Student Survey and Academic Advisor Survey
Comparison Summary Report
KASADA Assessment Committee
March 2009
Background
KASADA, Kent Academic Support and Advising Association, is the primary organized group of professional and faculty advisors and student support personnel at Kent State University and is an allied member of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) and support the goals and programs of NACADA. The assessment committee was born from the idea of aligning KASADA with the University’s strategic planning process. The purpose of the Assessment Committee is to develop assessment strategies and instruments to measure the effectiveness of academic advising and support on student success and retention. The work of this committee is to align assessment efforts with the institution’s AQIP accreditation, and involve KASADA in research projects.
Purpose of Surveys, Learning Outcomes
Various members of this committee have attended the past five NACADA Assessment Institutes which have encouraged and moved the committee along the assessment cycle. Past objectives were for members to understand the assessment cycle and its purpose, and then serve as “consultants” to university advising units to assist in developing learning outcomes, an individualized MAP (Master Advising Plan) for students, advising syllabus, and assessment plans. As a KASADA committee, there is an inherent responsibility for assessment of advising for the entire university.
Learning Outcomes Identified and Mapped
Learning Outcome / When/How students learn / Evidence of students’ learning / Data driven decision makingStudents should understand the purpose and importance of advising / 1.Student Orientation/First Year Experience (FYE)
2. Freshman advising appointment / 1. Student keeps regular advising appointments
2. Student maintains advising portfolio / TBD
Students should understand, have the knowledge, and use technology / 1. Student Orientation/FYE
2. On their own / 1. Student checks email regularly
2. Student schedules for classes online
3. Student uses KAPS / TBD
Students should understand degree requirements (LER, major courses, electives, etc.) / 1. DKSAR program
2. Freshman advising appointment
3. Faculty advisor / 1. Student prepares a list and asks relevant questions
2. Student plans out courses for each semester / TBD
Students should understand and utilize the resources and take advantage of referrals / 1. Student portfolio-list of resources
2. Referral made by advisor / 1. Student takes advantage of resources/referral
2. Student is improved by resource/referral / TBD
Students should understand academic policies / 1. DKSAR
2. FYE
3. Advising appointments
4. Flashline / 1. Student takes advantage of a policy
2. Student asks questions about a policy / TBD
Student Survey Methodology
With assistance from Research, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness (RPIE), a student survey invitation was distributed via email to 23,212 undergraduate students at all campuses. There were 2,460 responses collected, a 10.6% return rate. The results were publicized to students on campus posters, as well as to advisors at KASADA events and will be posted on the KASADA website.
For this study, one online survey was constructed. The respondents self-identified the campus where they received most of their academic advising. Respondents who attended the Kent campus then responded to several questions related to academic advising at the Kent campus. The respondents who attended a Regional campus answered a series of questions about advising as it pertains to the Regional campus system. The second, third, and fourth sections of the survey were asked of all survey respondents. Opportunities for comments were provided through fill-in questions and an open comment section at the end of the survey. Students were also asked to provide an email address if they would like to be contacted for future follow-up. Certain student demographic data was also requested, such as the students’ ethnicity, marital status and degree status of their parents (see Appendix 2).
The student survey sent out in March 2008 was the second student advising survey administered by the KASADA Assessment Committee. The first student survey was a pilot; the results from the second survey will be used as baseline data for benchmarking future student survey results. There were three parts to the survey:
1. Student Understanding Of Academic Advising: This section focuses on assessing students’ understanding of the purpose and importance of advising.
2. Student Need for and Satisfaction with Academic Advising and Student Task Performance: This section focuses on students' perceived need for advising on various topics and students' satisfaction with the academic advising that they have received while at the university. The specific questions were identified based on the diversity of topics that often arise during an advising appointment. Student perceived and reported ability to execute various tasks was also assessed.
3. Student Need for and Referral to University Resources: This section focuses on students' need for information regarding university resources other than academic advising and the frequency of referral to these resources.
Advisor Survey Methodology
The KASADA Assessment Committee distributed the Academic Advisor Survey via email invitation to 115 advisors in mid July 2008. There were 62 responses collected in mid August (54% return rate). For this study, one online survey was constructed. The academic advisor survey questions were parallel to the student advising survey. The respondents self-identified the campus where they were currently employed, as well as certain advisor descriptive data, such as the advisor’s “years as an advisor,” “highest degree earned,” and “primary role.”
Significant Findings from the Student Survey
1. Understanding of Advising
· 96.8% of students report understanding why they should see an advisor. The remaining 3% were further examined by class level:
o 55% Freshmen
o 16% Sophomores
o 13% Juniors
o 16% Seniors
· Students also increasingly understand why they need to see an academic advisor as they progress in class standing at the university (100% of senior respondents said they understand why they should see an advisor, while only 55.4% of freshman say the same)
· 90% of students reported see an academic advisor at least once a year, with most (53%) responding “once per semester.” This was further examined by age, gender, class level, and ethnicity:
o All age ranges – 18-22 years (54%), 23-30 years (52%), 31-44 years(53%), and 45+ years (54%) – reported that they see an advisor once per semester
o 53% of Females and 55% of Males responded that they see an advisor once per semester
o 54% of Freshmen, 41% of both Sophomores and Juniors, and 55% of Seniors responded “once per semester”
o All ethnicities, with the exception of those identified as “Mixed Ethnicity” indicated once per semester as the top response
§ “Mixed Ethnicity” were more likely to respond “more than once per semester”
o Comparing respondents who meet with an academic advisor less than once per academic year or have never met with an academic advisor, the results are consistent by age, gender, class level, and ethnicity, which don’t indicate statistical significance
· 94% of students rated advising as extremely important, very important, or somewhat important. This finding was consistent across age, gender, class level, and ethnicity:
o The top answer for all age ranges was “very important”, except 31-44 who indicated “extremely important” as the top answer
o Both Males and Females responded “very important”
o Freshmen responded that advising is “extremely important”, and Sophomores top answer was also “extremely important,” with the majority answer for Juniors and Seniors being “very important”
o Only three ethnicities identified advising as “extremely important” – Mixed Ethnicity, African American, and Hispanic American, with the majority answering “very important”
o Students who reported advising as a requirement of their orientation course.
