Creating a Professional Development Plan

A unique, personalized professional development plan can help advisors move beyond checking boxes and instead make intentional choices that support growth, confidence, and long-term career satisfaction.
 

No two advising roles are the same. Caseloads, student populations, institutional priorities, and career aspirations all vary. A one-size-fits-all approach to development can lead to frustration or burnout.

A strong professional development plan helps advisors:

• Focus time and energy on what will have the greatest impact
• Build on existing strengths instead of starting from scratch
• Identify realistic growth opportunities within current roles
• Connect daily work to longer-term career goals
• Advocate for development support using clear goals and action steps

Most importantly, it gives advisors ownership over their growth.
 

A thoughtful plan doesn’t need to be complicated, but it should be intentional. The most effective plans include five core components:

Identifying Your Strengths
Understanding what you already do well, whether that’s relationship-building, data analysis, student advocacy, or program coordination, helps you:

• Leverage those strengths more intentionally
• Avoid unnecessary development in areas that aren’t priorities.
• Build confidence as you plan next steps.

Reflection, feedback from colleagues or supervisors, and past successes are all valuable inputs here.

Naming Skill Gaps (Without Judgment)
Skill gaps are simply areas for growth, not shortcomings. These might include:

• Technical skills (systems, data tools, reporting)
• Advising approaches (career conversations, academic recovery, equity-minded advising)
• Professional skills (facilitation, leadership, project management)

Being honest and specific allows you to focus on skills that will meaningfully support your current role or future goals.

Identifying Development Resources
Development doesn’t always mean attending a conference. Resources might include:

• Campus trainings or communities of practice
• Job-embedded learning (projects, committees, cross-training)
• Mentoring or shadowing opportunities
• Online courses, readings, or webinars
• Feedback and coaching conversations

Mapping resources helps keep goals realistic and accessible.

Setting Clear, Achievable Goals
Effective goals are focused and actionable. Rather than “improve advising skills,” a clearer goal might be:

• Strengthen confidence facilitating academic recovery conversations
• Learn to pull and interpret advising data independently
• Prepare for a future leadership roles

Goals should align with both individual interests and institutional needs whenever possible.

Defining Action Steps
Action steps turn ideas into progress. These might include:

• Attending a specific training
• Scheduling time to practice a new skill
• Observing or co-facilitating with a colleague
• Applying a new approach in advising appointments
• Reflecting on outcomes after implementation

Clear action steps make professional development easier to prioritize amid busy schedules.
 

To make this process more approachable, we’ve created a Professional Development Planning Guide for Academic Advisors. This guide walks advisors through:

• Identifying strengths and growth areas
• Mapping available development resources
• Setting focused, meaningful (SMART) goals
• Translating goals into concrete action steps

The guide is designed to be flexible. Use it independently, with a supervisor, or as part of a team or unit-wide development conversation.

Making Professional Development Sustainable

Professional development doesn’t need to be overwhelming to be impactful. Small, intentional steps can lead to meaningful growth over time.

Advisors are constantly supporting students in goal-setting, reflection, and planning. A personalized professional development plan applies those same skills inward, ensuring advisors are supported, growing, and prepared for what comes next.