A model for the evaluation of faculty academic advising programs

Abstract

This dissertation presents a model for the evaluation of academic advising programs intended to be: (a) comprehensive enough to meet a variety of decision-making needs; (b) flexible enough to apply in different settings and address different questions; (c) cyclic; (d) technically sound; and (e) adaptable. Section 1 of the dissertation presents the evaluation model. The model describes the evaluation of academic advising programs as a series of six steps. The six steps or components of the evaluation model describe sets of activities that, taken together, represent procedures for the classification, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data relevant to advising policy and procedures. Section 2 of the dissertation demonstrates an application of the model to the academic advising program in the AddRan College of Arts and Sciences. It shows that the proposed evaluation model can provide answers to the questions of decision makers, including: (1) Which categories of input variables are most strongly related to the outcomes of interest? (2) Which categories of input variables are the most feasible candidates for intervention? (3) Which specific input variables are the most potentially effective targets for intervention? (4) How much of a change in the outcomes of interest should be expected from particular interventions? Section 3 of the dissertation discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the evaluation model. It notes that the administrative organization of academic advising may affect the precision of the multivariate analyses proposed within the model. In particular, it notes that large variation in the number of students per advisor, small numbers of advisors, and large numbers of input variables mitigate against finding statistically significant results. Suggestions are offered to help surmount some of these difficulties.