Student Characteristics and Collegiate Environments that Contribute to the Overall Satisfaction With Academic Advising Among College Students

Academic advising satisfaction is highly correlated with retention in higher education. Thriving Quotient survey responses were collected from undergraduate students at a private, liberal arts college in the Pacific Northwest. Using a multiple regression analysis, this study examined what student characteristics and collegiate environments affect student satisfaction with academic advising. The results indicate that campus residency, amount of time spent in student–faculty interaction, and the quality of student–faculty interaction are statistically significant factors in academic advising satisfaction.

Capturing the Student Perspective: A New Instrument for Measuring Advising Satisfaction

When students leave their advising appointments, how do they feel? Excited? Disappointed? If advisors and students do not share expectations and goals, the student may harbor negative feelings about the advising experience, which have the potential to lead to withdrawal and dissatisfaction. We surveyed students at a large midwestern university to see how students feel about their past and recent advising experiences. Overall, students reported satisfaction with their advising involvement, as average rating scores were high and positive. The measurement scale created to evaluate student satisfaction with advising was analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. This analysis showed two reliable scales: advising and outreach functions, which may be used in the future to evaluate advising programs.

Virtual Compared to Traditional Academic Advising Satisfaction Rates of First-Year College Students

This study compared virtual/online to traditional/in person academic advising in terms of student satisfaction ratings. Students were exposed to two advising methods at different times during their first year in college. Upon experiencing an advising method, students completed an online survey that rated their satisfaction in the areas of scheduling/registration, communication, support services/majors, and overall satisfaction. The findings offered some insight into how effective virtual academic advising might be as an alternative to traditional, face-to-face methods. The results of this study indicated that students were slightly more satisfied with traditional advising across 16 questions encompassing four categories. When the survey responses were aggregated and mean responses compared in each category, t-tests results found that scheduling/registration, communication, and overall satisfaction resulted in significant differences between the mean satisfaction ratings between academic advising methods, with traditional being preferred. While the support services and majors category, resulted in no differences existing between virtual and traditional advising methods.

A Study of Academic Advising Satisfaction and its Relationship to Student Worldviews

The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the relationship between worldview and satisfaction with advising. More specifically, this study examines the relationship among level of advising satisfaction, worldviews of students, and the student's perception on advising. The findings of this study indicate that a positive relationship exists between a holistic approach to advising and advising satisfaction. Furthermore, the results suggest that overall student characteristics are not as relevant to advising satisfaction as the style of advising used by the faculty, which may influence university retention efforts.