HBCU Newsletter | Issue No. 4 November 2022

Advising at HBCUs: A Resource Collection Advancing Educational Equity and Student Success

The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition is a core partner of the Advising Success Network (ASN). The ASN is a grant-funded initiative driven to eliminate race and income as predictors of student success by reimagining advising approaches to promote equity with a focus on low-income students and students of color (Advising Success Network, n.d.). In its work with the ASN, the National Resource Center has identified HBCUs as an engagement area to highlight the high-impact advising practices these institutions provide – a topic often insufficiently acknowledged in the larger higher education landscape.

In October 2021, the ASN and the Center hosted a one-day symposium for 26 HBCU thought leaders participating in a 15-month professional learning community. As the group’s culminating event, the symposium facilitated dialogue around trends and issues related to advising, with topics that ranged from supporting high-achieving Black male students to using technology-based advising practices. As part of their involvement in the symposium, HBCU scholars were eligible to contribute content detailing high-impact advising initiatives (e.g., institutional examples, original research) to include in a resource collection.

Advising at HBCUs: A Resource Collection Advancing Equity and Student Success is a three-part collection resulting from the dialogue of the HBCU symposium and material submitted by participants and presenters.

• Part I introduces a qualitative study focusing on the extrinsic support five HBCUs in North Carolina provided to their Black male students.

• Part II highlights four case studies of HBCUs and their innovative advising strategies, spanning from faculty training to learning communities for high-achieving students.

• Part III closes with a reflective analysis of the Journal of the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition’s publishing trend, identifying gaps in the literature focused on HBCUs and potential ways to diversify journal content.

This collection aims to recognize the best practices and high-impact advising initiatives at HBCUs while analyzing the limited coverage of HBCUs in the scholarship addressing student success. Through the collection, the Center seeks to elevate the status of HBCUs in the national conversation on holistic advising while highlighting the importance of creating pathways and platforms for these institutions to publish their experiences and work.

Findings

HBCUs are an entry point into higher education for many Black students and students of color because of the sense of community and belonging they foster (Harper, 2019, pp. 109-110). As a result, many HBCUs have used holistic advising practices to support the diverse students entering their campuses. Many of these practices are evident in the works submitted by the symposium’s contributors.

Part I: HBCUs in North Carolina: Holistic Student Support toward Black Male Success

Dr. Will Sheppard and Dr. Brandy Bryson from Appalachian State University addressed the extrinsic motivations that institutions provided 26 Black males at five HBCUs in North Carolina in their study, “HBCUs in North Carolina: Holistic Student Support toward Black Male Success.” With a high commitment to advising, the researchers sought to understand how five North Carolina HBCUs nurtured Black male brilliance to promote success and served as models for holistic advising. The findings showed that HBCUs excelled at providing resources and services, relationships, opportunities, and racial/cultural identity development. Using the resources at these HBCUs, students received proactive and consistent mentoring from individuals who connected deeply with the students through firm and caring relationships. In addition, the HBCUs helped students get involved on campus and engage in professional development opportunities. Most importantly, these institutions empowered students to embrace their racial identity despite the negative stereotypes present in society.

Part II: Student Success at HBCUs: Institutional Case Studies

HBCUs share similar characteristics; however, each has its own identity and student population. Therefore, part II highlighted the institution-specific advising initiatives at Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, Albany State University, and North Carolina Central University. All case studies focused on standardized advising practices across each campus, advisor training, and building advisor–advisee relationships.

• Dr. Farrah Ward of Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) showcased the importance of a standardized advising protocol in her case study, “Optimizing Academic Advising.” ECSU committed to providing standardized and proactive advising to students because of declining enrollment and changes to the institution’s organizational structure. The Optimizing Academic Advising (OAA) initiative delivered a campus-wide protocol to advisors and faculty, supplemented with training sessions. The E4U system advanced the proactive advising approach because students gained access to faculty and professional advisors’ availability before scheduling appointments, facilitating more advising appointments. Findings showed a positive correlation between implementation of the OAA initiative and an increase in retention and graduation rates.

• Dr. Teresa Thompson-Pinckney of Fayetteville State University discussed the importance of a student-centered, evidence-based coaching model to target high “DF” courses in her case study, “Expanding Advising During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Virtual Student Success Peer Coaching.” Recognizing that students leave institutions for non-academic reasons, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the institution implemented virtual peer coaches to help with goal setting and conduct weekly check-ins with students. Students assisted by peer coaches had lower DF rates than those who did not participate, with 81% of students noting that the virtual peer coaches contributed to their success.

• Dr. Angela Peters and Dr. Kenyatta Johnson from Albany State University highlighted the importance of bridging the gap between student affairs and academic affairs in their case study, “Academic Advising as a Tool for Student Success and Educational Equity.” In their cocurricular model, students worked with a professional advisor until they reached the 60+ credit mark, after which they switched to a faculty advisor. The cross-functional approach worked because the campus had implemented standardized advising procedures and strong communication strategies between the academic affairs and student affairs divisions. The institution saw increased retention rates and persistence in degree attainment because students had access to both professional advisors and faculty advisors to promote student success.

