Purpose
Academic advising, part of teaching, is a shared responsibility and plays a central role in student success at Penn State Behrend. Effective advising helps students understand academic requirements, make informed educational decisions, connect coursework to personal and career goals, and access campus resources that support their success. Faculty advisers provide discipline-specific mentoring, coordinate with professional advisers on referrals, outreach, and support for students facing difficulties, and work with student support offices to promote student persistence, timely degree completion, and meaningful educational experiences.
This policy establishes expectations for faculty advising responsibilities, recognizes excellence in advising, and provides a framework for continuous improvement while allowing flexibility across academic disciplines.
Faculty Advising Workload
- A faculty member’s advising duties vary widely and are incorporated within the teaching workload percentages assigned annually by the School Director.
- Faculty with a documented history of advising excellence may have elements of their workload reassigned (see Workload Policy BCF-21), including (but not limited to) reductions in teaching, research, or service responsibilities, accompanied by a corresponding adjustment in workload percentages. Faculty members are expected to maintain an advising roster and use Starfish as part of best practices. Documentation can include informal advising noted in Activity Insights. Advising excellence reflects sustained advising quality, mentoring, and broader advising contributions.
- Standard advising expectations include advising roster sizes, complexity and frequency of advising interactions, mandatory meeting cadences (e.g., pre-registration periods) and clearly communicated availability initial responsiveness to students, responsiveness to engaging with other office to resolve issues, and use of appropriate technology are determined at the school level in alignment with Penn State Advising Policy. In cases where a faculty member’s assigned student advising falls significantly below expectations in terms of fulfillment of responsibilities for more than one consecutive year, the faculty member and School Director will develop a shared improvement plan. Such a plan may include a revised advising strategy, mentoring by another faculty member or professional adviser, participation in advising development activities, or, when appropriate, a workload adjustment that reallocates the faculty member's advising effort to additional teaching, research, or service responsibilities.
- Any changes to standard workload percentages may be made only after consultation between the School Director and the faculty member. Final approval rests as indicated in Behrend Workload Guidelines (BCF-21).
Faculty Expectations for Quality Advising
The following expectations, adapted from NACADA and tailored for Penn State Behrend, establish the core responsibilities of faculty advisers.
Knowledge and Compliance
- Maintain current knowledge of Penn State curriculum, degree requirements, and academic pathways within assigned program(s).
- Correctly apply University policies, academic regulations, and procedures when advising students.
- Understand and comply with FERPA and other applicable legal and ethical requirements governing student records and confidentiality.
- Recognize when a question requires specialized interpretation and consult or refer the student to the appropriate office rather than provide uncertain guidance.
Accessibility and Responsiveness
- Maintain and communicate a reliable method through which advisees may contact them and schedule appointments.
- Acknowledge advising-related messages from students within two business days during the academic year, even if additional time is needed to provide a complete response.
- Provide a substantive response, appointment, referral, or expected timeline for resolution within three business days whenever reasonably possible.
- Respond within one business day to time-sensitive requests during published registration, add/drop, late-drop, graduation-clearance, and other critical academic periods.
- Communicate planned absences and, when unavailable for more than three business days during the academic year, provide students with an alternative contact for urgent advising needs.
- Maintain sufficient appointment availability during pre-registration and other high-demand advising periods.
*These timelines apply during faculty members’ assigned periods of duty. They do not ordinarily include weekends, University holidays, approved leave, or periods when the faculty member is not under contract.
Student Engagement (please see also shared responsibilities of advisees below)
- Develop advising relationships characterized by trust, professionalism, respect, and inclusion.
- Proactively contact advisees at designated points, including before registration when required.
- Communicate clearly and effectively with students from diverse backgrounds, including first-generation, transfer, adult, and other non-traditional populations.
- Help students connect academic choices to educational, career, and personal goals while encouraging informed decision-making and student ownership of academic planning.
- Students are expected to respond to advising communications promptly and meet relevant advising and academic deadlines.
Advising Practice
- Prepare for advising appointments by reviewing each student's academic record and degree audit.
- Plan and conduct advising meetings that include goal-setting, academic planning, and appropriate follow-up.
- Use Penn State advising technologies consistently to support advising activities, including reviewing degree audits, documenting substantive advising interactions when appropriate, responding to Starfish alerts and referrals promptly, and using available systems to monitor student academic progress.
- Refer students to appropriate academic, wellness, financial, career, and other campus support resources when additional assistance is warranted.
- Maintain advising documentation that promotes continuity of student support and informed decision-making.
Professional Development
- Engage in ongoing reflection and continuous improvement of advising practice.
- Participate in University or College advising training and remain current on advising technologies, policies, and best practices.
Shared Responsibilities of Advisees, as outlined in Penn State Policy 32-30
- Effective advising also depends upon active student participation. Students are expected to:
- Acquire the information needed to assume final responsibility for course scheduling, program planning, and the successful completion of all graduation requirements.
- Explore educational opportunities at Penn State by learning more about their [intended] major and evaluating the fit of their interests and abilities with their [intended] program.
- Engage in planning before meetings with academic advisers using relevant tools and resources, such as the University Bulletin, Suggested Academic Plans, and degree audits.
- Meet regularly with assigned academic adviser to discuss goals, plans, suitability of other educational opportunities provided by the University, academic progress, challenges, and concerns.
- Seek a variety of opportunities and information needed to set and achieve educational goals.
- Become knowledgeable about the relevant policies, procedures, and rules of the University, college, and academic program.
- Use the logic of the curriculum to integrate learning across all educational experiences.
Recognition of Excellence
- Sustained advising excellence may be recognized through annual evaluations, awards or nominations, professional-development opportunities, expanded advising leadership responsibilities, or workload adjustments (see Behrend Workload Guidelines, BCF 21) when the scope and impact of the contribution warrant such recognition.