ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C8RL News ■ October 2000 / 781 College & Research Libraries news Academic librarians as advisors W orking with students to plan their futures by Paul Studdard A cademic librarians often view classroom faculty with some degree of envy be­ cause of their frequent contact with stude particularly those students majoring in their discipline. While there is a lot of personal satisfac­ tion for librarians in working with students to find information, classroom faculty have the added advantage of getting to watch their students grow and learn throughout the length of a course. This maturation process of their students gives classroom faculty a great sense o f accom plishm ent, as they w atch their knowledge increase and their thinking pro­ cesses mature. Acting as an academic advisor is a good opportunity for librarians to experience the personal feeling o f accom plishm ent that comes with helping a student choose a di­ rection to take in his or her life and career. W h at is a ca d e m ic a d v ise m e n t? While academic advisement means different things in different institutions, it generally involves three major activities: 1) being a friend and mentor for the student, and giv­ ing him or her someone to talk to; 2) helping the student choose courses to take that will best suit his or her needs, and (3) helping the student explore various majors and ca­ reer options. nts All three of these activities are extremely important and beneficial to college students, , especially incoming freshmen, w ho are tak­ ing their first steps into adult life and are away from most of the friends and relatives that they have grown up knowing. Perhaps the most important roles that an academician can play in a student’s life is as a m entor and a friend. College students are often lonely and confused about their fu­ tures, and having an adult to discuss career plans with can be a trem endous help. Li­ brarians are skilled in listening to others and determ ining their information needs; and what a college student often needs the most is someone w ho will listen to what they have to say. Each college and university has general education requirements that must be met for students to graduate, and determining which classes meet these requirements can be diffi­ cult for college students. This can result in their taking courses that do not count toward their graduation requirements, which in turn could lead to frustration and resentment. Signing up for inappropriate courses can result in a stu­ dent having to attend college for an additional semester or quarter, which can lead to addi­ tional expense and potential loss of income. Librarians can play a vital role in a student’s course selection by researching what courses About the author Paul Studdard is science reference librarian a t M illersville University in M illersville, Pennsylvania, e-mail: paul.studdard@millersv.edu mailto:paul.studdard@millersv.edu 782 / C&RL News ■ O ctober 2000 satisfy graduation requirements, and, if pos- sible, by checking to see what courses are still available by the time the Student regis- ters. Academic librarians have a number of re- sources available to them to help students explore careers. Titles such as the O ccupa- tio n a l O utlook H a n d b o o k and the E ncyclope- d ia o f C areers are Standard reference sources that can be useful to students looking for in­ formation to help them to determine what they would like to spend a large portion of their lives doing. Librarians can further assist students in their career choices by helping them determine their strengths and weak- nesses, their likes and dislikes, and deter- mining what coursework and majors will help them accomplish their career goals. The Undeclared Advisors' Program At Millersville University (MU), students are allowed to apply for admission and declare a major right away or enter as an undeclared major. Students who declare a major right away are assigned a faculty advisor in the department in which they are majoring. Uni­ versity faculty are asked to volunteer to serve as advisors for students who enter the uni­ versity as undeclared majors. Many of the library faculty at MU have taken an active role in this voluntary pro­ gram and work with five-to-ten students a year, which allows each librarian to give per­ sonal attention to each student. Anangements are made for an initial meet­ ing between the advisors and advisees dur- ing a new-student orientation week in the summer, and advisors are provided with stu­ dents’ phone numbers and mailing and e- mail addresses. Meetings are scheduled betw een advi­ sor and advisee once or twice each se- mester; most course registration materials are available via campus Internet, so reg­ istra tio n ca n actu ally b e d o n e in the advisor’s office. This provides for one-on- one interaction and helps ensure that the student registers for the most useful and beneficial courses available. The benefits of librarians as academ ic advisors Having librarians serve as academic advisors benefits the students they work with, the li­ brarians themselves, and their educational institution. • Students benefit from having a knowl- edgeable, well-rounded Professional as a role model and as an advisor for their classes and career choices. Librarians are usually not affiliated with a specific academic department, which tends to make them impartial when helping stu­ dents decide on a major. Librarians tend to be familiar with almost every department, and as such can provide their advisees with in­ formation that can help them choose between disciplines. Librarians also tend to have “con- tacts” within most departments— faculty whom they talk to about book Orders, peri- odical