Module 8Faculty Roles

Kathleen Burnett, FSU

Linda Smith, UIUC

Harry Bruce, UW

Outline

• Administrivia

• Advising

- Teaching / Thesis Advisors

- Academic Advisors

- Approaches to Advising

- Maxims

Outline• Mentoring

- Pros/Cons

- Roles

- Relationships

- Ethical Behavior

- Tips

• Presentations

Advising

• Two main roles:

1) Teaching / Thesis advisors – direct & monitor TAs; supervise research

2) Academic advisors -- inform graduate/ undergraduate students about

University/Program requirements

Issues in Graduate Student Supervision

• Foster the development of excellence in every graduate student

• Commit to the students' welfare and progress

• Help students secure research support and/or seek professional employment

Issues in Graduate Student Supervision

• Will not discriminate among graduate students on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, ethnic background, disability, religion, national origin, or any other factor unrelated to competence or performance

Issues in Graduate Student Supervision

• Advise students concerning the ethics of the profession / doing research

• Inform students about career opportunities & implications of participation in research projects or degree programs

• Will be accessible to students who are under their guidance

Issues in Graduate Student Supervision

• Will not permit personal animosities or intellectual differences with colleagues to impede student access to those colleagues or interfere with students' research or progress toward a degree

• Will avoid engaging in conduct that demeans students or that could be construed as an abuse of that power

Research Advisors• Responsibilities include:

- Guiding students' research: select a research topic, write a

proposal/thesis/ dissertation

- Getting students involved in the wider research community: introducing

colleagues, collaborating on research, funding conference travel, etc.

Research Advisors

- Locating financial support: providing RAs, helping with fellowships, and

finding summer positions

- Finding a position after graduation: helping to find and apply for post-doctoral positions, faculty positions, and/or jobs in industry, etc.

Academic Advisors

• Advise on choice of concentration

• Advise on career options

• Advise on internships

• Help determine learning objectives of internships

Academic Advisors

• Assist with professional development

• Serve as role models

• Provide a human face for the University and the field

Faculty View of Advising

• Often, it is an activity for which they:

- lack information

- are inadequately rewarded

- are not always appreciated, and

- are called upon to do in increasing amounts with a rapidly expanding & diversified clientele

The Advisor Functions to…

• Establish and sustain a relationship with each advisee

• Manage the advisor/advisee relationship

• Pass on and point to sources of information

• Monitor and provide feedback

The Advisor Functions to…

• Establish and sustain a relationship with each advisee

• Manage the advisor/advisee relationship

• Pass on and point to sources of information

• Monitor and provide feedback

The Advisor Functions to…

• Conduct one-on-one chat sessions

• Receive and respond to advisee requests

• Conduct surveys and analyses to assess effectiveness of advising policies and practices

Advising Issues

• Line between teaching and advising is blurred

• More alike than different

• The short term vs. long term

• Unfortunately, most faculty still give the “advising role” short shrift

Plus ça change…“Advising is a process with a long and dignified history in college and university. At the same time, involving as it often does tedious clerical work combined with hit-and-run conferences with students on curricula, it is a most cordially hated activity by the majority of college teachers” – MacLean, 1953

Crookston’s Advising Framework

• A prescriptive adviser assumes that once advice is given, his responsibility is largely fulfilled; it is up to the student to do what is prescribed

• Drawback: doesn't help students develop a sense of responsibility for their academic choices

Crookston’s Advising Framework

• A developmental adviser assumes a Theory Y approach: assume that students are motivated to self-actualize

• Concerned facilitating rational processes, interpersonal interactions, behavioral awareness, problem-solving, decision-making, and evaluation skills

Appleby’s Advising Framework

• Builds on and adds to Crookston’s dimensions

• Reveals a variety of ways in which these two types of advising differ

• The major thread that runs throughout these differences is that developmental advisers gradually shift the responsibility of the relationship to their advisees

Appleby’s Advising Framework

• Advisors prepare students for shift by:

- providing them with problem-solving & decision-making skills

- challenging them to develop higher-order thought processes, and

- helping them gain clearer insight into own goals / goals of higher education

Student-Centered Advising

• Enlarges the domain of concerns beyond decisions about the formal curriculum

• The overarching question for the student becomes “what activities and experiences should I program to develop my understandings and capacities as a learner?”

Student-Centered Advising

• The centerpiece of the adviser/advisee relationship is the student's development curriculum

• Providing resources for guiding the student's discovery, understanding, and decision-making abilities

Student-Centered Advising

• Should shape the student's capacities for:

- self-assessing learning strengths and development needs

- identifying opportunities for learning growth and development

- planning learning and development strategies

Student-Centered Advising

- deciding on learning and development actions

- reflecting on learning and development experiences and outcomes, and

- initiating adjustments in learning and development strategies and action

plans

Helping Students Adjust to College Life

• They are adapted here, in order of importance:

1) Personal Responsibility

2) Class Attendance

3) Teacher Attitudes

4) Types of Assignments

Helping Students Adjust to College Life

5) Importance of Performance

6) Time Management

7) Amount of Study Time

8) Size of Institution/Classes

9) Difficulty of College Work

10) Social Life

Advising Maxims

• The longest advising contacts always begin with, “I just have a quick question”

• Students don't know what they don't know

• Know when to challenge and when to support

• Always ask, “Why?”

