Revised 4/10/12 Academic Advisor Career Ladder

Revised 4/10/12 Academic Advisor Career Ladder

Auburn University

Academic Advisor Career Ladder Guide

Outline

I.  Explanation of Advancement in the Academic Advisor Career Ladder

II.  The Candidate’s Dossier: General Instructions and Formatting

III.  Recommendations for Promotion

Appendix A. Criteria for Academic Advisor Career Ladder Levels

Appendix B. Timetable for Promotion Cycles in the Academic Advisor Career Ladder Program

Appendix C. Application for Academic Advisor Career Ladder Promotion

Appendix D. Auburn University Academic Advisor Survey

Appendix E. Template for Academic Advisor Survey Summary Report

Appendix F. Directions for Creating Electronic Dossier

I. Explanation of Advancement in the Academic Advisor Career Ladder

Promotion in the Academic Advisor Career Ladder is based on merit as demonstrated in a dossier of documented achievement compiled by the candidate for promotion. Six areas contribute to decisions regarding advancement:

·  Education

·  Experience

·  Advising

·  Continuing Education and Professional Involvement

·  Creative and Professional Development

·  Outreach and Professional Service

The academic advisor career ladder consists of three levels. Appendix A delineates the criteria for each of the six areas noted above for Level I, II, and III. This chart notes the minimum number of activities for promotion to Level II and Level III by area. When an academic advisor meets all criteria for advancement to the next level, he/she may submit a dossier with the appropriate evidence for review by the Academic Advisor Peer Review Committee.

Part II of this manual, The Candidate’s Dossier: General Instructions and Formatting, delineates the evidence required for each area. The semester timetable for promotion cycles in the academic advisor career ladder program is outlined in Appendix B.

Part II. The Dossier – General Instructions and Formatting

Candidates for promotion are to develop an electronic dossier in the form of an Adobe Acrobat pdf file according to the instructions provided in Appendix F. The electronic dossier is to be delivered to her/his dean’s office. The dean’s designee adds the confidential letters of recommendation from the candidate’s supervisor and dean noted in Section 3 and delivers the materials to the Office of the Provost by the deadline established in the annual call for promotion letter. The submitted electronic dossier will be treated as a confidential document, as it contains personnel records and confidential letters of recommendation. At the end of the review period, all copies of the dossier (electronic or paper) will be destroyed, except for one retained for archival purposes in the Office of the Provost. Furthermore, the members of the Academic Advisor Peer Review Committee will conduct their work under the terms stipulated under a confidentiality statement that they must sign, which assures that the contents of the dossier and the committee’s deliberations remain confidential.

INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED BY THE CANDIDATE

Candidates are responsible for ensuring that all required information in Sections 1 and 2 are included in the dossier. Incomplete dossiers will not be considered for promotion. Additional materials may not be submitted after the deadline noted in the annual call for promotion letter.

SECTION 1. Education and Experience

1A. Application for Promotion and Biographical Cover Sheet

Candidates are required to complete the application in Appendix C. Information regarding Education and Experience are included on this application.

1B. Prior Service Credit Memo
A prior service credit letter is provided to the candidate by the Chair of the Academic Advisor Peer Review Committee at the time of hire. This letter is to be included in the dossier. If the candidate does not have a copy of this letter, he/she may obtain a copy from the Office of the Provost.

1C. Resume

The resume is to include information on past employment history and the nature of the work performed. This information may include employment as a graduate assistant, teacher educator, etc. Candidates are to indicate whether positions were fulltime or parttime; if parttime, candidates are to indicate the number of hours per week and/or percent of time. In addition, the resume is to include any honors, awards, or notable achievements.

SECTION 2: Documentation of Accomplishments in Achievement Areas

The candidate is responsible for adequately and clearly documenting activities in each of the following areas of achievement. The dossier and letters of recommendation within the dossier should make clear what accomplishments have been achieved by the candidate in each of these four job-related areas of the career ladder since the time of the initial conversion review in June of 1999 or the last promotion.

