Implementation of a centralized student advising service implemented at Emporia State University that provides intrusive advising appears to have improved student persistence by 8 percent, suggesting that the strategy might be useful in other institutions. (MSE)

A portion of the results of a national academic advising survey are reported. Advising data on 754 programs are analyzed to determine the performance of seven advising models on eight program goals and their perceived effectiveness on 11 program variables. The data also create a context for deeper consideration of the relationship between an…

An advising program in the James Madison University (Virginia) psychology department recruits and trains students to provide basic information about majors, careers, field opportunities, and graduate schools to their peers. The work of the 20 volunteers, who serve 900 students, is coordinated by a faculty member. Each peer advisor serves on a…

A systems approach that stresses functional relationships among persons and units and examines transactions and processes provides a useful foundation for understanding, assessing, and improving academic advising. Implications of this approach in college advising for fostering system quality and meeting the institution's mission are examined. (MSE)

Kent State University's College of Education implemented a computer-controlled advising system for undergraduate education students, providing information including program descriptions, deadlines and applications, student teaching, and other topics. Preliminary evaluation shows the system able to answer most-asked questions. (MSE)

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,…

The structure of undergraduate advising at private institutions that offer degrees beyond the baccalaureate level is considered. Shared advising models are found to be suitable for highly selective, extensive doctoral institutions with sizeable full-time undergraduate populations and relatively basic programmatic structures. Similar but more…

A study compared student use of and satisfaction with the central advising office and departmental advising in a college of engineering by surveying 57 central office walk-in advisees and, by mail, 103 other advisees. No significant differences were found in advisor availability and concern, but more students used departmental faculty advisors.…

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…

Research proposals funded by the National Academic Advising Association are summarized. Topics include adult student retention factors, high-risk students' learning processes, undergraduate engineering performance predictors, traditional and computerized advising in research universities, re-entry women, advisor training through case studies,…