Advising Referrals

Counseling, guidance, and advising at Berea College are done at different levels, ranging from advising for course selection to psychological and spiritual counseling. For help with any problem, a student should be encouraged to consult an experienced person in whom he or she has confidence and with whom the student feels comfortable. For most academic problems, this will be the student’s Academic Adviser.

Each Adviser must come to a decision about his or her own levels of interest and expertise in responding to non-advising needs and concerns of the student. The level at which each person feels competent, and therefore comfortable, to advise students is a function of his/her education, training, personal style, and interest.

Some tips for making effective referrals in academic advising:

1. When talking with students, pay particular attention to their expressed and implied needs. Often students won’t ask to be referred for help, but very much need referral. For example, a student might express anxiety about his or her financial affairs without asking for assistance. A referral to Student Financial Aid Service may be called for if you probe further.
2. Do your best to find the most appropriate referral. Students may sometimes focus their concerns on an area that is less crucial to their needs than another. Advisers must have a clear idea of College policies and procedures to settle on the right referral.
3. Students often are uneasy about following through with a referral. Try to make them comfortable with the idea, pointing out the friendliness, accessibility, and helpfulness of the people they are sent to.
4. Try to keep the chain of referrals as simple as possible. Often students will have to visit several offices to complete referral procedures. Help students reduce the “runaround” by finding ways to eliminate steps. Also, work out a proper sequence of steps with students so that they don’t have to backtrack to accomplish their goals or meet their needs.
5. Encourage students to draw up agendas for referrals. Help them develop a list of crucial questions and procedures for getting the most of their visits with the people to whom you send them. Make notes about referrals, indicating what the referral was intended to accomplish, so that you can refresh your memory during future interviews with the students.
6. Facilitate referrals by telephoning the parties to whom you are sending students while those students are with you. A good strategy for referrals is to make telephone calls and then hand the receiver to your students, encouraging them to set up appointments themselves.
7. When you make a referral, jot down notes in your advisee’s file that will remind you to ask the student on a later visit about the results of the referral. If students indicate they haven’t followed through, find out why not, and discuss the reasons. See if you should make a different referral, or if you need to become more involved in ensuring contact. Don’t take the process over from your students, however, because it is their responsibility to see that their needs are met.
8. Check your records periodically to get a sense of the referrals you have made. Student development is an ongoing process, and patterns of need and growth can be observed in the sequence of referrals you have to make. Need for further direction often can be discovered in the referrals you already have made. Share your observations with those who can make improvements to existing procedures and publications.