Enhancing Collaboration in Student Affairs: Virtual
Advising
College of Health, Education and Human
Development, Clemson University
Posted: October, 2003 Student
Affairs Online, vol. 4 no. 4 - Fall 2003
College and University
administrators and faculty generally agree “collaboration” is one of today’s
most pressing campus issues and that it has many benefits for the campus
community. Collaborating and working in teams can accomplish more than by
working individually. Furthermore, collaboration allows for increased
accomplishments in this era of decreasing resources. For the last decade,
higher education has emphasized the creation of collaborative opportunities. In
recent years this discussion has included both academic affairs and student
affairs departments as integral parts in the establishment of collaborative
opportunities.
In reviewing how campuses
have engaged in collaboration several themes evolve. Typically, innovation in
academic and student affairs collaboration revolves around the areas of
faculty-in-residence, first-year experiences, learning communities, student
life programs, and academic-student affairs planning teams (Bourassa &
Kruger, 2002). Additionally, Hirsch and Burack (2001) state that the most
successful collaboration projects are those that transcend traditional
boundaries or functional areas. Campuses should look for overlapping issues
that link student affairs and academic affairs. Hirsch and Burack (2001) stress
the area of technology as one of these overlapping areas (others include
assessment, changing student population, student retention, and general
education). This article will focus on one example of how technology can be
used to create successful collaboration between faculty in student affairs
preparation programs and the staff in an academic advising center.
The evolution in information
and communication technology has created new possibilities for innovative and
flexible learning by crossing boundaries of time and place. With the
advancement of computer networks, desktop videoconferencing, and the World Wide
Web, learning modalities have greatly expanded, allowing for increased
interactivity between the educator and the student, and also among students
(Havice, Havice & Isbell, 2000). The impact of innovative information and
communication technologies on higher education is evidenced by the growth in
the number of virtual universities/colleges across the country as well as the
tremendous increase in distance education programs. This evidence is in direct
response to the increased pressure higher education institutions have
experienced to deliver higher education more efficiently and to better meet the
needs of the changing demographics in the student population (Guskin, 1996).
The primary mission of
institutions of higher education is to enable students to reach their
educational goals through appropriate programs and services. Therefore, higher
education professionals must develop the skills and knowledge necessary to
understand the needs of students, both on-and off-campus as well as students in
the future. Furthermore, we need to be effective change agents in designing
support services for students. To meet these needs it will be imperative that
academic affairs and student affairs collaborate more effectively.
According to Kendall and
Moore (2001), there needs to be more collaboration between academic and student
affairs in using technology to establish quality distance-learning programs. These
programs must provide effective student services that take into account the
following:
·
A convenient any
time/any place delivery modality – which implies an asynchronous system, part
of which should be a self-service model;
·
One-stop shopping, which
means student service staff must be trained across functions and able to
address at least the first 5 or 8 questions about every element of a program;
·
Services equal in
quality and diversity to those provided on campus;
·
Services based on
identified needs of distance learners, which means that we need on-going
feedback loops and that we need to be willing to adjust our services when needs
change; and
·
Ways to ensure that
distance students feel connected to their institutions (Kendall & Moore,
2001).
An example of a collaborative
relationship between a student affairs preparation program faculty and the
staff in a college advising center is the design and implementation of a
“virtual advising system.” Our goal in
using a virtual advising system was to advise students, in particular, students
at off campus sites in order to facilitate students’ academic progress. It has
been especially useful in assisting students in the articulation of courses to
meet requirements for undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
A primary goal of Clemson
University is to ensure that its graduates are prepared to meet the demands of
today’s global economy. This is an enormous task in itself and it becomes even
more complicated when coupled with a student population spread across a rural
area. Our Student Affairs program strives to provide the most complete academic
advising experience to every student. We chose desktop videoconferencing
technology as a medium to help us create a virtual advising system as a means
of enriching our academic advising experiences.
Until recently, the majority
of videoconferencing technology has been cost prohibitive in both hardware and
communication costs for education institutions. Additionally, the faculty was
hesitant to use technology that was complicated, undependable, and
frustrating. Recently, our college started using desktop
videoconferencing for collaboration, allowing geographically dispersed students
and advisors to meet regularly with an affordable, reliable and effective
system.
Currently, we are using an
integrated desktop video communications device by POLYCOM ViaVideo, utilizing a
broadband Internet connection, that delivers business-quality, interactive
video and voice communications from a desktop or laptop PC. The device has a
very low technology frustration level (LTFL) for our faculty and students. It
simply plugs into a desktop or laptop PC via the universal serial bus (USB)
port. All you have to do with ViaVideo is plug it in and place it on top of
your computer monitor. By using the USB connection you eliminate a lot of
frustration having to take apart your PC and install a card for the device. The
quality of the audio and video is great and it is a very reliable product. It
is small enough to hold in your hand and affordable. Reliability, ease-of-use,
and cost were the main considerations for our college when selecting a video
conferencing system. The system had to be easy for the faculty to use and it
had to be extremely reliable in order to develop their confidence in the
system.
Videoconferencing helps
people to work more effectively because visual communication is perhaps the
most natural form of communication. People understand faster and can
remember more of what is shown, rather than told, especially when the subject
is itself a visual idea.
The key to a successful
virtual advising session is proper planning. In our experiences with
collaboration and planning with others in the implementation of this system, it
is important to keep in mind the following:
Good planning and proper use
of the system will make the academic advising session as effective as
traditional face-to-face advising.
As you explore the use of
desktop videoconferencing for virtual advising or other collaborative projects,
we offer the following practical suggestions:
This collaborative project
between our graduate preparation program and Academic Advising Center of the College
has yielded many benefits. Some of the more tangible benefits included
minimizing travel time for faculty, students, and staff traveling to and from
remote sites. This reduction saved both time and money; however, there are a
number of intangible benefits. Developing and implementing a virtual advising
system provides opportunities for collaboration and increased teamwork. Furthermore, this system has improved the
department’s relationship with our remote students. It has enhanced our
communication with these students and strengthened the student-advisor
relationship. In addition, we believe the virtual advising system contributes
to the students’ sense of belonging in the academic program.
As the leaders in
collaboration on campus, student affairs professionals may want to explore
other areas for collaboration via videoconferencing systems. For example,
videoconferencing can be used in admissions processes and interviews, for
judicial hearings with off-campus students, in career centers for employer/employee
interviews, and in meeting with colleagues from across campus to around the
world. The opportunities for collaboration using this technology are boundless.
Bourassa, D. M., &
Kruger, K. (2002). The national dialogue on academic and
student affairs
collaboration. In A. Kezar, D. J. Hirsch, & C. Burack (Eds.). Understanding the role of academic and student affairs collaboration in
creating a successful learning
environment (pp. 9-38). New Directions for Higher Education, No. 116. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Guskin, A.E. (1996). Facing
the future: The change process in restructuring
universities. Change, 28 (4), 27-37.
Havice, P. A., Havice, W. L.,
& Isbell, C. (2000). Rubrics and a strategy for
integrating traditional
instruction and distributed learning. In B. L. Mann (Ed.). Web course management. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Hirsch, D. J., & Burack,
C. (2001). Finding points of contact for collaborative
work. In A. Kezar, D. J.
Hirsch, & C. Burack (Eds.). Understanding
the role of academic and student affairs collaboration in creating a successful
learning environment (pp. 53-62). New Directions for Higher Education, No.
116. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kendall, J. R. & Moore,
C. (Eds.), (2001). Student services for distance learners: A critical
component. NASPA’s Net Results (http://www.naspa.org/netresults/index.cfm).