STUDENT, FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATOR PERCEPTIONS OF THE ACADEMIC ADVISING NEEDS OF STUDENTS AT FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY (COUNSELING)

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the academic advising needs of students and compare the perceptions of these needs among selected upper division students, faculty, and academic administrators at Florida Atlantic University. A secondary purpose was to determine if any differences in perceptions were due to any of several demographic variables. A sample of upper division students, faculty, and administrators in the six colleges were surveyed using the Academic Advising Needs Questionnaire developed by Burke (1981). The questionnaire was divided into three sections. The first section requested demographic data, the second section measured the extent to which respondents perceived how fifteen advising functions should be fulfilled and were being fulfilled by the academic advising program. The third section consisted of an open-ended item which allowed respondents to make additional comments concerning the academic advising program in general. Data were collected from 482 students, 162 faculty, and 46 administrators. Students indicated a need for all fifteen advising functions, while faculty indicated student need for twelve of the functions and administrators indicated student need for ten of the functions. A comparison of student and faculty perceptions of students' academic advising needs overall revealed a significant (.05 level) correlation (.59) between the two groups, however when the rank order of need scores for the two groups were compared within college, significant (.05 level) differences were found in three of the six colleges. Significant (.05 level) differences were evident when the rank order of need scores for students and administrators were compared overall and within colleges. Although the overall results revealed a significant (.05 level) correlation (.79) between faculty and administrator perceptions of students' academic advising needs, significant (.05 level) differences were evident when comparing the rank order of need scores between faculty and administrators within five of the six colleges.