A Counseling Liaison Model of Academic Advising

Riva S. Kadar

This article describes an alternative method of academic advising, as opposed to the traditional faculty-
student model. The objective of the counseling liaison model i s to increase the retention and
graduation rates of students through linking counseling intervention strategies with developmental
academic advising.

A cademic advising is often the catalyst for frequent and consistent contact
with students, but it is much more than a process of simply advising stu-
dents about which courses to take. Advisement offers multiple chances
to develop a rapport with students and, more often than not, the occasion to
discuss any prospects, goals, and personal issues that may be impeding their suc-
cess. Tinto (1993) referred to ongoing, personal contact of faculty and staffwith
students as an essential component in long-term retention. Other major re-
searchers on student involvement and retention agree (Astin, 1993; Kuh, Schuh,
Whitt, &Associates, 1991;Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991).Furthermore, Tinto
(1993) asserted that students who fail to gain goal clarification are likely to
question why they are in college and are at risk for dropping out. The advis-
ing process provides an opportunity to guide students in setting and achiev-
ing their goals by working together on exploring where they are in the pro-
cess, what they want, and what are the options available to them.

Developmental Academic Advising

Unlike traditional approaches to academic advising, developmental advising
requires that advisers do more than assist students in scheduling their classes.
Raushi (1993) defined deveLopmentaL academic advising as a process that
enhances student growth by providing information and an orientation that
views students through a human development framework. He stressed that
“developmental academic advising is both goal-centered and student-ownership
based” (p. 8) and that it “focuses on the whole person and works with the
student at that person’s life stage of development” (p. 7). With this ap-
proach, the advising process is about guiding-not directing-students
toward which personal goals to set and how to achieve them.

Rivo S. Kodor is o doctorol student in the Higher Educotion Administrotion progrom in the Deportment of
Orgonizotion ond Leodership ot Jeochers College, Columbio University in N e w York. Correspondence regording
this orticle should be sent to Rivo 5. Kodor, 332 4th Street, Brooklyn, NY I1215 (e-moil: rskodor@yohoo.com).

I 74 Journal of College Counseling . Fall 2001 . Volume 4

 One perspective of how developmental academic advising nurtures student
growth is to overlay the “lens” of developmental academic advising with
Chickering’s (1969) Seven Vectors of College Student Development. The
vectors describe development in terms of students’ emotional, social, and
intellectual growth. In developmental advising, advisers encourage develop-
ment in these domains by helping students move through the seven vectors of
(1) developing competence, (2)managing emotions, (3) developing autonomy,
(4)establishing identity, ( 5 ) freeing interpersonal relationships, (6) develop-
ing purpose, and (7) developing integrity (Chickering, 1969). Traditional
models of academic advising have a faculty member as the adviser (Frost,
1991), but the role of advising more naturally fits with the educational back-
ground and expertise of counselors.

The Role of the Counseling Liaison

O n a daily basis, counselors see how academic, career, and personal issues are
intertwined in students’ lives. Much of the time, a student’s presenting prob-
lem is academic in nature, yet it gradually reveals itself to be a personal issue
that is affecting academic success. Thus, the advising process encompasses
more than academic issues; it also includes addressing students’ personal
concerns and their adjustment and integration into campus life. The training
and preparation of counselors, unlike that of academic faculty, are generally
from a holistic student development perspective. Counselors in a counseling
liaison model are not only knowledgeable about the appropriate courses for
the student but are also trained to deal with and are most capable of dealing
with the numerous other personal aspects vital to student success.
The counseling liaison model of developmental academic advising involves
assigning professionals from the counseling center to work with particular
academic departments. The counseling liaison role is unique because it re-
quires that the counselor develop rapport not only with his or her students
but also with the faculty in his or her assigned academic department. Habley
(1981) pointed out that academic advising is the one service that allows for
consistent interaction with students throughout their academic career. To
take this one step further, when counseling and advisement are linked with
the academic departments, it also allows for a consistent and reciprocal re-
lationship between and among the counselor, faculty, and student. I n addi-
tion, the concept of counseling liaisons provides for effective collaborative
relationships in which role models are provided for students to emulate.
Collaboration also conveys to students that more than one college constitu-
ency cares about them and is invested in their success.
Becoming an expert in the available resources in every major is difficult.
Hence, counseling liaisons are desirable for each curriculum. Richardson and
Skinner (1992) found that “most commonly, students centered their experi-
ence around the department of their major” (p. 37). Therefore, it behooves
counselors to reach out to students within their major because often this is

Journal of College Counseling Fall 2001 Volume 4 I 75

where they feel most connected to the college, as well as most receptive and
available for counseling and advisement.

