Growing up in a family with 11 children taught Sarah Ann Hones many things, but there are two specific lessons that have helped shape the philosophy she embraces in her role as director of the Center for Advising and Career Development (CACD) at WSU:
1) everyone wants to be called by his or her name
2) everyone wants to be treated as an individual.
CACD, formerly known as the Student Advising and Learning Center, offers a holistic approach to student learning and career success. It provides purposeful and systematic services that foster learning and development as students traverse their academic careers. The office helps students build a strong foundation in educational experience as they develop life skills.
The center maintains a staff of about nine advisers, with whom Hones trains and collaborates.
According to Hones, cultivating an education is like building a house. Before you place the 2 x 4s or lay the brick, you have to sketch your plan. This is where the CACD can help students by encouraging them to start developing their plan on Day One, rather than waiting until junior year. The earlier that students visit CACD, Hones says, the quicker they will learn that advising and career development are inextricably linked.
Students may ask, for instance, why they have to take a philosophy course. The CACD can help them understand that it’s in their best interest to cultivate a well-rounded education to better serve the community in the workforce.
Students only spend 20 percent of their time in the classroom. Since 80 percent of what they learn comes from outside class, Hones says that’s an opportunity to broaden their thinking rather than stay too focused on their major.
“Students are probably not going to have the same job their whole lives,” she adds. “They need transferrable skills, like being able to communicate effectively.
“Employers are interested in the whole student, not just classroom success,” she says. “Students need to move out of their comfort zones. For instance, fewer than 50 percent of our students participate in internships, but that’s how most employers hire.”
April 1 marked Hones’ first year on the job. She notes that she arrived during a snow storm and celebrated her anniversary during a snow storm. Such is the Palouse’s changeable weather, a small challenge for a woman who has built a career on expecting the unexpected.
Hones likens advising students to an exercise called “extemporaneous forensics.” This involves participants visiting one mini-lecture after another where they learn about specific topics (physics, chemistry, microbiology) and write down all they hear on index cards. Then they engage in a pro/con debate with other participants, where they are judged by how well they absorbed and then reiterated the information.
From Hones’ perspective, every student who comes to the CACD is a new topic. Each one has a story, issues and a life filled with school, work, family stresses, etc.
So, she practices what she learned from negotiating with 10 siblings. She gets to know each student by name and treats each one as an individual.
“We are an office committed to student success,” Hones says. “Each person is an individual and we need to be sensitive to their individual needs. We work with students to help them define success. We want them to puzzle it out for themselves.”
