VGCC considers Improvements to Student Advising
Vance-Granville Community College has recently been working with a nationally-known expert on changing the way that college faculty and staff members guide students toward successfully realizing their academic goals.
“When our Board of Trustees approved VGCC’s new Strategic Plan in 2010, one of the main goals included in the plan was maximizing our students’ success,” VGCC’s president, Dr. Randy Parker, said. “As part of that effort, we are taking a critical look at our student advising processes and procedures.” Parker appointed an Advising Task Force, to be led by Dr. Ruth Darling, a consultant from the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA). A former president of NACADA, Dr. Darling serves as Assistant Provost for Student Success at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and as adjunct professor in the university’s College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. She has written articles and made numerous presentations across the country on the subject of academic advising. According to Darling, “Academic advising is a critical piece of student success that is at the core of each institution’s mission of teaching and learning.” She emphasizes that colleges should remember that advising has a “curriculum” of sorts, with specific items that students need to learn and do, and one or more specific desired outcomes. “President Parker asked me to help his faculty and staff examine the current structure and process of advising at VGCC in the context of student success and present to him recommendations or models for the future,” Darling said. She met with the 25-member task force four times during the fall 2010 semester. Members included faculty members who advise students in the college’s various curriculum programs, as well as staff members such as the Registrar, counselors and other student affairs professionals.
All four of VGCC’s campuses were represented on the task force, and some of the meetings were held at the South Campus in Granville County and the Franklin County Campus . The Warren County Campus was represented by its dean, George A. Henderson, who said he enjoyed the process and appreciated Darling’s expertise. “If we adopt some of the thinking that came out of this task force, VGCC will be a leader in providing good advising that helps our students to complete their program of study,” Henderson said. “Also, we will emphasize to students, faculty and staff the notion that advising is an ongoing process, not a one-time event,” Henderson said.
Darling said that she was now finalizing her report to President Parker and that in the future, the members of the task force would become on-campus leaders in implementing the changes to advising. “The task force’s recommendations focus on making sure each student takes the courses they need and has a plan that makes sense for them,” she added. “Our model tracks students from the time they first come in through after they leave the college, to help us know that we are really accomplishing our goals. This is a change, not just business as usual.” Putting VGCC’s efforts in a national context, Darling said, “Everyone has realized how important advising is in helping students put together educational plans that help them meet their goals. The interest is nationwide, but the approach that Vance-Granville is taking is progressive and proactive and is out there with the forerunners.”
Above: Dr. Ruth Darling (standing) facilitates a meeting of VGCC’s advising task force on the college’s main campus in December 2010. (VGCC photo)
