Additional Information
It's no surprise that higher education plays an integral part in the background
of most of today's academic advisors.
But it wasn't always so.
Roberta Flaherty of Kansas State University is the executive director of
the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA). She explains, "Most advisors
in the past 'fell into' their positions after exposure to the career through
teaching positions.
"More recently, advising is becoming an intentional path through counseling
or higher education administration graduate programs," says Flaherty.
"This is helping advisors without prior formal training to gain the necessary
background to be more effective more quickly than on-the-job training. Many
are also gaining valuable professional development through the resources offered
by NACADA."
Still, degrees are not the only building blocks to this rewarding career.
Anthony Tanjoco is the senior academic advisor at a college.He explains,
"Although I was hired because of what I knew and what I could do for [the
college] more than my degree, earned degrees are still the quickest way to
accelerate career advancement in the higher education field."
Julie Steinke agrees that hands-on experience is priceless to this career
choice. "Many schools have graduate positions where you can do an internship
in the field while working on your graduate degree so that you get valuable
experience." Steinke is the director of student athlete support services at
a university. She adds, "Joining a professional organization such at N4A (National
Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics) is also a beneficial networking
tool."
Debbie Graczyk of a university admits that her path to becoming an academic
advisor was not traditional. A former nursery school teacher, Graczyk had
all but completed her teaching degree when she decided it wasn't what she
wanted.
Graczyk applied for, and got, a job as an assistant registrant at a local
college, eventually replacing the registrar. She opted for counseling rather
than business for her master's degree because she "enjoyed the people part
of [her] job more than the administrative aspects."
She worked as director of admissions and coordinated a women's program
before becoming an advisor. "It's been an interesting journey!"