Academic Advising Overview

Advisor Responsibilities
Student Responsibilities
Academic Advising and Success Coaches
Advising Appointments

Academic advising at Xavier University is a developmental and personalized partnership between advisors and students aimed at discerning life and vocational goals and creating educational plans to achieve them. Academic advising contributes to student persistence and success by integrating course and career planning and monitoring academic progress.

Academic advising is more than transactional; advisors educate, facilitate communication, and coordinate learning experiences while referring students to relevant resources. Quality academic advising leads students toward taking responsibility for their academic progress, making informed decisions, and achieving their educational goals. Academic advising complements success coaching, career development, and academic support.

Academic advising aligns with Xavier's commitment to cura personalis, emphasizing the Greater Good, service, and solidarity.

Note: This statement of advising is heavily adapted from Winston, Jr. R. B., Enders, S. C., & Miller, T. K. (Eds.) (March 1982). Developmental approaches to academic advising. New Directions for Student Services, 17.

The Xavier University Faculty Handbook lists advising students as one of the duties of a faculty member, alongside teaching, scholarly activity, and service (page 7, Section III, paragraph B).

A landmark empirical study from the Center for Public Education revealed that students at 2- or 4-year institutions who met with academic advisors “either ‘sometimes' or ‘often'” improved their odds of persisting by 53%. Craig M. McGill (2019) The Professionalization of Academic Advising: A Structured Literature Review. NACADA Journal: 2019, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 89-100.