The current research examined student perceptions of advisors in an effort to more fully understand the dimensions that students use when evaluating advisors. Factor analysis of a 63-item structured questionnaire from a sample of 224 traditional-age college students revealed four primary factors and three secondary factors. The primary factors consisted of Socio-emotional Orientation, Meeting Dynamics, Knowledge, and global Problem dimensions. A secondary factor analysis of the Socio-emotional factor yielded three subfactors: Academic Caring, Personal Caring, and Good Person. Advisors and students who are aware of this structure can discuss these dimensions and emphasize behaviors that are closely related to advising performance. Finally, the authors suggest that this schematic structure be taken into account when developing advising assessment instruments.

The Developmental Advising Inventory is based on the premise that academic and faculty advisors have an important role in extending the human development mission of the college. The inventory contains 135 value-biased items addressing nine dimensions of development: Intellectual, Life Planning, Social, Physical, Emotional, Sexual, Cultural, Spiritual, and Political. This article discusses the theoretical and research foundations of the instrument. However, emphasis is given to applications in such academically related settings as (a) faculty advising, (b) advising centers, (c) general education classes, (d) learning centers, (e) peer advising, and (f) major field advising. The development of the Developmental Advising Inventory was supported by a 1988 grant from the NACADA Research Committee.

Foreign language requirements for college admission and/or graduation often pose problem for students with learning disabilities. This paper describes an action plan for the implementation of foreign language waiverlsubstitution policies and procedures to assist students and university staff in resolving the dilemmas that a foreign language requirement may pose.

The author discusses nearly 100 academic quality rankings, most of them published since 1980, of a variety of arts and sciences disciplines and professional school fields.

Advisors who work with students from culturally diverse backgrounds need to consider, in addition to such traditional variables as academic ability and financial need, nontraditional variables that deal with cultural and racial background. Two case studies allow advisors to try applying various noncognitive variables in advising situations.