ACPA/NASPA (2015) define the Advising and Supporting competency as addressing "the knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to providing advising and support to individuals and groups through direction, feedback, critique, referral, and guidance" (p. 36). 

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When I was a junior at my undergraduate university, I was on my fourth change of major and had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Being someone that prefers control and knowing what to expect in the future, this was not something I could easily reconcile with. I like the idea of taking charge of my own future. So I went to Bridgewater State's Career Services office and took one of those quizzes that give you suggestions on career paths. One of the results was counselor - but I didn't want to be a therapist. So I made an appointment with someone to talk about my results.

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It was there I learned that counseling did not necessarily mean therapist - and then I learned Student Affairs was a profession, an actual job. I remember asking "Wait... that's a real job? Working at a college? Not as a professor?" And they laughed and they said, "Well, that's what I'm doing right now!" I entered my senior year having an actual game plan and sense of the future. And now, here I am today. That advising I received then has turned into a piece of advising I use.

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I use this story when I talk to my students that are unsure of their future. I tell them that it's okay to change their minds, especially in undergrad. This is one of my many life stories I use when talking to my students. I share my own life with them, and I am especially candid about my struggles, because I believe it's important for them to know they aren't alone. I also make sure to explain that what I share is my own experience - the life they live, the experience they have, could be completely different. I establish rapport with students, groups, colleagues, and others that acknowledges differences in lived experiences because doing so allows us, in my opinion, to bridge gaps and learn from each other.

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I establish rapport by being candid and honest with my students. I have found that, when I trust them with things they might perceive as more private, they are more likely to come to me when they have concerns or issues. This is why I have made mental illness such a large talking point in my own life. I advocate for the normalization and de-stigmatization of seeking help for mental health, because nobody deserves to suffer in silence with something that could be bettered with support. In my Helping Skills course last fall, we were tasked with designing a solution to a common campus problem. My group chose mental health on college campuses. Below are the slides, where we outlined the problem and suggested some solutions utilizing the Field Guide to Human Centered Design (IDEO.org, 2015). 

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Schuh, Jones, and Harper (2011) call advising the "universal task in student affairs, because it exists at the foundation of much of the work we do" (p. 413). Whether you advise individual students about the courses they need to take in order to graduate, the types of financial assistance a student can receive to continue their program, or if you advise one of the many student groups found on a college campus - you need the foundational pieces of this competency to be an effective professional. 

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One of the foundational outcomes

is facilitating problem solving,

which is a personal favorite of mine.

I am by nature a problem solver - I

take action and try to find ways to

fix problems. But just because I am

a problem solver doesn't mean the

students I work with are - and I can't

solve problems for them. Instead, I

have to coach them through

problems. As Schuh, Jones, and

Harper (2011) said, "problem solving

is not merely supplying solutions"

(p. 417). They outline the steps to

rational problem solving: identification,

diagnosis, generating possible

solutions, selecting solutions,

implementation, and evaluation and

adjustment. They advise against

strictly rational problem solving,

however, because in most cases

all necessary information is not

immediately available. This is where

the coaching comes in, especially

in my experience. Most MIT students

are logical thinkers, so I have to

gently nudge them into more creative

ways of examining a problem.

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For example, as the Panhellenic advisor at MIT, I advise the Executive Board and it's seven members. The current President has made her goal for the year to help chapters actually recruit (her words) more diverse members. As a woman of color, she has noticed that other women of color tend to avoid Greek life, and she wants to understand why and to change that. She told me of her plans to speak to MIT's many undergraduate student groups catering to different cultures, starting with the Black Women's Alliance. She wanted to find ways to reach students not in those groups. So I asked her if she knew of anyone connected to minority education and inclusion. Once I asked that, she pulled out her laptop and started searching, and found some people to connect with in MIT's administration that could get her connected. 

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Another key aspect of group advising is managing conflict between individuals and groups. The Panhellenic board this year is full of what I like to call strong personalities. The members of the board exemplify many key aspects of leaders, but they also have conflicting ideas about how to accomplish the goals they've set. This has, naturally, led to a lot of conflict with neither side interested in backing down. I have had to work with three of these students individually and as a group, as well as the larger group of seven, to understand the motivations and reasoning behind the conflict. Schuh, Jones and Harper (2011) call this conflict mediation, and say that mediators are meant to find each party's ownership, or interest, in the conflict. The interest "may refer to basic concerns, desires, fears, or needs that inform a person's investment in a conflict situation" (p. 437). Some of them would drop their responsibilities right before a deadline, leaving others to pick up the slack, or they would argue that someone is overstepping their role and doing things they weren't asked.

 

Through many conversations, I was able to help them lay some basic ground rules on respecting each individual's ideas, goals, and role on the board. Additionally, I stressed to each of them that seeking help early will lead to less conflict later on. They agreed to stop having arguments over Facebook and GroupMe, and instead relay more serious topics over email and in person, where they are more likely to listen to each other than argue. In the past month, conflict has significantly lessened, and what conflict has happened has been resolved much more quickly and with a lot less pain on all sides.

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References

• IDEO.org. (2015). The Field Guide to Human Centered Design.

• Schuh, J. H., Jones, S. R. & Harper, S. R. (2011). Student services: A handbook for the profession. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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