job Burnout

Rural College Students’ Academic, Financial, and Health-Related Obstacles During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Academic Advisors

Career Advising in a VUCA Environment

From the Co-Editors

THE URSINUS COLLEGE FRESHMAN ADVISING PROGRAM

CAMPUS LEAVING BEHAVIOR

APPROACHING A DEFINITIVE POSITION ON ACADEMIC ADVISING

THE ADVISOR UNDER STRESS—FIRED UP OR BURNED OUT?

WHAT YOU'D REALLY LIKE TO SAY . . .