The ASPIRA Association and Educational Testing Service
National Advisors Professional Development Institute

Advisors will achieve the above competencies by completing the following courses:

AAT-101 Information Technology Tools for Academic Advisement
AAT-102 - What is ASPIRA?
AAT-103 The Responsible Academic Advisor
AAT–104 The Educational Reform Movement and its Impact on Latino Students
AAT-105 How to Involve Parents with their Children Education
AAT-106 Academic Preparation for College
AAT-107 Assisting Students in Making Meaningful Career Selection
AAT-108 The College Selection and Application Process
AAT-109 The Financial Aid Process
AAT-110 College Transition Process

To access the courses please point and click on the course title.

The above courses were designed to assist in the development of the ASPIRA Advisors Competencies. The following table presents the correlation between competencies and courses:

Curriculum Delivery Modality

The above courses were designed to be delivered as distance education courses in an asynchronous mode (students can take them anytime from anyplace). Local facilitators and mentors are available either at the local sites or remotely via phone or e-mail to provide support to trainees.

How the Training Program Works

The curriculum was designed taking into consideration the sequential and progressive development of knowledge and skills required to the ASPIRA Advisors. Due to the fact that this training program is delivered with support of information technology the first course to be taken is: AAT-101 Information Technology Tools for Academic Advisement. Each of the courses topics or learning objectives reflects the sequence of skills needed by the Advisors in counseling their students. It is recommended that you complete each of the learning activities in the order presented in the course outline.

Each learning objective has one or more learning activities associates to it. You must complete each of the learning activities before moving to the next learning objective.

Program Facilitators and Mentors

A program facilitator will be available at each associate office.  Facilitators have been selected based on their expertise as Advisors.  Their role will be to guide the trainee in following the curriculum, answer questions, provide additional instructional resources when necessary, request technical assistance from content areas experts as required, and support the Associate Executive Director in evaluating the performance of the trainee as they complete the curriculum.

Facilitators

The following table presents the local program facilitators.  This individuals will be your day-to-day support as you make progress through the training program. Please contact them as you need answers to questions or need additional information or access to learning resources.

Mentors

If you need technical assistance in specialized areas please send an e-mail message to the corresponding mentor.

Trainees Evaluation

In order to be certified as an ASPIRA Academic Advisor you must satisfactorily complete each one of the courses.  To pass a course you must be able to demonstrate that you have accomplished the goals and related learning objectives of each course as they relate to the development of specific competencies as presented above.

Each course has one or more evaluation activities. As you complete each of the prescribed evaluation activities they will become part of your evaluation portfolio.  After completing all courses, the agency Executive Director or his/her designee, will review the work performed and judge the quality of the work after which a decision will be made for certifying the employee as an Academic Advisor, recommend additional training or recommend the individual to move into a different field. The trainee progress will be recorded in the Academic Advisor Trainee Progress Report.

Based on prior experience or formal educational background, the staff member undertaking the curriculum could challenge any of the courses or specific learning objectives within a course.  In order to challenge the course or learning objective the staff member will provide evidence of mastering the skill(s) or know how sought through the learning objective or course to the Executive Director or his/her designee. 

For More Information or Suggestions

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the structure and function of this program please contact your Executive Director or e-mail John Villamil with your suggestions and recommendations.