Influencer – Goals and Measures

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This post is the first step in developing an influencer strategy that can help in the Innovation of Advising, which empowers students and advisors in creating authenticity in the advising relationship.

Identify Results

Transform transactional advising general information and onboarding orientation to video, audio, and text resources in flipped advising modules with digital assessments by the Fall 2025 intake cycle. 

Measurement

Measurement efforts can utilize typical question/quiz formats for transactional pieces of advising to clear various holds and satisfy specific enrollment requirements. 

Further and ongoing assessments

• Open-ended feed-forward monthly one-minute (what’s working/what can be better?) check-ins with students and advisors. Results open the door for collaboration opportunities that improve, clarify and streamline online resources for various readers, levels, and delivery modes and preferences.
• Satisfaction surveys for advisors to express bottlenecks and pinch-points described by students. 30-minute weekly advisor check-ins to discuss and brainstorm for solution-oriented collaborative groups from across campus support (admissions, financial aid, IT, records) that provide solution-based improvement ideas as front-line interaction experts.
  • Departmental Likert surveys to obtain valuable and informative data metrics at targeted assessment points (two-three times during each semester). An example is an informational Tik-Tok campaign about the impact of dropping and currently available (live) resources/support services around significant drop deadlines. Followed by a “did this information help you” survey to assess growth mindset messaging‘s and support service referrals’ impact on retention/student success.
•  Site visit statistics used to track resource utilization during targeted campaigned proactive outreach.

Vital Behaviors you are trying to change

1. Create and allow for flexible advising options (online, e-advise, module/quiz-based, video/quiz-based, in-person), allowing for the ultimate diversity of choice, ownership, and voice for each learner and advisor within accepted and set boundaries/expectations. This vital behavior empowers and frees students and advisors from mandated expectations of advising interactions to express their individuality while contributing to the collaboration of compelling flipped advising opportunities.
2. Advising modules can include internal triggers to direct students’ needs based on assessments from within advising modules. Answers/scores can launch informative videos, initiate a referral to support services (Careers, ARC, advising, financial aid/scholarships), targeted outreach, and follow up from stakeholders to explain options and impacts and/or advising/coaching campaign links. During peak advising/registration times, outreach efforts/campaigns will direct students to flipped advising resources. This action leaves advisors’ schedules open and available during critical availability timeframes.

Cultural/Organizational Influencers and Why

• Advisors will be one of the most significant cultural influences in this change strategy because they have the front-line perspective of students’ frustrations and confusion. This innovation will empower advisors to help improve the student experience while reducing the repetitive and transactional calls, emails, and appointments that prevent them from more meaningful interactions with students.
• Stakeholders will be another source of significant cultural influence in the transformation of advising as it encompasses and overarches all offices and services of the university structure (such as the records department; scholarship, financial aid, and veterans affairs; system administrators; technology support, service desk, and instructional designers; administrative support).

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Innovation = Care

Put simply, care. Care about students. Care about advisors. Care about departments. Care about program and state requirements. Care about policies. Ultimately, care about changing lives.

… how vital the role of a strong advising relationship is to students’ retention and success. Providing students with 24/7 access to personally curated information resources can guide them throughout their programs’ completion. This innovation aims to improve the experience for both advisors’ and students’ while strengthening that relationship.

Short, D. R. (2022, September 18). An Invitation to Innovate Advising. The Advisor That Cares. https://advising.blog/the-advisor-that-cares/

Why = Make a difference

Guiding students to find or reconnect with a passion for learning and to make meaningful connections throughout their learning experience on the way to becoming life-long inquisitive learners. Helping advisors find their purpose and joy in helping others by helping them overcome challenges and valuing their input as change agents.

… my purpose is to make a difference in other people’s lives.

Short, D. R. (2022, October 23). Why? The Advisor That Cares. https://advising.blog/2022/10/23/why/

Goal = Motivation/Ownership

Who do our students want to become? Who do our advisors want to help them become? What motivates our advisors to come and guide students? How does each impact the lives of our students and advisors? (CSLE2COVA, 2018)

I want to help revolutionize advising.

Short, D. R. (2022, October 23). Head vs. Heart. The Advisor That Cares. https://advising.blog/2022/10/21/head-vs-heart/

References

CSLE2COVA. (2018, August 8). LMD EP07 preparing learners for life. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb4q5dUV4uY

Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, Second Edition. McGraw-Hill Education.