Students' perceptions of academic advisors
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Leroy Hawkins
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Richard Phillips
ABSTRACT
Academic advising is the collaboration of students and advisors in order to help students achieve their education and career goals. Today, students are not always aware of their possibilities to make use of academic advising and improve their academic performance. Students’ perceptions of academic advising vary considerably depending on the academic institution and the attitudes of advisors toward their jobs. Some students still demonstrate frustration toward academic advising, while some students have a neutral attitude. There are also students who believe that academic advising provides them with a number of benefits. In this project, three case studies were analyzed. The projects developed by Hill (2004), Ayon(2015), and Patterson (2013) help to explain why academic advising is still a significant concern among American students and indicate what can be done to change the situation and improve the educational system. A gender comparative descriptive study seeks to define the main goals and outcomes of three different case studies, comparing their methodologies, and explaining the students’ perceptions. Student satisfaction, academic success, retention, recruitment, and self-development are the factors of academic advising. All of them are discussed in the current project in order to clarify what type of academic advising (developmental or prescriptive) should be offered to students. Gender issues that include academic advising offered by female advisors and academic advising offered by male advisors at Historically Black Colleges and Universities are discussed. This analysis helps to clarify ways in which academic advising could be improved in order to promote positive changes in the sphere of education.