Remote Academic Advising Using Synchronous Technology: Knowledge, Experiences, and Perceptions from Students

Abstract

When COVID-19 struck, higher education experienced major disruptions. Important functions like academic advising were no exception, and the traditional face-to-face model shifted online with remote academic advising (RAA), which uses synchronous communication technologies (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meets). In this quantitative research study, 569 students completed an online survey that produced 539 sets of valid data for analysis. Findings showed no significant differences in students' knowledge or experiences with RAA according to their demographic independent variables such as gender, age, ethnicity, major, and RAA experiences. However, significant differences in student opinions on RAA were found among different age and gender groups. The paper identifies barriers to implementing RAA with suggestions to overcome these barriers when utilizing RAA.