Survey of Needs and Expectations for Academic Advising in a Hong Kong University

Abstract

Universities in Hong Kong implemented a new 4-year undergraduate curriculum in 2012, and many initiated academic advising programs to help students from different academic backgrounds and with various levels of preparedness to review their options and manage challenges in college. For this study, we administered a questionnaire survey to discover students' views on and expectations for academic advising. The results show an overall positive evaluation of academic advising from students, who expected academic advisors to help them understand their study options and preferred a developmental over a prescriptive approach. Students reported that discussing career issues was their greatest need for academic advising.