Critical to Student Success: Making Visible the Work of Holistic Advising in PA Education

Academic advising has long been a powerful mechanism for supporting student success, persistence, and degree completion across many disciplines. Although researchers have developed a clear understanding of the benefits to students, there are little data reporting the faculty experience especially as it relates to holistic advising. This study aims to highlight the facilitators and barriers to PA faculty engaging in this important work.

To understand the PA faculty experience from diverse institutions, the authors employed a phenomenologically informed qualitative research approach, using semistructured in-depth interviews. Study participants represent diversity in geographic location, years of experience in education, and identity.

The findings suggest several barriers and facilitators to faculty engagement in this critical work. Barriers include limited time and training, uncertain scope, being unprepared to address emotional and other nonacademic needs, and, for some, a lack of advising experience and institutional knowledge. Attributes that support holistic advising include years of experience in academia, connections with advisees, faculty peer mentorship, resource sharing, and support and training for advisors. The findings highlight that holistic advising involves faculty doing work to communicate their boundaries, develop a sense of purpose as an advisor, prompting student reflection, and practicing radical listening and developing their own emotional maturity.

The results highlight the nuances of what it means to advise thoughtfully, intentionally, and holistically, as well as the careful, valuable work that this entails. It is vital to move our conceptualization of academic advising beyond checklist completion to acknowledge the real work involved, which is often not accounted for in faculty workload or other forms of recognition, including promotion and tenure.