Kate's Advising Philosophy

Written by: Kate Marrero
Last Updated: July 2016

Students are the core of the university. It is their successes, failures, learning, and impact on the community that create the heart of higher education, and the focus of the university's mission statement. As such, students are also the focus of my academic advising philosophy and objectives. I strive to support my advisees in their cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal development while they are pursuing their undergraduate degrees, with an individualized experience based on a student's interests, needs, career interests, academic goals, and personal values. 

I view academic advising as a teaching position. Traditionally teaching is synonymous with classroom work, however in the advising world, the opportunity to teach and learn rests in every meeting that I have with students. I support their cognitive development by engaging them in their own learning process and planning. Education is not a passive process where students receive information from a knowledge source; it is the active movement toward the critical, cultural competent, and abstract thinking skills needed to become a lifelong learner. When students grasp that, there is no limit to their capacity for growth. 

Interpersonal development is another critical component to my advising philosophy. Different students bring different levels of development, and an in-depth understanding of the individual is needed to help them progress. When advising, I work to help students understand the nature of professional relationships, and how to utilize them in the pursuit of goals. This also requires that the students' take responsibility for getting academic questions or issues resolved in a respectful manner across the university, especially when it takes them out of their comfort zone. 

The final component of my advising philosophy is to facilitate students' intrapersonal development. Understanding the self, the environment, and how they influence each other is critical to lifelong learning and personal success. To do this, I ask questions that encourage self-assessment of personal values, interests, skills, beliefs, career interests, personal goals, and acknowledge that these are in a constant state of evolution. The answers to those questions will certainly change with time, and I encourage students to continually ask themselves those same questions. I empower students to make decisions utilizing all of the related knowledge I can provide, without making the decision for them. My objective here is to help students consider novel or outside information, without being defined by it.

In addition to the developmental aspects of academic advising, I also acknowledge that there are mandatory administrative, policy-related, and collaborative duties involved with this position. I interpret relevant university or departmental policy and communicate them to students regularly. As I stay current with university regulations, students are expected to thoroughly read information I send and are encouraged to ask questions. As the chief executor of the BSBME curriculum, I am an active member of relevant university and departmental committees to advocate on behalf of my advisees' academic and personal development, and the BSBME curriculum. I also compile the data necessary to track and understand the changing needs of students over time, such as retention information, graduation rates, and more. Speaking on the more technical aspects, I emphasize the importance of creating comprehensive academic plans to achieve individual development and career goals. Supporting students in building their own plans provides them with attainable steps towards their goals, and puts them in charge of degree progression.

I expect lifelong learning skills from my students, and so I hold myself to that same standard. That means continuously attending professional development opportunities and periodically revising my advising philosophy and objectives to meet the ever-evolving needs of the student body. This philosophy requires an open, trusting, and inclusive environment, which I build through honesty, genuine interest, mutual respect, and humor where appropriate. I am open to discussion about my advising philosophy, so I welcome questions from all readers.