Evaluating Academic Advising in a Multiversity Setting

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the advising system at a complex multiversity and provide answers to both summative and formative evaluation questions. The results suggest that most students (a) are advised, feel that their advising needs have been met, and are satisfied with the help they receive. Students, in general, are less satisfied with the help they receive with specific issues and concerns. However, the results also show that (a) relatively few students consider faculty to be their primary advisors, (b) many students seek advising help from multiple sources, and (c) a majority of students spend 15 minutes or less per semester with their primary advisor. Implications of these results for academic advising at multiversities are discussed.

Meeting Upper-Level Students' Advising Needs: A Departmental Study of Student and Faculty Opinion

“…Creeden's results were supported by findings in another study in which students said that communication about career goals and choices was important to them, but that they typically had not discussed future vocation with advisors (Hanson & Raney, 1993).…”

“…Therefore, the areas defined by the tasks in this research were ordered from the most central function of advising, program-of-study planning, to the least central hnction, help with personal issues. Assisting advisees with personal problems was considered by some an inappropriate concern of academic advisors (Creeden, 1990), and a number of studies showed that helping students find campus resources or providing career planning advice were not necessarily supported as advising tasks (Hanson & Raney, 1993;McAnulty et al, 1987).…”

“…Although students considered help with understanding components and requirements of their programs central advising duties (Trombley, 1984), studies showed that many students also value assistance with academic and personal problems (Fielstein, 1987;Kozloff, 1985). Students said that discussions about career choices and goals are important topics, but the subjects most often discussd in advising sessions included registration and addldrop processes (Creeden, 1990;Hanson & Raney, 1993).…”

A program evaluation of a proactive faculty and peer advising program for first-year, open-enrolled students in the College of Arts and Sciences at a mid-western liberal arts university

“…The results were attributed to the proactive advising services. Hanson and Raney (1993) used focus group qualitative research methods to assess and improve the academic advising program at a large university. Focus group interviews were used to collect information on how the students perceived the delivery of faculty advising services.…”

“…The third phase of the interview process involved using focus group interviews with faculty and peer advisors. Focus groups helped to provide useful information to confirm the major findings (Hanson & Raney, 1993;Jacobi, 1991). Because of schedule conflicts before spring semester exams, it was difficult to schedule student advisees into a small group arrangement.…”