Penn State academic advisers contribute to new monograph

Penn State academic advisers contribute to new monograph

Several Division of Undergraduate Studies academic advisers at Penn State recently authored key chapters in the 2010 monograph Scholarly Inquiry in Academic Advising, published by the National Academic Advising Association. The book is a comprehensive guide for conducting research on academic advising, analyzing data and improving the practice of advising.

“Academic advising is emerging as an exciting field of scholarly inquiry as well as a field of practitioners,” said editor Peter Hagen. “We hope this monograph will lead that effort and help to move research onto center stage.”

Contributing authors at Penn State were Division of Undergraduate Studies Executive Director Eric White, Associate Director Marie Lindhorst, recently retired Assistant Director Michael Leonard, Undergraduate Studies Programs Coordinator Terry Musser, and Senior Undergraduate Studies Adviser Janet Schulenberg. They each offered unique perspectives in their chapters and reflected expansive and applicable experience.

“Scholarly Inquiry underscores the premise that all academic advisers have a responsibility to advance knowledge in the field,” said White. “The book includes the history of academic advising, a roll-up-the-sleeves approach to studying one’s own advising practice, and basic steps in conducting a scholarly study, plus it discusses other more sophisticated models, theories and research modalities.

“It also guides readers toward presenting and publishing their work in order to share important findings and encourage continued research,” White added.

Schulenberg and Lindhorst collaborated on the chapter titled “The Historical Foundations and Scholarly Future of Academic Advising;” White and Leonard wrote “The Practitioner-Researcher: Generating Scholarship from Practice;” and Musser authored “A Qualitative Approach to Understanding an Academic Advising System: One Researcher’s Journey into the Field.”

Further details about Scholarly Inquiry in Academic Advising are available at http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Monographs/M20.htm online.