Advising Maxims• The longest contacts always begin with, “I

just have a quick question”

• Know when to challenge, when to support

• Always ask, “Why?”

• You can't predict a student's fate

• Advising is a moving target

• Listen, then check

Advising Maxims• Some assumptions put students at risk

• The only person you can control is yourself

• “We have all the answers – yes, no, and maybe”

• Students need to be active participants in the advising process. It’s a joint venture!

Mentoring

• What is mentoring?

- No agreed-upon definition

- Primarily, the mentor serves as a figure who aids the mentee’s transition

- The mentoring relationship tends to be: intentional, nurturing, insightful, supportive, protective, etc.

Mentoring

- Focuses on professional and/or personal development

- The five mentoring functions include: (i) teaching, (ii) sponsoring, (iii) encourag- ing, (iv) counseling & (iv) befriending

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Mentoring

• Graduate education depends primarily on the establishment of an intellectual relationship between the mentor & mentee

• Mentors most frequently serve as wise and trusted advisors, guides, supporters, tutors, visionaries, challengers, advocates, role models, exemplars, etc.

Mentoring

• The reward of finding a mentor implies: (i) the student has achieved a level of excellence and sophistication in the field, and/or (ii) the student exhibits sufficient promise to merit the more intensive interest, instruction, and counsel of faculty

Mentoring: Pros

• Advice on career goals

• Encouragement

• New or improved skills and knowledge

• New opportunities and resources

• Increased exposure and visibility

Mentoring: Pros

• A bridge to maturity

• Socialization into new role(s)

• Upward mobility

• Personal satisfaction

Mentoring: Cons

• Differences in age

• Transference

• May be unsuited to the task

• Intensity of the relationship

Mentoring: Student Role

• The role of the student is to:

- devote an appropriate amount of time & energy toward achieving academic excellence / earning an advanced degree in a timely fashion

- recognize the constraints & other demands imposed on faculty members

Mentoring: Student Role

- take the initiative to communicate regularly with faculty advisors, especially in matters related to research and progress within the academic program

Mentoring: Faculty Role

• The role of the faculty member is to:

- provide clear direction for the requirements each student must meet

- evaluate student progress in regular & informative ways; offer opportunities for students to correct deficiencies

Mentoring: Faculty Role

- offer adequate time to meet students

- help students develop skills (e.g., artistic, oral/writing communications, & quantitative methods)

- create an ethos of collegiality

- continue to be an advisor/colleague after student graduates

Advisor-Student Relationship

• Setting the right tone for student interactions is a difficult task

• Different students respond best to different approaches

• Different advisors have different personal styles

Advisor-Student Relationship• Tradeoffs that have to be made in each

advisor-student relationship are:

- Amount of direction: self-directed/ hands-off vs. spoon-feeding‘ topics &research projects

- Personal interactions & psychological support: advice on career, family, etc.

Interacting with Students

- Amount and type of criticism: general directions vs. specific suggestions for improvement

- Frequency of interaction: daily vs. once a semester

Mentoring: TAs

• The faculty member’s role is to:

- provide adequate training for TAs

- provide appropriate communication with to enhance professional

development and ensure the quality of student learning

Mentoring: TAs

- develop a clear understanding about specific responsibilities (e.g., division

of authority/labor, expectations, etc.

- observe teaching & provide feedback on, or assistance for, current

activities and recommendations for future employment

Mentoring: TAs

- identify appropriate departmental & campus resources to assist TAs in

their professional development as teachers

- respect the boundary of part-time appointments when assigning duties

- foster opportunities for TAs to attain teaching competence

Mentoring: Junior Faculty

• Role of the Department Chair to establish:

- Expectations/Criteria for promotion: tenure requirements, time tables and deadlines, evaluation

- Facilitation: Resource Acquisition – access, receptions, help from a

senior Faculty member(s), awards, talks, etc.

Mentoring: Junior Faculty

- Facilitation: Research – start-up packages, steering promising graduate students, assign mentor to guide student supervision

- Facilitation: Teaching – teaching policies, courses on teaching, assignments, new courses

Mentoring: Junior Faculty

- Facilitation: Service – committee assignments, participation

- Frequent and Adequate Feedback – formal evaluations, establish an ad

hoc committee, short-/long-term goals and accomplishments, discussion of evaluations, written summaries

Mentoring: Junior Faculty

- Reduced Impediments – protection of female/minority faculty from

tokenism, opposition to initial appointment, “Catch-22” situations, exploitation,

access to non-academic resources, maternity & parental leave policies, &

dual career issues

Ethical Behavior

• Legal responsibilities/moral responsibilities

• The contractual relationship between students and the University

• Be careful, too, about defamation

• Moral obligations: “When we are wrong, we need to make things right”

Ethical Behavior

• Bias and harassment

• Conflict of interest

• Three dialectical tensions

1) neutral vs. prescriptive

2) encouraging vs. discouraging

3) judgmental vs. nonjudgmental

Final Tips1) In talking with students, make no claims

based on uncertain knowledge; i.e., avoid hearsay

2) An adviser must be a custodian of the student's good reputation

3) Present students with all the options open to them, not just the ones you favor

Final Tips

4) An adviser who misadvises a student has the moral obligation to make things right

5) Acknowledge one's biases and respond to students as unique individuals and not as members of a group or category

6) Advisers advise; students decide

Proposal Presentations