Academic advisement: An untapped resource

Abstract

Colleges and universities should consider academic advising as a possible source for the solution of student attrition. According to a recent survey of 858 institutions of higher education, the negative characteristic ranked first-linked to attrition in four-year public institutions-was inadequate academic advising. Moreover, of seventeen negative characteristics listed as contributive to attrition among two-year public, two-year private, four-year public, and four-year private colleges and universities, inadequate academic advising received the highest mean ranking of 3.01.1 Many educators contend that academic advising provides the most logical vehicle for enhancing student morale. The contention that effective academic guidance is a strong retention tool is based on awareness that most college-bound students choose to attend colleges as a means of preparing themselves for attainment of their career goals. Because one major function of an effective academic advising program is to provide college students with timely and accurate career information, the importance attributed to programs of academic advising by professional educators continues to increase. The American College Testing (ACT) Program during the 1970s undertook a massive effort to determine the major causes of nonpersistence among the college population and, further, to analyze retention programs influencing students to complete their degree objectives. ACT reports that increased student retention is unquestionably an important by-product of an academic advising program-a by-product that enhances the educational process in a number of ways.2 According to ACT, the improvement of academic advising programs ranked number one among the retention efforts of some 858 institutions surveyed.3 ACT maintains that academic advising, properly delivered, plays a central role in helping students to develop more mature educational and career goals.4 Retention research suggests that commitment to educational and career goals is perhaps the strongest factor in student persistence; here lies the key to the challenge facing higher education. An academic advising program with an effective delivery system can strengthen students' understanding of the relationship between the theoretical and the practical-