Effective advising programs use tools and technologies to help advisors communicate with students, campus partners, and other stakeholders; to manage student information; and to share information and resources. Technology permeates our students’ lives, and plays an essential role in their educational experiences. Consequently, advising units need to integrate appropriate communication and information tools in all aspects of the advising process, from outreach, recruitment, and retention, to management, delivery, and evaluation of the unit’s services and programs. To achieve this, units should regularly evaluate their technological capacities and evaluate their students’ technological preferences.
Guiding Questions when implementing new programs and systems that may be affected by advising technologies…
When communicating information:
- How do students and advisors communicate?
- Do advisors and students use the same tools to communicate?
- Do the technologies support fast and easy communication?
- Do advisors communicate effectively?
- Are advisors trained to use current modes of communication?
When managing information:
- How do advisors access and manage student information?
- Do information management tools provide fast and effective access to relevant information?
- Do information management technologies work together to facilitate reporting and analysis?
- Is student information secure and confidential?
When sharing information and resources:
- Is your program information (print and web) accessible to all stakeholders?
- Is the information complete, current, and visually engaging?
- Does your program information use a variety of methods of communications (e.g. text and video content)?
- Is your program information linked to other relevant programs and sources of information on campus and beyond?