A mock-up of the InSpace advising solution shows a student and an advisor interacting in the space. Arrows indicate the ways the advising solution supports each of them after the interaction is completed.

May 12, 2023

Redefining Academic Advising: A New Approach for Equitable Student Support

In the wake of recent surveys revealing inequitable access to academic advising, it’s time to prioritize a new student-centered approach that reaches every student enrolled at an institution.

Spend enough time as an academic advisor and you’ll see a certain Kuh (2008) citation trotted out more than a few times in the lit: One in ten students don’t meet with their advisors in an academic year.

Unfortunately, in the 15 years since, the issue has morphed rather than been resolved. In the recently released 2023 Student Voice survey, just 55 percent of respondents reported they received guidance on their degree progress from an academic advisor. 

On closer examination, the study revealed stark differences in experience along demographic lines, with historically marginalized students facing more barriers to meeting with advisors and receiving timely course advice. 

All students deserve the help they need when they need it. The days of passively offering resources and assuming students will access help as needed are over. 

In a world built more and more in the image of Netflix-for-this and Uber-for-that, students don’t want to give up the streamlined, just-in-time, personalized services that define their lives outside academia–nor should they have to. The tech exists and higher ed can and should put it to work to serve students and staff in new ways. 

It’s time to get serious about what student-centered means and stop tolerating systems and tools that let students fall through the cracks. 

Read more about the survey here: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/03/01/student-survey-reveals-gaps-core-academic-advising-functions

If you’re not talking about the reality of inequitable access to academic advising, you’ve missed a key takeaway from the past few years.

It’s time for a new student support approach that reaches every student enrolled at an institution by default.

Academic advising is about more than services–it’s an educational mission that empowers students to assert their ability to think, connect, and decide their futures. Students, staff, and faculty need an impactful tool designed to streamline and cultivate that mission like never before. 

Good news–we’re building it!

InSpace builds immersive AI-powered video solutions empowering students to connect meaningfully across the online learning experience with peers, staff, and faculty–all with the click of a button. We’re keeping student experience at the center by putting AI to work connecting students and institutions with streamlined real-time data and actionable insights for accessible and equitable higher education.

We hope you will join us as we reimagine the future of online education together.