2.A. Advising

The Committee’s primary concern relates to the candidate’s development in the role of academic advising. The Committee evaluates the candidate’s contributions to advising based on the following required evidence.

2.A.1 Promotion Application Letter

The candidate should prepare a letter addressed to the Academic Advisor Career Ladder Review Committee stating how she/he has met the requirements for promotion and how her/his performance merits promotion. The candidate may also offer an overview of the accomplishments presented in the dossier. This letter should be no more than two pages in length.

2.A.2 Performance Evaluation

A copy of the candidate’s most recent performance evaluation completed by her/his supervisor is to be included.

2.A.3 Student Survey Data

Summary data from the student assessment surveys of the individual candidate’s advising are required. These data must be collected using the Auburn University Advisor Survey described in Appendix D. The data should be presented in the format illustrated in Appendix E. Data must be collected no more than 18 months prior to submission of the application and dossier. In addition to summary data for the required “core” questions, data for questions that are specific to the advisor’s unit/college may be included.

2.B. Continuing Education and Professional Involvement

In addition to advising, the Committee expects evidence of frequent and sustained continuing education and professional involvement in each of the three subcategories noted below.

2.B.1 Advisors Caucus Letter

Candidates are to present a letter from one of the Advisor Caucus officers addressed to the Advisor Career Ladder Review Committee evaluating the candidate’s participation in and contributions to the caucus. While advisors are not expected to attend every function hosted by the Caucus or attend every convention, the Committee expects advisors to demonstrate that their professional involvement is a priority.

2.B.2 Professional Memberships

The candidate is required to be a participating member of one or more state, regional, or national organizations concerned with academic advising or related professional associations. A list of membership(s) is required as part of the candidate’s dossier submission. Information pertaining to leadership positions in these organizations should be included if applicable.

2.B.3. Activities/Events

A summary of additional continuing education activities/events is to be presented with items numbered and listed in reverse chronological order beginning with the most recent. For each item, candidates are to provide a brief description, including information as to where and when the activity took place. Following are examples of activities/events:

·  Course work in areas that enhance advising skills

·  Attendance at advising-related workshops, presentations, and/or video conference sponsored by the advisors caucus, the university, or state, regional, or national advising or advising-related associations

·  Serving on advising-related committees at the university level

·  An advising award

2. C. Creative and Professional Development

Activities included in this category showcase the candidate’s strengths, abilities, creativity, interest, and commitment to advising and to students, faculty, and colleagues. These activities must represent a significant achievement and demonstrate a substantial time commitment to develop and execute. They should have a meaningful impact in improving advising and should be aligned with the goals of the advising unit. The list should be brief, but each item should include a short description of the activity and a justification explaining its significance. Items are to be listed in reverse chronological order with the most recent listed first.

Following are examples of activities that merit inclusion in this category. Applicants should pay close attention to any notes below regarding the clustering of activities to constitute a significant achievement and present this cluster of activities as one item rather than multiple items. The candidate is responsible for explaining the significance of the individual and clustered activities. The Committee is not responsible for determining how less significant items could be clustered to form a significant achievement.

Examples for 2.C.:

·  Develop a significant advising-related program (e.g., peer mentoring program, manuals, web pages, etc.). Note: Development of a brochure typically is not considered a significant achievement but may be paired with related work to form a significant achievement.

·  Redesign a significant program component (e.g., collegiate operations, processes/procedures, forms). Note: Creation of individual advisingrelated procedures and/or forms is not considered a significant achievement; however, development of multiple related forms and/or procedures may merit consideration. Applicants should cluster these achievements into a single achievement rather than list separately.

