“Academic Advising: The Challenge of the 90s” was delivered as the President's Address at the 1992 NACADA National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. In her address King argues that the challenge faced by the profession in the coming decade is the challenge of accomplishing more with fewer staff and fewer resources. King suggests that the basic tenets of Total Quality Management can productively be applied to improve the content and delivery of advising services.

This study evaluates the consequences of intervention by interview with college freshmen identified by questionnaires as being at risk in three respects: (a) low prematriculation expectations regarding capacity for dealing with the transition into college, (b) significant postmatriculation disillusionment regarding adjustive capacity, and (c) low self-assessed adjustment in the first semester. Effects were analyzed in terms of score change on scales of adjustment, freshman year grade point average (GPA), number of credits earned in the freshman year, and continuance of enrollment.

This project attempts to assess the relative effectiveness of readmission conditions among approximately 500 social science majors at a large state university, supplemented by an analysis of the retention status of almost 7,800 social science students at the same institution. Whites, African-Americans, Hispanics, males, juniors, transfer students, those in their mid-20s, those with interdisciplinary and limited-access majors, and those with low high school grade point averages (GPAs) appear to be most at risk. However, academic success among those who are readmitted is significantly associated only with gender, quality point deficit, and readmission conditions.

A study of 521 students who took the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) from 1988–1990 revealed that students with American College Test (ACT) composite scores of 21 or higher had a high probability of passing all three parts of the PPST on the first attempt at a cutoff score of 169. That is, they had demonstrated their mastery of the basic skills tested by the PPST. High correlations (.473 to .816) between the ACT and PPST support the notion that they are testing similar skills. As a result of the findings, the state board of education approved a change to the university's program that exempts students who have an ACT composite score of 21 or higher from taking the PPST.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the advising system at a complex multiversity and provide answers to both summative and formative evaluation questions. The results suggest that most students (a) are advised, feel that their advising needs have been met, and are satisfied with the help they receive. Students, in general, are less satisfied with the help they receive with specific issues and concerns. However, the results also show that (a) relatively few students consider faculty to be their primary advisors, (b) many students seek advising help from multiple sources, and (c) a majority of students spend 15 minutes or less per semester with their primary advisor. Implications of these results for academic advising at multiversities are discussed.

Demographics, attitudes, interests, and behaviors of honors and nonhonors freshmen were studied. Although similar in extracurricular interests, educational objectives, and some study habits, the two groups reported differences in most other areas. The findings offer implications for advising both groups, such as placing different emphases on format of academic courses, orientation to campus life, and retention strategies.

This study investigated the relationship between high school and college extracurricular activities and congruence between initial and final major of students attending a lower division campus of a comprehensive public university. The results generally support the hypothesis that participation in extracurricular activities is related to congruence between initial and final major. The types of activities that were associated with congruence varied by type of degree (associate vs. baccalaureate) pursued.

Academic advisors confront many ethical problems and benefit from being able to draw on a system of ethical principles. Such principles, to be credible, should be philosophically defensible and not merely reflective of individual tastes. This article proposes such a set of principles, shows how they can be used to cope with ethical dilemmas, and explains why such dilemmas cannot be prevented. These principles are intended to be useful in training academic advisors but are not intended to create a code of ethics for advising.

Advising professionals were surveyed to ascertain the applicability of a Four-Stage Model to the process of program development: changes that occur in an advising program in response to students' needs and institutional pressures. Respondents agreed with the process of development as defined by the model but disagreed on the components of each stage and the sequence of change. To more accurately illustrate the dynamics of program development, the model was reconceptualized. An Integrated Model, depicted as a pinwheel, demonstrates (a) that the phases of development are interrelated, (b) that the direction and degree of change vary from one program to another, and (c) that every program has multifaceted potential for serving students.