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Advising and Supporting

The Advising and Supporting competency focuses on helping students through active listening, relationship building, problem-solving, and connecting them with resources. It includes understanding how identity shapes communication, maintaining appropriate boundaries, and supporting students in difficult or complex situations. With experience, this competency grows to include mentoring others and training staff in effective advising practices. For a full description of the Advising and Supporting competency and it's outcomes, see NASPA/ACPA Competencies.

My Experience:

During my time at the Bepko Learning Center, I began as an Academic Success Coach, meeting weekly with students on academic probation to discuss their coursework as well as other factors influencing their college experience, including health, finances, and career. In advising meetings, I used active listening by asking open-ended questions, paraphrasing students’ concerns, and helping them identify specific, achievable goals for the week. These conversations allowed students to reflect on their experiences, identify barriers, and set actionable steps that supported their academic progress and decision-making.

 

Working closely with a diverse group of students also pushed me to recognize the strengths and limitations of my own worldview, particularly in conversations where identity and personal experiences shaped how students approached their academics. I regularly connected students with campus resources and understood when situations required referrals to offices better equipped to provide specialized support, ensuring that students received comprehensive support for both academic and personal needs.

 

As I transitioned into my role as a Student Coordinator, my responsibilities expanded to training and supervising new coaches. In this role, I mentored staff, supported their development as advisors, and helped them build confidence in their own advising approaches. I created the Weekly Goal Form for coaches to use during meetings, providing a structured tool to guide goal setting, reflection, and accountability. I also used the Coach Observation Form to provide structured feedback, guide professional growth, and model effective advising strategies. I became more aware of patterns in student behavior, learned to balance multiple goals within advising conversations, and coached students through complex situations that required both academic and personal support. I plan to continue leveraging these experiences to develop inclusive advising practices, create structured support systems for students, and train future staff in approaches that center student strengths and holistic development.

Collectively, I have met the following of ACPA/NASPA’s PEF outcomes:

  • Foundational:

    • Exhibit culturally inclusive active listening skills (e.g., appropriately establishing interpersonal contact, paraphrasing, perception checking, summarizing, questioning, encouraging, avoid interrupting, clarifying).

    • Facilitate reflection to make meaning from experiences with students, groups, colleagues, and others.

    • Establish rapport with students, groups, colleagues, and others that acknowledges differences in lived experiences.

    • Recognize the strengths and limitations of one’s own worldview on communication with others (e.g., how terminology could either liberate or constrain others with different gender identities, sexual orientations, abilities, cultural backgrounds, etc.).

    • Facilitate problem-solving.

    • Facilitate individual decision-making and goalsetting.

    • Appropriately challenge and support students and colleagues.

    • Know and use referral sources (e.g., other offices, outside agencies, knowledge sources), and exhibit referral skills in seeking expert assistance.

    • Identify when and with whom to implement appropriate crisis management and intervention responses.

    • Maintain an appropriate degree of confidentiality that follows applicable legal and licensing requirements, facilitates the development of trusting relationships, and recognizes when confidentiality should be broken to protect the student or others.

    • Seek opportunities to expand one’s own knowledge and skills in helping students with specific concerns (e.g., relationship issues, navigating systems of oppression, or suicidality) as well as interfacing with specific populations within the college student environment (e.g., student veterans, lowincome students, etc.)

  • Intermediate:

    • Facilitate or coach group decision-making, goalsetting, and process.

    • Assess the developmental needs of students and organizational needs of student groups.

    • Strategically and simultaneously pursue multiple objectives in conversations with students.

    • Identify patterns of behavior that may signal mental health or other wellness concerns.

    • Mentor students and staff.

    • Demonstrate culturally-inclusive advising, supporting, coaching, and counseling strategies.

    • Initiate and exercise appropriate institutional crisis intervention responses and processes.

    • Consult with mental health professionals as appropriate.

    • Provide and arrange for the necessary training and development for staff to enhance their advising and helping skills.

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