The Advising Behaviors Checklist: A Study of the Preferred Qualities and Behaviors of Academic Advisors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine what qualities/behaviors undergraduate students value in their academic advisors versus those qualities/behaviors valued by academic advisors. More specifically, this is a study to determine if preference for those qualities/behaviors change or are different over time for students and advisors; if they vary according to gender of the student; and what relationship exists between the findings of the original Teaching Behaviors Checklist (Buskist., Sikorski, Buckley, & Saville, 2002) and a modified instrument. A survey asking participants to rank the top-10 behaviors most important to excellent academic advising was administered to 360 undergraduate students, freshmen through senior, and 50 academic advisors. The findings of this study show that students and advisors agreed on the top seven out of twenty-eight qualities/behaviors. Results from chi-square tests indicated that other student and advisor characteristics such as year in school, gender, or years of experience in advising do not influence the preference for qualities/behaviors. However, results also showed that differences exist in student value of certain qualities/behaviors in advisors, as well as faculty and advisors’ value of certain qualities/behaviors. These findings suggest the greater importance of interpersonal skill as opposed to technical skill, in academic advising, which is congruent with the developmental approach to advising.