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Intrusive academic advising is a proactive approach that helps institutions support students before they fall behind. This article explores what intrusive advising is, why it matters, how to implement it effectively, and how platforms like ConexED make it easier to reach students at the right time.
Did you know that nearly 1 in 3 college students in the United States drop out, with the national rate being 32.9%? Students leave for a range of reasons–financial pressures, personal obligations, lack of time, etc. However, in many cases, students withdraw before they’re even aware of the support services available to help them succeed. This is where intrusive advising can make a difference.
Intrusive academic advising is a proactive strategy where advisors intentionally reach out to students first. Unlike traditional advising, where students are expected to reach out themselves, intrusive advising shifts the responsibility onto the institution to anticipate needs, intervene, and build relationships before problems occur. Intrusive advising is a strategy that aims to foster stronger student connections, address challenges early, and ultimately boost retention.
It's easy to talk about being proactive with students, but putting it into action takes strategy. Here are the crucial elements:
Setting touchpoints is critical to intrusive advising–rather than waiting for students to seek help, advisors should establish themselves as a helpful resource early on. By creating high-value touchpoints where students are anticipated to need guidance (i.e. course registration, midterms, financial aid deadlines, etc) advisors can maintain connection throughout the entire student lifecycle. Research from Inside Higher Ed shows that the more time students spend with an advisor, the more likely they are to be engaged and graduate.
Effective intrusive advising uses data to identify students who may be struggling. This is where the ‘intervention’ aspect of intrusive advising is essential. Advisors should have a system for detecting early warning indicators to maximize intervention success.
To be effective, advising needs to move beyond generic outreach and blanket messages. Personalizing the interaction based on the individual student is the best way to demonstrate that advising is a helpful tool and not a chore. Sessions should end with clear action steps and specific resources tailored to the student’s needs.
Academic advising is less helpful when operated in a vacuum. Oftentimes, student issues may be linked to multiple departments such as financial aid, mental health, tutoring, etc. Coordinated support increases accountability and trackability, ensuring that students are not merely being bounced around departments.
ConexED makes it easy to implement and scale intrusive advising by bringing together the tools and data institutions need, all in one platform:
ConexED provides institutions the ability to actually collect the data needed for ‘data-driven outreach’. Advisors can view the student data necessary for personalized sessions–such as academic performance, attendance, service usage, and engagement patterns.
ConexED can create automated alerts to flag students who may be at risk–these can be triggered by missed appointments, low grades, or other custom indicators. Early alerts make it easier for advisors to step in at the right time.
Student history, interactions, and data can be shared across departments–enabling a coordinated support experience without silos.
When it’s time to intervene, ConexED makes it simple. That platform includes built-in scheduling, messaging, and virtual meeting tools. Reaching out to students and setting up support sessions takes only a few clicks.
Intrusive advising helps institutions move from reacting to student struggles to preventing them. By adopting proactive and personalized outreach using real-time data, advisors can create a more supportive student experience that improves retention and student success. With tools like ConexED, implementing an effective intrusive diving strategy becomes easier, faster, and more impactful.
Learn how ConexED can help you scale your advising strategy
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