Date of Award

Spring 5-2013

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Studies and Research

Committee Chair

Lilian Hill

Committee Chair Department

Educational Studies and Research

Committee Member 2

Thelma Roberson

Committee Member 2 Department

Educational Leadership and School Counseling

Committee Member 3

Thomas O'Brien

Committee Member 3 Department

Educational Studies and Research

Committee Member 4

Aubrey Lucas

Committee Member 5

James T. Johnson

Abstract

Mississippi lacks a formal unified method for evaluating academic advising programs, and it is unclear whether advisement practices are satisfactory and aiding in student success. This study attempted to assess advisement satisfaction among students attending community colleges in Mississippi. The purpose of this study was to explore the level of satisfaction among Mississippi community college students with advisement. An additional aim of this study was to determine if advisement satisfaction is influenced by race, gender, non-traditional student status, first-generation student status, or on/off campus housing across Mississippi community college student populations. Students from each of the 15 community colleges in Mississippi (only the main campuses) were invited to participate in the survey process. The researcher purchased the Survey of Academic Advising, Copyright 1997, from ACT, Inc. The Survey of Academic Advising was developed by the Evaluation Survey Service (ESS) and ACT and was used to measure students’ satisfaction with advising.

The majority of the participants reported being satisfied with their advisor. Students indicated an overall high level of satisfaction with advisors’ assistance. Students were most satisfied with advisors’ knowledge of scheduling/registration, graduation requirements, drop/add procedures, and selecting and changing majors. Students were least satisfied with advisors’ knowledge of obtaining course credit through nontraditional means including CLEP and workforce experience programs, obtaining tutorial and remedial assistance, job placement after college, and obtaining campus employment.

Survey findings showed that satisfaction with advisement is unrelated to gender, non-traditional student status, first-generation student status, and commuter or residential student status. Satisfaction was only significantly related to race. The research showed a small positive correlation between Caucasian students and satisfaction with advisors. In this study, Caucasian students were more satisfied with their advisors than African Americans students and students who reported their race as other.

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