Student survey reveals gaps in core academic advising functions

Image:  Locksley Knibbs, lead academic adviser for students studying the natural sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University, knows that advisers take on different roles to serve the whole student: mentor, advocate, mediator, coach. At FGCU, where many full-time advisers have faculty status, Knibbs even teaches a class on the foundations of civic engagement. Still, Knibbs says, academic advisers first and foremost help students understand what courses they need to take, in what order, to...