Reflections from a College President: When Access is

Not Enough, or The Significance of Academic Advising

Anthony Tricoli, President, Georgia Perimeter College

Editors Note: As members of the NACADA Board of Directors, the AAT Editorial Board, and
the Executive Office staff have talked with our membership around the globe, it has become
clear that we share a common concern about the pressures that we all face in the current
economic climate. We open this edition with the positive, constructive measures that have been
taken at Georgia Perimeter College to ensure the success of the academic advising program at
that institution. Then, in the Advising Issues section, well hear a variety of perspectives on this
topic from our membership.

As we celebrate NACADAs thirtieth anniversary, it seems appropriate to stop and reflect on

the impact of academic advising on student success. NACADAs leadership in this critical
component of student success has led to remarkable changes in the field, including the
establishment of a professional code of ethics, best practices and research, as well as providing
venues for professional development for all constituencies.
College presidents recognize the significance of academic advising as part of the health and
vitality of the college communities they serve. This is a broader responsibility than simply
enticing students to enter and matriculate through our hallowed doors. Enrollment is the first
step in a partnership between students and the academic institution, and presidents recognize
that academic advising is critical to increasing retention, graduation and transfer rates.
In difficult economic times, many citizens turn to colleges in their communities for assistance
with retraining and updating their credentials. These individuals can be especially at-risk
because they are primarily non-traditional students and they may lack the requisite skill set to
succeed in an environment which is new to them. Those who are unable to successfully
navigate the bureaucracies for which many higher educational institutions have become known
may drop out. This not only negatively impacts the economic future of our students; it also
erodes the economic stability of our communities. Families suffer due to the loss of income.
Communities suffer due to the loss of future services, credentialed workers, and a decreased
tax base. We all suffer from a loss of educational role models. There are also increased public
costs in social services and crime-related expenses when students do not complete their
education. In short, failure to assist students to succeed in college can have a profound and
negative rippling impact on the community at large.
Since many students are at great risk of dropping out before reaching their goal of graduation or
transfer, it is not enough to simply provide access to higher education. Once students are
admitted, the institution is obligated to provide support to enhance their chances of success in

college. In the words of Vincent Tinto (2008), Access without effective support is not
opportunity. Academic advising is part of a critical web of college success tools that must be
employed by colleges and universities in configurations that fit their institutions unique culture
and demographic needs.
At Georgia Perimeter College (GPC), we have morphed and expanded academic advising from
the traditional centralized service model to a hub and spokes model. Faculty advisors share
responsibilities with professional counseling staff in response to data that we have examined
regarding the special impact of faculty relationships on students positive retention outcomes. At
GPC we live by the NACADA motto: Advising is Teaching.
Academic advising is a vital component in GPCs strategic plan; as such the college has
increased its emphasis as well as its resources for training and development of faculty advisors.
One example of this increased emphasis is GPCs outstanding Master Faculty Advisor
Program. These Master Advisors facilitate professional development for all faculty advisors at
each of our five campus locations. They have also developed a virtual advising community
where faculty can connect across the vast distances between campuses of our urban multi-site
institution. These Master Advisors also serve as an institutional resource to college governance
bodies in the area of student success.
GPC also took a bold step and became the first academic institution in Georgia to participate in
the Rapid Process Improvement Initiative (RPI) in partnership with Georgias Office of Customer
Service. Cross functional teams of faculty and staff identified significant touch point
opportunities with students to ensure those moments provide value to our students. A New
Student Orientation session was restructured to provide students with critical information they
need to begin their careers successfully at GPC. The RPI also streamlined the advising process
for our learning support students, who comprise 24% of our student body.
Learning support students now receive ongoing, in-class advising from faculty. This targeted
ongoing support helps our students stay on track and successfully transition into collegiate-level
work. Multiple benefits have been generated from the innovations produced via faculty
participation in the RPI process. They identified and eliminated the challenges of finding the
information they need when advising students.
To address information issues, our faculty developed a Two-Click Toolkit Web site to provide
quick access to the information faculty advisors need the most, interactive programs of study
that could be saved for future advising sessions and advising training modules that deliver
professional development on high interest topics. In short, GPCs faculty, staff and
administrators have improved many aspects of advising and orientation in the RPI process
which consisted of five intensive week-long working sessions.
This work has revolutionized advising services at GPC. (Please look for our presentation on this
topic at the 2009 NACADA Annual Conference in San Antonio). However, training and
streamlining processes alone are not enough to guarantee improvement of advising services. At
GPC, we are moving to include assessment and incentives for advising services to continue to
improve academic advising to students. Student input is an important element of measuring our
success, as is data collection and tracking the efficacy of these advancements in advising
practice. These data will be utilized to make future improvements in advising services at the
college.

Now more than ever, colleges need to find creative ways to enhance student success. While we
are all chanting the do more with less mantra, we must also continue to invest in student
retention. Student retention is always a cost benefit analysis winner. For the community, the
academic institution and mostly for our students, retention is a triple win. College presidents are
fortunate to have NACADA serving as a vital partner to institutions of higher education with their
dedicated staff; high-quality state, regional and national conferences; advising database; and
fine media support systems including the Web site, publications and webinars.
We recognize NACADAs achievements in raising academic advising standards, developing
professionalism and encouraging advising research. I am pleased that Georgia Perimeter
College and NACADA share the same goal: student success. We look forward to many
productive years working together to enhance academic advising, as we increase the retention,
graduation and transfer of Georgias students.
Anthony Tricoli
President
Georgia Perimeter College
Vol.32, No.2 June 2009
Tinto, V. (2008, June 9). Access without support is not
opportunity. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved April 10, 2009 from
www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/06/09/tinto.