Assigning Faculty Advisors - Information for Faculty and Staff

How are students assigned to faculty advisors?

There are multiple ways that the faculty advisor assignment process can be set in motion, including when a student, faculty or staff completes the faculty advisor request form, when a student changes their program of study, during in-class advising, and at the time of admission for BAS and AAS-RN students.

Table shows the four ways that students are assigned to faculty advisors: when a student, faculty or staff completes the Faculty Advisor Request Form, when a student changes their program of study, during in-class advising, and at the time of admission for BAS and AAS - RN students.

FAQs about the Faculty Advising Assigning Process

1. How do I request that a student be added to my caseload?

Fill out the Faculty Advisor request form, which can be found on the Faculty Advising page of the Advising Center’s web page. You can also email facultyadvising@highline.edu with the student’s CTClink ID. If you have multiple students you would like added to your caseload, we recommend that you email facultyadvising@highline.edu, rather than filling out the form multiple times.

2. How do I request that a student be removed from my caseload?

Email facultyadvising@highline.edu with the student’s CTClink number. We will reach out to the student to see what they are interested in studying and do our best to reassign the student.

3. Who can use the Faculty Advisor Request form?

• Students can use the form to request a faculty advisor.
• Faculty can use the form to request that a student be added to their caseload.
• Faculty or staff can use the form to request an advisor on behalf of a student.

4. Wait a minute?! Everyone can access the faculty advising request form. How do you screen students to ensure that faculty advising is actually where they need to go?

1. Program has opted into early faculty advising → always assign to faculty advising, assign at orientation.
2. Student has more than 30 credits → assign to faculty advisor
3. Student has less than 30 credits but has already started taking classes → refer to either RS or pathway advisors
4. Student has not yet started taking classes → refer to either RS or entry advisors

5. What is the process for deciding which faculty member a student should be assigned to?

If the student requests to be placed with a certain faculty member, we try to honor that request. If the student does not request a specific faculty member, we select an advisor based on the following criteria:

• Which faculty are knowledgeable about the student’s program of study
• Which faculty are accepting new advisees (in other words, which faculty are not on leave or sabbatical)
• Which faculty has the lowest number of advisees.

6. How is a faculty member’s advising load calculated?

We look at the total number of students who are assigned to each faculty in ctclink to calculate advising load.

7. Who do I contact to learn more about the faculty advising assignment process?

• For questions relating to the faculty advisor assigning process, please contact Mary Weir at mweir@highline.edu.

FAQs about Advising

1. What does advising look like at Highline?

Faculty advising is a part of a larger advising process that begins before a student has even enrolled. The four phases of the advising process are:

• Entry Advising
• Pathway Advising
• Faculty Advising
• Completion & Transfer Advising

For more information about the four-phase advising model, please see this handout: https://canvas.highline.edu/courses/2095680/pages/highline-advising-model?module_item_id=54507645 

2. Why is faculty advising important?

Advising directly impacts two key metrics that are tracked in education:  the first-year retention rate and four-year graduation rate.  Without advisors, students may misinterpret policies or fail to establish any semblance of one-on-one guidance as they begin and navigate Highline's programs. Many underserved students fail to achieve a higher education credential because the path to a degree is unnecessarily long, costs too much, and does not support success for all students (Serving the Equity Imperative: Intentional Action Toward Greater Student Success). Finally, academic advising has significant impact on a student success through a positive connection with:

(1) student satisfaction with the college experience,

(2) effective educational and career planning and decision making,

(3) student utilization of campus support services,

(4) student-faculty contact outside the classroom, and

(5) student mentoring (The Role of Academic Advising in Student Retention and Persistence)

3. What are the expectations for faculty advisors?

The advising syllabus is a great resource for faculty and students to help clarify the role of faculty advisors. Faculty are responsible for:

• Creating a reflective, supportive, and safe advising environment
• Sharing contact information and being available to students
• Focusing a student’s questioning and inquiry to refine and improve a student’s learning
• Supporting students’ final decision
• Advocating for a student’s best interests
• Staying informed about Highline degree requirements, academic programs and policies and campus resources and sharing information with students

4. Who do I contact to learn more about advising?

• For questions relating to the faculty advisor assigning process, please contact Mary Weir at mweir@highline.edu.
• For questions relating to faculty advising professional development, please contact Aleya Dhanji at adhanji@highline.edu.
• For questions relating to faculty advising in general, please contact Shawna Freeman at sfreeman@highline.edu.
• For questions relating to pathway advising, please contact advising@highline.edu.
• Not sure who to contact? Send facultyadvising@highline.edu an email, and we’ll put you in touch with the right person.