Document Type

Report

Publication Date

6-1-1993

Keywords

Advising, Academic, Feedback, Alumni, Western

Abstract

Executive Summary: Repeated studies in recent years, both at Western and elsewhere, have found students less satisfied with advising services than with instruction or various university services. For example, 77% of recent Western alumni are "very" or "mostly" satisfied with the undergraduate courses they took at Western, while 41% are similarly satisfied with the academic advising they received from all sources at Western. Satisfaction with advising received from faculty and major departments was lower than satisfaction with advising from the Academic Advising Center. Because of the concerns these studies raise, Western's Academic Advising Center requested that our 1992 alumni survey of the class of '91 include a special set of questions on the Center. The focus of these questions was to provide feedback to the Center on ways to improve services, but the entire issue of advising is of great enough concern that a report was written to be more generally available. A total of 1412 (75.9%) alumni of the class of '91 completed our survey about one year after their graduation. Of that total, fewer than half (43%) of the class of '91 report that they used the Academic Advising Center at least once, and only ten percent more than once. Most of the 57% who never used the center report that they never felt a need. One in six say they were unaware of the office. Of those who used the Academic Advising Center, half (49.8%) sought advise on at least one occasion regarding "class scheduling or selection." Two-fifths (42.9%) sought help "choosing a major or making major life decisions." Another 41.7% asked about specific university policies. A similar number, 39.8%, asked for information concerning transfer courses or GURs. Nearly one-third (29.2%) asked about pre-professional courses or programs. Another 9.8% sought "other" types of advice. The Academic Advising Center is more often used by students who are younger, who study more but who get less good grades, who entered Western as native freshmen, who changed their majors more often, who received financial aid while at Western, who value well-rounded education more than occupational training, and who found departmental advising especially weak.

Identifier

466

Publisher

This resource is provided for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries.

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Counseling in higher education--Washington (State)--Bellingham--Evaluation

Genre/Form

Reports

Type

Text

Rights

This resource is provided for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries.

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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