The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal How Eight Institutions Have Incorporated Appreciative Advising Jennifer L. Bloom, University of South Carolina Bryant L. Hutson, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Ye He, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Scott Amundsen, University of North Carolina at Wilmington Cathy Buyarski, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Philip D. Christman, Stark State College of Technology Amanda E. Propst Cuevas, Grand Valley State University L. Kaye Woodward, Eastern Illinois University Joseph E. Murray, Miami University Hamilton Claire Robinson, University of South Carolina Loretta M. Kucharczyk, Prairie State College Introduction Since the 2002 introduction of Appreciative Inquiry as an academic advising tool (Bloom & Martin, 2002), there has been a great deal of interest in intentionally infusing what is now known as Appreciative Advising (AA) into individual advising sessions, the curriculum, and programmatic interventions. The term “Appreciative Advising” was first introduced at the Student Academic Services Office at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Kamphoff, Hutson, Amundsen, & Atwood, 2007) and popularized by various presentations and workshops at National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) annual (Amundsen & Hutson, 2005) and regional conferences since 2005. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of how some of the early pioneers of Appreciative Advising are successfully employing this cutting-edge philosophy to improve student retention and satisfaction. The co-authors of this article meet monthly via teleconference to discuss innovations and breakthroughs concerning Appreciative Advising on their respective campuses, brainstorm how to advance the field of Appreciative Advising, and refine the instrument they developed called the Appreciative Advising Instrument (www.appreciativeadvising.net/index_files/Page351.htm ). In addition, the group meets in person at annual NACADA conferences. Although publications and presentations (Bloom, Hutson, & He, 2008; Hall, 2008; Hutson, 2003; Hutson, 2006; Hutson & Atwood, 2006; Hutson & Clark, 2007; Hutson, Amundsen, & He, 2005; Hutson & Amundsen, 2006; Kamphoff et al., 2007; Redfern, 2008) on Appreciative Advising are available, this article is an attempt to compile information in a user-friendly manner about at least some of the Appreciative Advising work being done at a diverse set of institutions. Readers wishing to learn more about Appreciative Advising can find an overview and access some of the articles pertaining to Appreciative Advising at appreciativeadvising.net . Institutions That Are Intentionally Incorporating Appreciative Advising The Appreciative Advising initiatives that eight institutions have undertaken are Page 1 of 11 The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal 5/6/2009 http://www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/090422jb.htm