Advising Model Self-Audit for Colleges and Universities

Colleges and universities are under growing pressure to meet students where they are—academically, socially, and emotionally—while operating with limited advising capacity. Yet many institutions rely on advising models built for a different era: models that are inconsistent across units, overly dependent on individual advisors, or poorly aligned with today’s student needs. As a result, even well-intentioned advising reforms can struggle to scale, target support effectively, or deliver timely guidance when students need it most.

EAB’s Advising Model Self-Audit helps senior higher ed leaders take a clear-eyed look at how advising is organized and delivered today, and where it needs to evolve. The tool enables teams to assess typical practice vs. best practice across four core advising models:

• Just-in-time advising
• Team advising
• Standardized advising
• Professionalized advising

By working through a structured set of diagnostic questions, leaders can identify gaps, clarify priorities, and determine which advising capabilities to strengthen next. Used alongside EAB’s Just-in-Time Advising report, the self-audit translates research insights into an actionable starting point for advising transformation.