Effective factors on desirable quality of advisory services from perspective of students and academic advisors

Abstract

<strong><em>Background:</em></strong> Academic consultation will help students in achieving educational goals and success. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors affecting desirable quality of advisory services from the perspective of students and academic advisors.<br /> <strong><em>Methods</em></strong>: This study is a cross-sectional study. 25 academic advisors and 318 students were chosen using convenience sampling of Neyshabur University of medical sciences. Data were collected by self-designed questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential tests including Mann-Whitney, Kruskal, Wallis, Chi-Square tests with SPSS software version 16.<br /> <strong><em>Results:</em></strong>In an evaluation of effective factors on quality of advisory services, "mutual respect between advisors and students" was determined as a most important factor from the academic advisor's point of view. However, from the view of the students, "academic advisor's communication skills" had highest priority.<br /> <strong><em>Conclusions</em></strong>: It is suggested that academic advising can be improved by holding consultation workshops and training courses, encouraging advisors for cooperating better, student's awareness of academic adviser's duties, and mutual respect.<br />