Academic advising research aids faculty members and advisors in detecting, explaining, and addressing macro-level trends beyond their local campus. It also helps legitimize the professional nature of academic advising, moving it beyond mere prescriptive models that focus on rules and course selection. Due to the erroneous belief that skills in…

Previous research on advising outreach, including intrusive or proactive advising, suggests required advising improves contact frequency, student retention, and academic achievement, especially for students on probation. We show results of a 4-year randomized trial of 501 students at an urban state university. One half the cohort received advising…

Research on the influence of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) on academic advising is limited. Using a comparative case study method, I respond to this research gap by exploring how the standards influence practices of academic advising programs. Study results indicate that participating advisors knew little…

Early college high schools (ECHSs) are partnerships between high schools and colleges or universities designed to enhance college readiness and completion, particularly among students traditionally underrepresented in higher education. We compared the self-reported motivational profiles of ECHS students to traditional first-year university…

Surveyed students and found that international student-athletes adjusted to college as well as students and student-athletes from the United States, and that they were significantly better adjusted than international non-athletes. Also uncovered gender and ethnicity differences. (EV)

Students on varying degrees of academic probation were randomly assigned to one of three intervention strategies that incorporated controlled content but divergent levels of intrusiveness. The most intrusive intervention resulted in higher cumulative grade point averages and higher retention rates. Students with the highest risk of dismissal were…

A survey of 278 academic advisors from six four-year colleges and universities determined differences in advisors' attitudes toward students matriculating at their institutions, transfer community-college students, and students coming from other four-year colleges. Advisors viewed transfer students as less prepared, less motivated, less…

Ten professional academic advisors were observed in advising sessions with 35 traditional-aged undergraduates to determine whether advising styles are observable and whether conceptual differences between prescriptive and developmental advising approaches are distinguishable. Individuals were observed to use one of three styles and did not vary…

A national survey on academic advising practices at 754 colleges and universities investigated organizational models for advising programs, prevalence of seven such models in institutions of varying types and sizes, and institutional practices regarding policy statements, program evaluations, and coordination of advising system. Three themes in…

Quality Function Deployment, a set of concepts and tools used in manufacturing engineering to link consumer needs with product design, can also improve academic advising systems and processes. The technique promotes structured, logical examination of students' advising needs and their relationship to advising system design, processes, methods,…

A comparison of rates of acceptance and performance of undergraduate science and nonscience majors applying to 13 classes (1978-90) of the University of Alabama, Birmingham, medical school found no significant difference in acceptance rates, and no difference on most standard measures of medical school academic performance. Results suggest…

Describes course information and supportive advising provided in articulation guides for students transferring from Northwest Community College (Montana) (NCC) to Montana State University. Comparison of post-transfer grade declines, grade recovery, and persistence of NCC transfer students with other community college transfers indicates that…

Data collected during new-student orientation on nontraditional-age and traditional-age first-time students indicated more psychosocial similarities than differences between them. Results suggest that first-entry nontraditional students experience some of the same needs and concerns in higher education as do their younger peers. Referrals to…

A nationwide survey was conducted to test the validity of a theoretical model of advising program development. Respondents generally supported the model, which outlines the direction, nature, and scope of changes leading toward an effective advising service. The survey revealed disagreement on the stimulus/response relationship outlined in the…

The use of a comprehensive academic advising program in conjunction with a sustained academic orientation program through the freshman year has resulted in a 13.27 percent increase in the retention rate of high-risk students at a regional campus of Pennsylvania State University. The components of CORE are described. (Author/MLW)