We designed this study to understand academic advising at an urban university from diverse student perspectives. Based on a review of the advising literature, we identified 12 functions of academic advising and surveyed 2,100 undergraduates to address the following questions: Which of these advising functions are most important to students? How satisfied are students with the advising they receive on these functions? Do student characteristics impact importance and satisfaction ratings? Results show that students rated all functions as highly important, but satisfaction with advising was not commensurate with the importance students attached to it. In general, student characteristics (gender, ethnicity, financial need, age/cohort, enrollment status, and class level) influenced perceived importance of, but not satisfaction with, advising functions.
Relative emphasis: *theory, research, practice
A convenient response to the perennial problem of student dissatisfaction with academic advising is to simply say that faculty need to do more and better advising. In this study, faculty were surveyed about their attitudes toward, and experiences with, academic advising. Results showed that faculty, although generally satisfied with the advising they provide, do not necessarily feel responsible for all of the kinds of academic advising they believe are important for students to receive. These findings point to a gap in advising services that we suggest might best be bridged through faculty and student affairs partnerships.
To better understand the role of academic advising in the challenges faced by students who transfer from community colleges to 4-year institutions, we examined advising experiences of two groups: (a) from two community colleges students who intended to transfer to 4-year institutions and (b) from five universities students who had transferred from one of those community colleges. Results showed that pre-transfer students were more satisfied than post-transfer students with the advising they received, but both groups were less satisfied with advising than with their overall educational experience. Qualitative analysis of student comments helps explain these findings.
Although academic advising is often linked to student success, student satisfaction with advising is a perennial problem. To better understand the nature of this dissatisfaction, we explored the perspectives of both the recipients of advising—students—and the providers of advising—faculty. We found that students and faculty agree on the relative importance of many aspects of advising, but faculty do not necessarily assume responsibility for all of the kinds of advising both they and students deem most important. The findings support the dual model for delivering academic advising services.
We introduce 5 cognitive and 3 affective outcome measures related to student judgments and attitudes that might result from quality advising encounters. The outcomes have been linked to, or can be conceptualized as predictive of, retention. We examined these outcomes in an online survey of 22,305 students from 2 community colleges and 7 universities as a function of (a) whether or how often students contacted faculty/professional advisors in the formal advising system and (b) whether students consulted advisors, self-advised using official advising materials, or relied upon advice from informal sources to choose required classes. Students who contacted advisors scored higher on all outcomes: They reported more knowledge and attitudes consistent with continuing at their institution and completing their educational program.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.