Student Services
One of the major aspects of student services is academic advising. Unfortunately it has been perceived as one of the weakest areas in terms of student services, undergraduates are more likely to be dissatisfied with one on one services like advisement, career counseling, and financial aid than with many other aspects of their college life (Anderson, 2002). Advising is one of the most important and influential ways to connect a college student (especially a first year student) to a university. Advisors are responsible for making sure students understand both university and college or departmental policies. They spend more time with students than any other non-faculty university representatives and tend be rated lowest among all student service providers. Advisors help to guide students in terms of educational careers as well as their individual decision-making. This is accomplished by exploring the values, interests and abilities of students. Advisors are often the first person a student has contact with when there is a problem or a policy they are unsure of. Academic Advisors have a lot of interaction with students and are finding that students are less interested in using email and more interested in real time communication vehicles such as instant messaging (IM) (Jones, 2009).