Engineering Students' Use of and Satisfaction With Faculty and Professional Academic Advising Systems

The academic advising program in a college of engineering was studied to describe the role of the advisor in terms of Predominant patterns of use for assistance with preregistration, class add/drop, curriculum planning, career guidance, college and department rules and procedures, and personal counseling. Faculty and professional advisors were compared, and student gender, grade point average (GPA), and age were studied. Students used their advisors predominantly for assislance with preregistration, curriculum planning, and adding or dropping classes. Students assigned to faculty advisors reported greater use of and satisfaction with their advisors than students assigned professional advisors. No discernable pattern of use of and satisfaction with the assigned advisor was found with regard to gender. The expectation was not generally supported that females would use and be more satisfied with their advisors than would males.

Students with higher GPAs reported greater use of and satisfaction with their advisors for curriculum and registration assistance than students with lower GPAs. Furthermore, for several advising needs, students with higher GPAs who had assigned faculty advisors used or were more satisfied with their assigned advisors than similar students assigned professional advisors.

Younger students used their advisors more frequently than older students for career guidance and personal counseling. This was especially true for younger students assigned to faculty advisors.