Background
In March 2021, with the approval of the Academic Council Executive Committee (ACEC), the Registrar established an Academic Advising Working Groupunder the chair of Professor Marie Clarke, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, to inform university wide policy on academic advising. Over a period of fifteen months the Working Group oversaw a comprehensive programme of work which included:
- A university-wide consultation process to capture the perspectives and experience of students and faculty on academic advising
- The piloting of different approaches to academic advising across UCD schools/disciplines, leveraging funding from the HEA/National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning
- An initial exploration of how technology could be leveraged to support academic advising at scale
- Development of a working definition, objectives and principles of academic advising for UCD.
The Report of Academic Advising Working Group containing a series of recommendations was submitted to the Academic Council Executive Committee in May 2022. It was agreed that the Working Group should continue its work to support academic advising in the wider university context.
Phase Two - Implementation
An Academic Advising Working Group was established in November 2022 for phase two of the initiative which involves working closely with, and in support of schools and colleges, to develop systems, processes and resources to underpin the provision of academic advising for UCD taught students. This implementation phase extends from the approved definition, objectives and principles of academic advising and draws on the results from the phase onedisciplinary pilot projects.
Strategic Direction and Support for Colleges
As part of this phase a consultation with heads of schools took place from March to May 2023.
The consultation has been hugely beneficial in building a picture of academic advising in UCD from a head of school perspective, in terms of broad understandings of academic advising, the extent to which it is in place, the reality and complexity around school configurations and workload allocation, the challenge of student engagement, the values and aspirations in terms of supporting students in a way that is equitable and manageable for staff and the supports needed in order to provide formal academic advising.
There is significant support for academic advising in principle and an appreciation that high quality academic advising can improve the student educational experience and outcomes, contributing to greater student engagement, increased student satisfaction and enhancement of the reputation of UCD programmes.
The consultation has affirmed the inclusive approach incorporated in the principles of academic advising in valuing the development of all UCD students equally. The depth of knowledge and experience shared by schools will inform the approaches to academic advising in UCD. For more information consult theReport on the Consultation with Heads of Schools. This is an internal UCD report therefore UCD login is required.
Arising from the consultation, a pilot of academic advising will take place in five schools from trimester one 2024.
Academic Advising Pilot
The academic advising pilot is for taught undergraduate students. The following five schools are participating in the academic advising pilot:
- School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science
- School ofIrish, Celtic Studies and Folklore
- School of Law
- School ofNursing, Midwifery and Health Systems
- School of Psychology
If you have a query in relation to this initiative contacttl@ucd.ie
Training and Resources
The Academic Advising page in our Professional Development section contains a variety of training materials and resources to support the pilot and broader implementation:
- Short online courses available free to UCD employees as part of our institutional membership of UKAT, the UK Advising and Tutoring Association.
- Templates and documents in a shared folder accessible to all UCD staff.
- Project showcases where you can discover various experiences and insights on academic advising from across the University.
- Academic Advising Community online, for UCD staff to join and post, share or discuss anything relating to academic advising.
Academic Advising IT System
An Academic Advising IT Steering Group was established in November 2023 to progress the requirement for a system to support academic advising processes. The functions of the group include overseeing the following:
- Needs Assessment
- Discovery process
- Development of a system for the allocation of undergraduate students to academic advisors
- Procurement
- Integration of the Software
- Operation of the Software
- Evaluation of the Software
Further detail on the above is available in the terms of reference of the Academic Advising IT Steering Group.
Definition and Objectives
Definition of Academic Advising
Academic Advising is part of the educational experience, where students are supported by faculty in making appropriate choices from a wide range of opportunities towards achieving realistic academic and professional goals.
Objectives of Academic Advising
- Evaluate personal interests and abilities leading to the creation of realistic academic and professional goals.
- Develop an educational plan that leads to the timely completion of educational goals.
- Develop the critical thinking and independent decision-making skills to make and accept responsibility for academic decisions.
- Understand the most appropriate choices to make in order to achieve goals (module or major choices)
- Know what the most appropriate research opportunities are to support their educational and professional goals
- Know what the most appropriate internship, study abroad and or co and extra curricular opportunities are to support educational and professional goals.
Principles of Academic Advising
The following are the six UCD Principles of Academic Advising.
An inclusive, positive and proactive academic advising culture will be developed in UCD. Students will be proactively approached about academic advising and will be expected to proactively participate. Important elements of this culture will be the engagement of all taught students with academic advising so that students expect and know that they are entitled to, and could benefit from, academic advising. This should help to overcome some of the barriers to students engaging with academic advising identified in the consultation.
