DISARM - KELSEY NICHOLSON, THE TRANSFER CENTER

I feel like disarming is a strength of mine, and one super easy way for me to help students feel at 
ease is to make my office not feel sterile, awkward, and strictly academic.  

I have a bunch of pictures, posters, and a couple of maps on my walls.  

I have one map in particular of the United States where I mark what schools students that 
I have personally worked with have transferred from.  It is a work in progress and it serves 
as a good conversation starter, especially since such a big portion of the students 
I work with transferred from a different school.  

Tiny simple things can make such a difference when trying to disarm!

DISARM - TRACI NOYES, BUSINESS

I have attached a picture of my office from the student perspective.  I have always felt it is 
important to have an office that is warm and inviting, and free of clutter.  I try to keep the 
paper piles to a minimum and off to the side of my desk.

Other things I do to Disarm the student:

Always greet them by name in the lobby and usually shake their hand and tell them it is nice

to meet them or nice to see them again.  If I can’t pronounce their name (a lot of international 

students) I will ask who is here to see me, then ask them to pronounce their name for me and 

do my best to repeat it.  I think this helps relax them in that I care about getting it correct, and I 

want to be able to call them by name.  If they give me a nickname, I note that in peoplesoft 

and make sure I call them that at the next appointment.

I invite them to sit when they enter my office, and ask how they have been (how was your break,

how was last holiday, how is semester going).  I follow up by asking how I can help them.

When talking with students I will ask what their commitments are outside of school.  This 

allows them to talk about work, family, children, etc.  It helps me understand all of their 

commitments and how to help them build a balanced schedule and discuss possible challenges.

I also ask what they are involved with on campus, which allows me to refer them to different 

activities and events if they are not at all involved.

I really feel like I am building relationships with students by asking these questions and I try to 
refer back to things they have shared with me when we meet again to continue to connect 
with them.

 Thanks!

DISARM - JOHN NILSSON, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Before I was exposed to the concept of Appreciative Advising, I only shook hands with students
who initiated it.

Now, I initiate the handshake, and it sets a nice friendly tone for the appointment.  
Doing so also helps me gauge the emotional state of the student I am meeting with before 
we begin our conversation. 

DISARM - TRIO

Below are some photos of our office before and after we decided to make it more welcoming. We did this at the end of 2013.  We opened up the space.  Students seem to really like it.

Before:

After:

DISARM CHALLENGE

The DISARM PHASE  is critical to productive relationships with colleagues because it lays the groundwork for dialogue and for exchanges of genuine care and concern for others. The Disarm phase involves four key features that help allay student suspicion and fear, establish rapport, and create a climate that bolsters advisors and advisee productivity:

• Warm welcome
• Safe and comfortable environment
• Appropriate self-disclosure
• Positive non-verbal behavior

(Bloom, J.L., Hutson, B.L., & He, Ye. (2008). The appreciative advising revolution. Champaign, IL: Stipes.)

Possible questions and prompts to consider in the Disarm Challenge:

• How do you greet or introduce yourself to students in ways that communicate care and concern?
• Send a picture and tell us how you have disarmed your office.
• Have you ever sat in the seat provided for students who meet with you? If you have, what did you learn?
• What disarming strategies do you use when you are emailing students? Or when you cannot meet with students face to face?
• Tell us one of your favorite disarming strategies that your colleagues employ.
• Have you ever miscommunicated with a student because of unintentional non-verbal messages? How has your advising practice changed since this discovery?
• What advice do you have for other advisors about how disarming practices have helped your advising practice? 

For more ideas about how to incorporate Appreciative Advising into your professional practice, check out The Appreciative Advising Revolution Training Workbook: Translating Theory to Practice by Bloom, Hutson & He (2014).

APPRECIATIVE ADVISING CHALLENGE!!

APPRECIATIVE ADVISING CHALLENGE!!

Starting January 2015, the Appreciative Advising subcommittee of UAAC will facilitate a 6-month challenge for

academic advisors across campus.  Each month, we will focus on one of the 6 phases of the Appreciative Advising 

model.  

If you decide to accept this challenge, you will spend the month implementing the particular phase and/or sharing 

your experiences, challenges and/or interesting insights concerning the phase.

Each month, we will announce at UAAC the challenge of the month and send a message through the UAAC listserv 

to give you more information about the phase and prompt you to share your experiences and challenges with the 

Appreciative Advising subcommittee members. We will collect your thoughts and share a few of them as part of our 

report at UAAC the following month.  We will also post your responses here, on the UAAC Blog. 

We look forward to seeing your submissions!

UAAC Appreciative Advising Subcommittee Members:

Ashley Glenn

Dee-Dee Darby-Duffin 

Jen Wozab 

Lisa Shaw

Liz Leckie 

Maria Baldwin 

Martina Stewart 

Rachel Osterman 

Samantha Davis 

Stephanie Shiver 

Martina Stewart's Reflection on the UAAC Campus- Wide Inservice: MUSE

I attended the March Campus-wide In-service presented by Patrick McShane of MUSE.  I had known about MUSE primarily as a portal for students to explore involvement and engagement opportunities on campus.  This was a helpful session in that I learned about other exciting ways students can participate in MUSE.

First off, students (and ADVISORS !) can join MUSE to receive emails about upcoming events and programs.  Here are some of the options for engagement through MUSE:

• MUSE Lunchtime Lectures:  free lunch and faculty lecture relating to MUSE Theme Year      
• MUSE Night Out: small group of students and faculty attend a campus event, and then go out for dinner and discussion
• MUSE Discussion Groups: these are student lead, and students are trained and paid to facilitate
• MUSE Internships: paid on campus internships with a strong learning component

As soon as I returned to my office, I joined MUSE .  This will help me to be better informed about events and activities that may interest the students I advise!

And finally, Patrick promised an exciting Theme Year, book and keynote speaker for next year. We promised not to spill the beans, so you’ll have to wait to learn more about this….