·  Teach and significantly revise an advising-related class. Note: This activity may be considered a significant achievement in Creative and Professional Development if the applicant has developed the course content, assignments, etc. and has been in charge of ongoing course refinement. Otherwise, the achievement is to be noted in Outreach and Professional Service. An example that is appropriate for Creative Work and Professional Development is teaching UNIV 1000, modifying the course for the college’s learning community, and refining it through repeated teaching of the course to new learning communities.

·  Present a paper or workshop on advising issues to a campus audience or at an external conference. Note: "Repeat" presentations are not considered additional significant achievements unless substantive changes are documented.

• Publish a paper or related advising materials in a state, regional, or national outlet

Promotion to Level II requires two significant achievements in the area of Creative and Professional Development. Promotion to Level III requires three additional significant achievements for a total of five in this area. The candidate may have multiple achievements in the same category (e.g., workshop presentation).

2.D. Outreach and Professional Service

The Committee is interested in commitment to advising as a whole at Auburn University and service to the entire AU community. Generally, advisors are typically very involved in their colleges, schools, and professional associations and candidates have more than adequate activities in this area. The activities should help enhance advising services, and student learning. The candidate’s list of activities should be brief and in reverse chronological order. Following are examples of service activities:

·  Hold an office or chair significant committees in the Caucus

·  Serve on a University committee

·  Advise school/college chartered organizations

·  Teach related classes (e.g., UNIV 1000)

·  Hold office or chair significant committees in state/regional/national advising (or related) associations

·  Develop significant liaison program or programs with other campus resources or referral agencies.

·  Other significant activities for school/college or university (with documentation).

Promotion to Level II requires one service activity in the area of Outreach and Professional Service. Promotion to Level III requires two more sustained service activities for a total of three in this area.

INFORMATION TO BE ADDED BY THE DEAN’S DESIGNEE

SECTION 3: Letters of Recommendation

The candidate is expected to provide his/her supervisor and dean with a copy of Sections 1-2 for review at least two weeks before the dossier is due to the Office of the Provost. After a review of the dossier, the supervisor and dean each write a letter of recommendation on the candidate’s application for promotion. If these referees support the promotion, their letters should describe how the candidate’s performance merits promotion and describe how the candidate has met the requirements for promotion. These confidential letters are then added to the electronic dossier and submitted to the Office of the Provost by the deadline noted in the annual call for promotion.

3.A. Letter of Recommendation from the Candidate’s Supervisor

3.B. Letter of Recommendation from the Candidate’s Dean

Part III. Recommendations for Promotion

The chair of the Academic Advisor Peer Review Committee sends each candidate a letter notifying her/him of the Committee’s recommendation regarding promotion. A recommendation to promote indicates that the Committee has found sufficient evidence of the minimum number of significant achievements in each category.

Promotion to Level II

If the recommendation is to promote the candidate to Level II, the Committee does not indicate in the decision letter if the candidate exceeded the minimums because a different committee reviews cumulative achievements for promotion to Level III. If the Committee determined that insufficient evidence was presented to merit a recommendation for promotion to Level II, the letter to the candidate provides information regarding which activities described in the dossier did count as significant achievements if the Committee determined the candidate had not met the minimum number in one or more area.

Promotion to Level III

Promotion to Advisor Level III requires demonstrated evidence of continuing activity following promotion to Level II. Although achievements prior to promotion to Level II will be considered, significant contribution since the last promotion is expected.

The Committee reviewing for promotion to Level III is to assume that minimum requirements in each category were met for the promotion to Level II; however, this Committee is not bound by the way a previous committee "counted" significant achievements that exceeded these minimums. If the recommendation is to promote the candidate to Level III, the Committee does not indicate in the decision letter if the candidate exceeded the minimums. If the Committee determined that insufficient evidence was presented to merit a recommendation for promotion to Level III, the letter to the candidate provides information regarding which activities described in the dossier did count as significant achievements if the Committee determined the candidate had not met the minimum number in one or more area.

Appeal

Information regarding the appeal process will be included in the initial call for promotion letter.

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Appendix A. Criteria for Academic Advisor Career Ladder Levels