- Individual students’ academic needs and interests will be central to the advising process as per the objectives of academic advising. Over and above specific module queries, all students should feel that there is a member of faculty that they can approach, and to whom their educational developmental matters.
- The development of all students is valued equally. A positive and inclusive culture will be fostered, to extend academic advising to all UCD students.
- Students will have a safe space in which to have developmental conversations with faculty. The extension of academic advising to all taught students should help change the culture, where some students are reluctant to seek advising due to stigma, not wanting to bother faculty or fear of rejection. Part of the creation of this safe space for students will be the creation of an expectation that academic advising is part of the role of every member faculty. If it is the norm for all students to engage with academic advising then, hopefully students who are struggling will avail of assistance earlier.
- Students and advisors will work in a respectful partnership. Although academic advising is broad and happens in multiple ways including group prescriptive and developmental advising, the development of a personal relationship between the student and a dedicated academic advisor is ultimately desirable from a student perspective. This should be put in place where student-faculty ratios permit it.
- Embedding academic advising in university systems will help to change the culture and expectations around academic advising. Academic advising will be regular and structured. Clear information will be provided to students about how, when, and in what format they will receive academic advice and, where dedicated academic advisors are available, who their advisor is and how and when they can be contacted.
- Clear roles and expectations will be established to ensure objectivity and consistency of experience.
- Academic advising will be relevant and timely.
- The quality of academic advising will be monitored at programme level, reporting to UPB. A collaborative annual review and improvement process will be put in place drawing on available evidence and data with a strong focus on benefits for students.
- Students will play an active role in the academic advising process. As part of the expectations of students in the advising process, students will be expected to attend meetings and engage in preparatory activities. Resources will be provided to facilitate students to embark on self-assessment, reflective goal setting and planning exercises.
- Through academic advising students will be empowered to become increasingly responsible and autonomous. The advisor will adopt a coaching and signposting role to support and enable students to solve academic issues for themselves.
- The provision of academic advising will be shaped locally, reflecting the needs of the discipline and other local factors such as faculty-student ratios.
- Local provision will align with the principles and objectives of academic advising.
- Decisions around assigning advisors and students will be made locally and differences will need to be supported by any UCD advising IT system.
- Academic and professional staff will work together to ensure a holistic experience for students. Information will be organised coherently so that students are able to inform themselves on prescriptive advising matters and use their sessions with their advisors for maximum benefit for both students and advisors.
- UCD IT systems will be leveraged to maximise efficiency for advisors and students in organising and tracking advising sessions.
- It will be important for UCD IT systems to have the functionality for advisors to refer student to other services seamlessly and to track referrals.
- Academic advising will be part of the workload model for faculty and recognised in the Faculty Development Framework.
- Faculty will be supported to deliver high quality academic advising through training, resources and clear expectations.
- Expectations for advisors and students will be clearly communicated and will establish what is academic and what is pastoral.
- A UCD IT system will be put in place to enable seamless referral of students to pastoral supports as appropriate. Processes will be automated as much as possible to save faculty time.
- An academic advising peer network or community of practice will be established to support excellence in advising, collaboration and sharing of good practice and to develop UCD systems and processes.
- Decisions around assigning advisors will be fair, transparent and in line with UCD’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy. Part of the annual review of academic advising will report on the distribution of the workload of advising across genders.
Academic Advising Initiative Milestones
Key milestones of the Academic Advising Initiative.
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March 2021
The Academic Advising Working Group was established.
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June 2021
Literature review complete.
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July 2021
17 funded pilot projects on academic advising commence.
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January - March 2022
Consultation on academic advising with students, faculty, Vice Principals for Teaching and Learning and School Heads of Teaching and Learning.
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April 2022
Development of thePrinciples of Academic Advising.
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May 2022
The Report of Academic Advising Working Group was submitted with recommendations to Academic Council ExecutiveCommittee.
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May 2022
17 pilot projects on academic advising in UCD schools completed.
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March - May 2023
A consultation with heads of schools on academic advising took place. The Report on the Consultation with Heads of Schools is available. This is an internal UCD report therefore UCD login is required.
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November 2023
Academic Advising IT Steering Group established to obtain an academic advising software solution to pilot. The Academic Advising IT Steering Group terms of referenceoutline the functions of the group.
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December 2023 - March 2024
Procurement for Academic Advising Software.
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March - April 2024
A series of nine student videos and six staff videos produced by UCD Teaching and Learning to support schools in their efforts to encourage students to engage with academic advising were published. The videos were used to illustrate the benefits of academic advising and what to expect from UCD student and advisor perspectives.
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June 2024
An Academic Advising System Administrator was brought on board to provide professional support and guide effective implementation and operation of the new academic advising system.
