Behind the Magazine: The Launch of Academic Advising Quarterly - Adventures in Advising

What happens when two advising pros say, “What the heck, let’s do this”? In this special episode of Adventures in Advising, Matt and Ryan turn the mics on themselves to share the story behind their newest project: Academic Advising Quarterly, a fresh online magazine designed by advising professionals, for advising professionals.

Tune in as they dive into how a casual podcast chat turned into a full-fledged publication celebrating practitioner-centered stories, creativity, and community. 

💡 Check out our first issue! 

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Transcript

Matt Markin  
Well, hello and welcome back to another episode of the Adventures in Advising podcast. Matt and Ryan here in a different type of episode. No special guest today, Ryan, what?

Ryan Scheckel  
I think you're special, and I know people think of me as special sometimes too. 

Matt Markin  
So we're the special guests today. 

Ryan Scheckel  
We're our own special guests.

Matt Markin  
And on this episode, we actually Ryan and I want to talk to you about a new online academic advising magazine that we have put together, and that is called Academic Advising Quarterly, which we feel offers a middle ground, something that's maybe more polished and curated than a blog, but more readable and timely than a scholarly journal wouldn't you say.

Ryan Scheckel  
Well, not just accessible and timely, but like the vibe and the feel? You know, look, we've both been in academic advising for a long time, seen it done by lots of different people in lots of different settings, and there's so much room. But when it comes to reading about the work that we do, sometimes it starts to get a little stuffy and a little bit academic at times and and I certainly know that there's a need for that, absolutely. But we're also interested in finding a way to connect people's stories and and their ideas to the work that we do in ways that feel like advising and a bit more what it's like to be in the room with advisors talking about that work.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, so it's filling a gap. I guess we could say it's meeting a need for practitioner centered content. So maybe content that's a little bit more engaging or inclusive or applicable to real world challenges, maybe elevating voices and advising people's higher ed stories and maybe the wonderful and true innovations going across the advising landscape? 

Ryan Scheckel  
Absolutely. And we started when we created the first issue and the sort of website that hosts it, thinking of the kinds of problem solving and connections that happen when you're in the room with advisors and and that's definitely a vibe that we want to establish with this too, that, you know, we're making sure that this lands. Oftentimes my head is in the cloud with ideas and concepts and theory and stuff, but we want to make sure that people really feel that there's a groundedness to the conversation that is comfortable and and immediately recognizable.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, I mean, you were mentioning that sometimes some of these things that we read might be a little bit dry and or academic heavy terminology heavy. So I kind of think of this as something that's meant to be a little bit more digestible with the content.

Ryan Scheckel  
Absolutely, I grew up reading Reader's Digest. I don't know who in my family or when we got this subscription, but, you know, I could flip through it at any age and find something, find you know, jokes, find an interesting story you know, sometimes a photographic you know, essay you know, just you know, that's one of the things that is sometimes missing these days in These digital formats, is the serendipity of turning a page and finding something you didn't know you were looking for. And in while it's still a digital publication and on a web page, there still is that feel to it with the platform and the tool that we're using, and that's absolutely one of the experiences I hope for with our readers, is that they might see an article and be like, Yeah, that's really great. That makes me think about something, and then they turn the page and they're like, I had never even known I was looking for that today.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, I think we can probably spotlight some of the first issue that that came out, but I think before we get to that, maybe just kind of going over true origin style of how this really all came about, and actually from the podcast really. So, you know, have you ever met Ryan Braeger?

Ryan Scheckel  
I think once in one of the social situations, or maybe a business meeting, I can't remember, but it definitely wasn't a formal introduction, for sure.

Matt Markin  
So he's from Saint Michael's College. Well, currently at St Michael's College. So I got a chance to interview him back on the podcast in 2023 so that was episode 84 titled Guiding Students and Yourself in Finding Meaning and like towards the end of that interview, when we're recording, I asked him about a publication that. He did at his previous institution with some of his colleagues, and that was called the Black and Blue, and it was like an online flip book magazine style for students that they created. And we didn't really have much time to really kind of chat and go in depth about it, but it was something that I was like, this seems very exciting, maybe something to talk about more. So we actually had him back on in Episode 95 talked about Opening the Door to Publications, and like the title suggests, talk about the actual publication, and specifically how black and blue started, and why they created it, how it went, and all that good stuff. And it was just something where there was such an intrigue for it, of like, is there anything out there for academic advising professionals, and so in transparency, we did submit a prospectus to an advising organization about maybe, could this be developed into something, and let's just say that nothing came from that. But I think there's this movie, maybe Ryan, you might know it. It's with Tom Cruise, and Tom plays this character named Joel. And Joel's friend miles tells Joel that sometimes in life, you just have to say, What the heck, and what the heck gives you freedom, and freedom brings opportunity. And so essentially, was kind of like, well, if we haven't heard anything, could something still be created? And that's kind of how we got involved in can we make something happen with this?

Ryan Scheckel  
Yeah, and look, I appreciate that a lot of the things that are going to be pointed to as significant developments or meaningful contributions or whatever. There's so many elements and facets to how they actually came to be. And I always appreciate sort of getting to the root of things and knowing the why behind stuff. But I love that at the core of this idea is that just what the heck, let's do this. You know, like at the most romantic I can get about higher education, there is this time period where the faculty, people teaching the students in colleges started to identify more with their discipline than the college they were teaching at or their eventual career goals, they started to say, this is what I want to devote my life to, and I'm going to build a core, central idea identity around it. And that's just one of the things that I was like, We are academically free to pursue these lines of inquiry and to develop where whatever they might lead us to develop, and that is both empowering and a little frightening at times too. 

