Research

“We’re Just Better Together”: The Benefits and Challenges of a Campus-Wide Adoption of Appreciative Advising 

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Abstract

Mountain West University has adopted Appreciative Advising campus-wide as a strategy to promote student success. Using the Diffusion of Innovations Theory as a theoretical framework, this study investigated the perceived benefits and challenges academic advisors associate with a cross-campus implementation of Appreciative Advising. Data collection included interviews with 10 academic advisors at Mountain West University, as well as MWU academic advisor training and development documents. Findings demonstrated that adopting Appreciative Advising college-wide benefits both the organization, including providing a common language and approach to interacting with students, and increasing alignment between advisors and faculty, as well as individual academic advisors, thereby improving advisors’ skills and sense of agency. The college-wide adoption also presented challenges. For instance, academic advisors already felt overloaded by their work responsibilities, and some noted it took time to build confidence in implementing their Appreciative Advising skills. The implications of this study include the importance of providing continuous professional development in Appreciative Advising, encompassing both internal and external offerings. Advising administrators may also consider not mandating advisors to adopt the approach and instead allow the framework to integrate into advising practices organically.

Keywords: Appreciative Advising, academic advising, case study, campus-wide implementation, diffusions of innovations theory