The Student Academic Advising Process . The research on student retention is invaluable in helping institutions make the right decisions, build new programs, and improve existing practices. We have reviewed numerous retention articles in several journals, and we are struck by one very obvious and definitive finding - the single most important practice that has a bearing on whether students stay or leave is contact with college faculty and staff. Frequent contact with faculty, inside and outside the classroom, is the single biggest predictor of whether students stay or leave. We believe that student academic advisement provides us one of the greatest opportunities to take advantage of this fact.
Academic advisors are crucial to the overall educational process.
They help students define and develop realistic educational and career goals in keeping with their abilities, limitations, and interests. Students deserve the best education we can provide them, and they deserve the best academic advisors to help them achieve that education. We believe there are several ways that the student academic advisement process could be improved. One simple method would be to appoint a Blue Ribbon Panel of highly knowledgeable faculty and staff to work this single issue. Most of the peer institutions we studied had an enrollment management office.