subscriptions, etc. and faculty whom they can refer their advisees to for further information about their academic depart­ ments’ disciplines. • Librarians benefit from having personal contact with individual students. This helps the librarians feel like an integral part of each advisee’s educational process and gives them the personal satisfaction of helping individual students make important life decisions. Work­ ing with and referring students to various academic departments also allows the librar­ ians to become involved with the academic community on their campuses outside the confines of providing basic library services. This can lead to increased job satisfaction for the librarians and better communication with their academic colleagues. • The educational institution benefits from having students who graduate in a timely manner and who are pleased with the per­ sonal relationship they have been able to develop with their advisor, one who partici- pates in academic advisement not because they are required to do so, but because they find it a rewarding and enriching experience. The educational institution also benefits from having librarians with increased job satisfac­ tion and who enjoy good relationships with both students and faculty. Such a Situation contributes to good library Service and better communication between the librarians and the administration. Librarians have a lot to offer educational institutions besides ordering books and lit- erature searches, although those two activi- ties are certainly important. Librarians are, (co n tin u ed on p a g e 792) 792 /C&RL News ■ O cto b e r 2000 There is no one model th at w orks for every group. Work is under- way, however, to establish the elem ents of existing successful information literacy partnerships and coilaborations . . . • Design of virtual/digital environment for community members housed on College and university Web sites, such as small business help and curriculum pages. • Design of community Web sites through work with instructional design classes and community freenets to offer local and small organization Web presence. • Expanded internship/mentor roles be­ tween junior-high and high-school students and College and university staff in info-tech rich learning and teaching environments. • Expanded “show and tell” of learning environments between and among K-12 and higher education, including visits of K-12 fac­ ulty to Colleges and universities and visits to K-12 environments by College and univer­ sity staff. • Expanded multitype consortia for e-re- sources. • Cooperative design of user education modules for both electronic consortia prod- ucts and generally used print materials. • E xp an d ed form al n etw o rk in g o f multitype library and information science Pro­ fessionals in communities (general, theme- related, or problem solving). • Expanded use of existing of uniquely designed Standards and guidelines for user education/information literacy in communities. • Expanded use and Standardization of link- ing education and community Web environ­ ments to aid users in easy transitions among and between resources and environments. There is no one model that works for ev­ ery group. Work is underway, however, to establish the elements of existing successful information literacy partnerships and coilabo­ rations that determine what elements must be present to ensure higher measures of success. Although upeoming issues of C&RL News will feature a number of columns highlight- ing unique and successful partnerships and coilaborations, interested or active partners and collaborators should read and contrib- ute to Nancy Kranich’s Information Literacy Community Partnerships Initiative at http:// www.ala.org/kranich/literacy.html or to ALA Special Presidential Committee Information Literacy Community Partnerships Initiative at http://lrs.austin.cc.tx.us/staff/lnavarro/ CommunityPartnerships/Toolkit.html. Notes 1. For additional benefits see Betsy Wil­ son, “Community and Collaboration: The Year Ahead,” C&RL News 6 l, no. 8 (September 2000): 698-701. 2. These examples were taken from the Exam ples o f Partnerships F ocu sed on In for­ m ation Literacy section on ALA President Nancy Kranich’s Web site (http://www.ala. org/kranich/examples.html) and from the ALA Special Presidential Committee Com m unity Partnerships 7oo/faY(http://lrs.austin.cc.tx.us/ staff/lnavarro/Community Partnerships/ Toolkit.html). 3. Visit the CHICO site at http://www. si.umich.edu/CHICO/. 4. The University of Washingtons initia­ tives is outlined by the UW President at http://www.washington.edu/president/ articles/K-12speech.html). 5. For an example visit “Invitational Con­ ference on K-12 Outreach from University Science Departments” held in North Carolina in February 2000 at http://www.ncsu.edu/ s c i e n c e _ h o u s e / I n f o r m a t i o n F o l d e r / BWconference.html. ■ ( “A cadem ic librarians a s advisors ” con tin u ed fr o m p a g e 782) first and foremost, ed u cators who are skilled in listening, providing information, and work­ ing with students to accomplish their aca­ demic goals. These skills are extremely use­ ful in advising students about choosing courses and career plans. Being involved with students’ lives and helping them make important life decisions is a very rewarding experience. Serving as an academic advisor gains the respect and admiration of a group of people who will always remember and appreciate the time taken by that one person who cared about them enough to help them plan for their fu- ture. ■ http://www.ala.org/kranich/literacy.html http://lrs.austin.cc.tx.us/staff/lnavarro/ http://www.ala http://lrs.austin.cc.tx.us/ http://www http://www.washington.edu/president/ http://www.ncsu.edu/