· Overall, 79% of students indicated that they are satisfied with academic advising at the university. Broken down by class level, 79%, 78%, 80% and 79% of students reported satisfaction with academic advising by Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior and Senior class levels, respectively. Thus, there were small differences noted from one class level to the next. It is important to note, in addition, that these findings were consistent across race/ethnicity and age range.
· When asked about preparation for an advising appointment, the top answer for students in all class levels is “look at my requirement/advising sheet”.
o For students who responded “I do not do anything to prepare for an advising appointment”, the respondents were consistent by class level (9 and 10%) and 59% have a GPA of 1.999 or less
o For those who responded “I do not know how to prepare for an advising appointment” 63% of respondents’ parents do not hold a bachelor’s degree or higher
· 65% of students indicated they would want to be assigned a specific advisor. Of those who said Yes,
o This answer is consistent by age, gender, and class level (for example, Freshmen 64%, Sophomores 65%, Juniors 64%, Seniors 67%)
o Students with a GPA of 3.7-3.9 had the most “Yes” responses (71%) and those with a GPA of 2.0-2.299 had the least “Yes” responses (54%).
· If students said “Yes” to the question, “Was academic advising required as a part of University Orientation/First Year Colloquium” (n=1267) the majority (83%) said advising was Very Important during their college career and were almost 3 times as likely to find advising extremely important during their academic careers.
· If students said “No” to the question, “Was academic advising required as a part of University Orientation/First Year Colloquium” (n=539) the majority (38%) said advising was Very Important during their college career.
2. Need for and Satisfaction with Advising and Task Performance (See Appendix 1 for Graphs)
· 79% of students report satisfaction with academic advising (consistent across class standing)
· Student satisfaction with advising has a positive correlation with the level of importance students place on advising.
o 97% of students who report satisfaction with advising also feel it is important
o 82% of students who feel academic advising is important also report satisfaction with academic advising
o A causal relationship cannot be determined, but there is still a strong positive correlation
· 21.34% of students who reported a high need for advising on the “repeat for recalculation” rule also reported low satisfaction with advising received on this topic
· 28% of students who reported a high need for advising on generating a KAPS report also report low satisfaction in this area
3. Need for and Referral to University Resources
· Financial Aid, the Registrar’s Office, and the Bursar’s Office were the high-ranking functional areas in which students express a need for more information
Comparison Results between the Student and Advisor Surveys (See Appendix 2 for Tables)
· 96.8% of students report understanding why they should see an advisor, while 76% of advisors perceive students understand why they should see an advisor.
· 90% of students see an advisor at least once per year. 88% of advisors perceive students see an advisor at least once per year.
· Students cite “personal experience” as the number one way they learn about academic advising (46.4%). 84% of advisors perceive students get most information about the purposes for academic advising from advisors in one-to-one sessions. While just 37.5% of students report learning about academic advising from one-on-one sessions.
· 43.7% of students report learning about academic advising from their orientation course. The orientation course was the second most common place where students report learning about academic advising. 79% of advisors perceive students get most information about the purposes for academic advising from their orientation course
· 79% of students report satisfaction with academic advising and (consistent across class standing) and 87% of advisors perceive students are satisfied with academic advising
· Students felt they could perform a list of tasks (majority response to all items was yes); whereas 93% of advisors said students could not accurately describe the Rule for Recalculation, 96% could not accurately describe probation/dismissal and 91% could not interpret a KAPS report
· Students and advisors both ranked financial aid as the top service/resource students have a need for more information; however, students next ranked Registrar’s Office and Bursar’s Office, whereas advisors next ranked career services/guidance, and academic success skills
Limitations
The following are challenges encountered during the administration of the survey and collection of data:
· The data collected could be stronger with an increased response rate
· The respondents were not ethnically diverse
· Task performance was measured indirectly because students self-reported this data
· Obtaining a total count of academic advisors the survey was to distributed to was challenging because the KASADA membership includes people who serve many different and sometimes multiple roles at the university
· Committee goal was to publish results to the university community by the end of summer 2008. However, data collection was not complete until January 2009.
Comparison Conclusions
The surveys provide interesting comparison data between advisor and student survey responses regarding students' understanding of academic advising; need for and satisfaction with advising and task performance; and need for and referral to university resources. The results of the survey identify students’ and advisors’ responses were, in most cases, congruent and positive. The results help advisors identify areas where there may be more dissatisfaction than perceived, and provide ideas for further training and professional development. Identifying areas where advisors perceive students need more help but students do not report a need, questions whether advisor attention should continue to focus on those topics during advising appointments or not.
Understanding of Advising
Overall, students and advisors both reported students understand why they need advising. Additionally, students and advisors both report students see an advisor at least once each year. Compared to advisors, students were five times as likely to report seeing an advisor at least once each semester. This may be a result of students seeing different advisors, and advisors may not report meeting with the same student as frequently. Almost all advisors and students (90% and 80%) agree students’ number one reason for seeing advisors is scheduling for the following semester. However, during advising appointments a variety of topics are covered in addition to scheduling. For example, many students and advisors report discussing graduation progress, major requirements, personal issues, KAPS reports, and career goals.