Matt Markin  
I mean, I was, I mean, maybe you too, when we were reaching out for potential submissions for this first issue of like, would anyone find interest in writing for this. You know, I mean, yes, we have the the audience is supposed to be the broader professional readership, so practitioners, administrators, grad students, policymakers, pretty much anybody. But would we have people that would submit for it? I don't know if you had kind of got the same kind of vibe there with that.

Ryan Scheckel  
Well, I I, as people know, I always have ideas, and I'm always open to the idea that there's somebody out there who's like, looking for the opportunity, and I was really excited to be a part of more opportunity being made available, for sure. But yeah, there was a little bit in me it was like, some people be like, A what now and why and and is that really how I need to spend my precious time and attention? But I'm so thrilled for everybody who's involved, and even those who've reached out after we went public, and I know someone's listening to this right now, and you're sitting there going, I don't know, maybe I was like, the answer should be, why not? Let's go. Let's do this.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, I mean, and if anything, if that person has read the first issue, or if not, please go and do so. It shouldn't take that much time, because that was also part of it as we wanted something that it's a magazine. Kind of go through it, read all these different authors, various types of topics, authors from various higher ed experiences and levels. So, I mean, I think it was a great opportunity to really thank these authors on this augural issue from Declan McLaughlin, Melinda Anderson, Sydney Moman, Matt Plescia, John Sauter, Kevin Thomas, Jing Yao, Wendy Schindler and Anaya Player. I think I got everybody sounds like it, yeah, okay, if we missed you, sorry.

Ryan Scheckel  
Wasn't personal, yeah, no, yeah, absolutely. I think again, part of me it. Was I feel so fortunate to have been given so much in my experience with academic advising, the people I've met along the way, the influence they've had on not only the way I think about the work that we do, but how I think of myself and our world. But it's there's, there's just so many people who have things to say. And it was really, really encouraging to see everybody step up and be courageous and willing to contribute to something that's never existed before. 

Matt Markin  
If I had to, like, say, one of them that stood out to me was, was Declan's. Probably on one hand, because he talked about him creating a podcast, but how that, in a sense, also created an advising community and a podcast that he created with one of his colleagues, but I think also with his piece talking about professional identity, and I think that's something that a lot of us can relate to. So that's one that of, I mean, they all stood out to me. 

Ryan Scheckel  
That one, well, I mean, yeah, the amount of time that we've held them in our hands, in whatever form or shape, but I really appreciate Melinda and Sydney's perspective, you know, sort of leading us off talking about leadership at a time when it's hard to really feel confident with where our feet are, it was, it was definitely something that I'm glad that we started with their voices in this process, because it sets a tone for the kind of Real human perspective we're taking here, that we're remembering the the people and centering around their experiences and also being professional, as we discussed, but also having some fun along the way too. 

Matt Markin  
I know we want this to continue. I mean, it's called Academic Advising Quarterly, so this is not a one off, unless becomes that. But it is something that we do want to put four issues out a year, and we are already starting on our second issue that will go out in February. Anything you want to share on how people can find this well?

Ryan Scheckel  
AAQ magazine.com, you know, obviously Matt and I can be found in lots of ways, but we do have a page on the website where you can submit your ideas. And I know, I know, in fact, at the time of this recording, I have in my inbox a rejection email from another publication. So I know the the feeling of, maybe this isn't me, maybe I shouldn't, but we're not taking that kind of triple blinded, highly scholarly approach to this review process. This is an open discussion. We want to help you and and we want to start that conversation. So some of you, some of you are thinking, Yes, I know exactly what I want to say. Let's hear it. You know, we are open to it, so again, visit AAQ magazine.com click on contribute. We'd love to hear from you and what your ideas are, and we'd also love to see it in lots of different formats. It doesn't have to be a profile piece, it doesn't have to be an interview. It could be prose, it could be so many things. John Slaughter's art piece from the Pittsburgh annual conference art exhibition was intentionally included in our inaugural edition to say we're open to lots of formats. Photo essays, as I mentioned, so many ways that you can tell your story and have your voice be heard, and

Matt Markin  
Also shout out to Dana Hebreard and Thomas Shelly, who ended up being on the cover of the magazine. We didn't really share with them until, like, a week before we went live that oh, by the way, we took this picture in Pittsburgh, and we liked it and it was going on the cover.

Ryan Scheckel  
I'm I know for a fact that anybody who's thought ever in their life is I might be on the cover a magazine someday, I want to talk with you, because I when it happened for our folks on the cover, I thought that must be so weird,

Matt Markin  
But we are here to build community. And I think hopefully this magazine does do that. I mean, the readerships for everybody, the authorship, in a sense of these submissions can be from anybody. I mean, we want to feature advisors, students, faculty, administrators, on all sorts of different topics. And, yeah, and I guess you know, what do you want to say to end this?

Ryan Scheckel  
Well, I think the main thing is that it's supposed to be fun, right? That's the whole goal. Is that while we are telling stories and building community, we're also enjoying it. And there's lots of ways to enjoy this, and I hope that people. Feel that intentional pursuit of joy, of finding a way to feel good about what we're doing, even when there are so many calls to feel otherwise. 

Matt Markin  
I mean, I've had fun working on this with you. Hopefully you've had fun as well. Absolutely, we look forward to seeing submissions and getting the February issue and many more out in the future.