• Christina Garrett and Leon Lassiter from North Carolina Central University spotlighted the importance of intrusive and holistic advising for high-performing students in their case study, “BAM! Merits of a Blended Advising Model for Removing Barriers and Encouraging Success.” The case study outlined the tripartite advising approach of the university’s Cheatham-White Scholarship Program (CWSP) for high-achieving students. Each semester, students met with an academic advisor, a program advisor, and an academic coach. The program increased the participating students’ academic profiles, with the average GPA of CWSP participants surpassing the average GPA of other high-touch programs on campus. The CWSP promoted holistic development with mental health, extracurricular experiences, and professional development.

Part III: Black Students in Transition: A Review of The Journal of the First- Year Experience & Students in Transition

Dr. Rishi Sriram and Kerri Bond from Baylor University analyzed the coverage of HBCUs within the Journal of the First-Year Experience to identify the extent of literature on Black students and identify the gaps within publishing trends. The findings demonstrated that most articles in the Journal focus on Black student experiences at predominantly white institutions, with limited research explicitly focused on HBCUs in the three decades since the Journal’s inception. Researchers highlighted the importance of including HBCUs in scholarship and creating spaces for scholars to write about their experiences at these institutions.

Implications for Practice

This resource collection aimed to contribute to the scholarship focused on HBCU advising models used to increase student success, while also advocating for further scholarship on HBCUs and student success. The following recommendations emerged when taking the concepts from this collection and applying them to the larger context of higher education.

Institutional, standardized advising practices and procedures

• A common theme throughout the collection is the importance of standardized advising procedures on an institution’s campus. To keep students on the same campus from receiving varying advising experiences, institutions must ensure all advising processes function with the same guidelines. Whether institutions use peer coaches, professional advisors, or faculty advisors, setting expectations for these individuals to follow creates greater consistency, with students knowing what to expect and when their advisor will be available. In addition, the contributors noted that training sessions effectively get all campus advisors on the same page and assist them in doing their job. Ultimately, standardized advising procedures on individual campuses might help with student retention and persistence because students receive timely and effective advising rather than working to piece information together on their own.

Holistic advising practices based on a culture of care

• The various works in the collection have shown that HBCUs effectively provide a sense of belonging because they function with a culture of care. The faculty and staff at these institutions prioritize caring for and supporting their students as complete individuals. Care and respect are vital because new students can adjust and learn to navigate challenging experiences when they have built trust and respect with an advisor (National Survey of Student Engagement, 2020). HBCUs in this collection

embody this quality by moving away from the transactional nature of academic advising to focus on the growth of students’ professional development, mental health awareness, goal-setting skills, and more. In addition, institutions can work to build better intentional relationships with students by having authentic interactions and seeking out points of connection with students on campus. When they feel supported by their advisors and institutions, students have the motivation and support systems to persist through higher education’s challenges and succeed.

Access to resources and services

• To help reach their full potential and realize success, students need access to resources and services. These resources can include tutoring, mentorship, advising, study groups, or potential references for other services, such as those for mental health. However, as the case studies have shown, students need access to advisors who can direct them to these resources. Whether institutions use weekly messages to promote campus resources or an advising and retention center to facilitate connections to these services, the HBCUs in this collection have shown the importance of having systems to connect students with the resources needed to foster their engagement and, ultimately, their success.

Outlets to share research and expertise

• As scholarly journals identify gaps in the literature discussing HBCUs and Black student success, these scholarly entities need to create accessible pathways for scholars, especially those of color, to write about HBCUs. The field needs to reexamine its processes to identify which institutions are written about and which are left out of the conversation. Established support systems and resources are necessary to help scholars submit work, along with a more inclusive editorial process that incorporates editors and reviewers of color. Ultimately, the voices of HBCUs and Black scholars deserve consideration, and their representation in scholarly publications needs to be expanded.

The collection’s contributors provide insightful findings that can have implications for advising policies and practice in higher education, specifically for Black students. The scholars and practitioners contributing to this resource collection demonstrate a commitment from the respective HBCUs to uplift and affirm students; these institutions are committed to access and success beyond enrollment by providing opportunities and relationships to foster student success. Advising is critical to providing equitable experiences for all students, especially historically disadvantaged groups. By learning from and drawing upon successes in higher education, institutions can create better advising structures to guide students toward equity and success.

References

Advising Success Network (n.d.). About the network. Retrieved from https://www.advisingsuccessnetwork. org/about-the-network/#mission

Harper, B. E. (2019). African American access to higher education: The evolving role of historically Black colleges and universities. American Academic, 3, 109-110.

National Survey of Student Engagement. (2020). The LRCs of advising: Listening, respecting, and caring. Retrieved from https://nsse.indiana.edu/research/ annual-results/2020/advising/index.html

Publications Staff

Kiisha Hilliard, Content Contributor

Lauren Writer & Todd Money, Reviewers

Stephanie McFerrin, Graphic Designer

Rico Reed, Managing editor

Jennifer Keup, Executive Director

ADVISING SUCCESS NETWORK CASE STUDIES

The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, a core partner in the Advising Success Network (ASN), is excited to share the first two of a three-part series of case studies concerned with demonstrating innovation, institutional transformation, and advising initiatives focused on advancing equity. The first features institutional practices and examples dedicated to academic advising and the second highlights campus initiatives for career advising.

A full collection of work centered on holistic advising, trends in the field, relevant resources, and promising practices is available as openaccess resources through the Advising Success Network.

HBCU RESOURCE COLLECTION

The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, a core partner in the Advising Success Network (ASN), is excited to share this three-part resource collection that foregrounds best advising practices rooted in a culturally relevant framework that affirms HBCU students and their unique perspectives, lived experiences and need for community connections.