Recommendations for Imdementation

The following list describes the kinds of interventions that counseling liai-
sons can make to be effective, proactive forces within academic programs.

1. Counselors can let students know who they are from the beginning by
going into freshman classrooms each semester to introduce themselves to the
students in that major. Quite often students are listed in one curriculum but
really want another, so assigning students a counselor by their declared major
overlooks students who have not officially transferred into their intended major.
In addition, cards can be mailed to all students, introducing them to their
counseling liaison.
2. The counseling liaison can attend faculty meetings to stay current with changes
in the department; work closely with academic faculty by creating a referral sys-
tem that allows them to view the counselor as a resource person; and, in addition,
mediate between faculty and students when conflicts arise.
3. The counseling liaison can become a central resource person. The coun-
selor can develop a library of information about the various career options,
available scholarships, articulation agreements, and campus activities pertaining
to that major. Richardson and Skinner’s (1992) case studies revealed that if
students found sources of academic and social support difficult to locate,
they would go unused.
4.Counselors can actively reach out to at-risk students in the major through
letters, phone calls, and progress reports. The counselor can review the tran-
scripts of students who are on probation or who are doing poorly as reflected
by faculty progress reports. Letters can be sent that encourage students to
make an appointment with the counselor to discuss academic and career goals.
A 2-year study by Rudman (as cited in Perez, 1998) found that students who
received early-alert letters had the highest end-of-year retention rates.
5 . The liaison counselor can also teach freshman orientation courses specifi-
cally geared toward the major to which they are a liaison. This affords the
counselor opportunities to connect with his or her students and to devise
lectures and workshops focusing in that particular major. Just as important,
freshman orientation courses can acknowledge the transition that new stu-
dents are going through by orienting them to the norms of the college. This
is vital because the college student development literature shows that the
more quickly students adjust, get involved in, and feel more connected with
the institution, the more likely they will persist, have lower rates of attrition,
and succeed (Astin, 1993; Cuseo &Barefoot, 1996;Kuh et al., 1991;Pascarella
& Terenzini, 1991; Tinto, 1996). The goal of freshman orientation courses is
to instill in students what is required in college work and to help them become

I 76 Journal of College Counseling .

Fall 2001 .
Volume 4
aware of available resources and how to access them. Students also learn how
to concentrate and to use their time effectively; how to deal with personal
problems; and how to interact and connect with fellow students, faculty, and
the institution. The greater goal of orientation is to help students become con-
nected to the college and become aware that the college cares about them and
their success.
6 . The counselor can create meaningful experiences for students in the major.
The counseling liaison can also become involved in the clubs and student
government activities in that major. The liaison can also design workshops,
informational videos, an Internet Web site, and alumni/mentor networks.

Evaluation
The counselors serving as liaisons can provide and share midyear and year-
end reports with the vice president for student affairs, as well as with the
chairperson of each of the academic departments involved. These reports
can include documentation of what has been accomplished throughout the
year. These reports can also include cohort data, a case study, and a detailed
description of interventions made. The cohort data should include a minimum
of 50 randomly selected incoming freshman students. The counselor report
should also include demographic and tracking data about these students. This
allows for a representative sample of students to be examined in an in-depth
manner by tracking how many times the student saw the counselor, the reason
for seeing the counselor, the number of credits taken per semester, his or her
grade point average, and how long it takes him or her to graduate. The gradu-
ation data can be compared to graduation rates prior to implementation of
the counseling liaison program.
Research has shown that student intention and initial goals on arrival at college
can be used as an indication ofa student’s subsequent retention (Feldman, 1993;
Tinto, 1993). Therefore, for comparison purposes, counselors can survey cohort
students about their goals on both their entry and exit from the institution. Fol-
low-up surveys to cohort students on graduation can inquire about enrollment in
graduate school or employment in their field. Students who left college before
graduation can be asked their reasons for leaving early. The surveys can also
include questions whose responses indicate the helpllness of the counseling li-
aison to the student. The surveys can include questions to indicate whether or
not students achieved their goals at the institution.
The counseling liaison model has proven successful in a t least one commu-
nity college setting. It is a model that is also replicable elsewhere.

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