| Quality academic advising practices, including intrusive methods that provide pertinent information and build the student-advisor relationship, have been shown to increase university student satisfaction, academic performance, and retention. A Proactive Advising System for Students (PASS) containing a tri-weekly course progress system, periodic telephone calls, informational newsletters, and a Psychology Career Information Compendium were applied to 168 undergraduate psychology majors; 167 undergraduate psychology majors served as a control group. Students who received the PASS initiated significantly more contact with their academic advisor, reported significant increases in overall satisfaction with the advising system, reported significant increases in satisfaction with the efficiency and structure of the advising system, earned significantly higher final percentages in psychology courses than control subjects, and earned more As and Bs and less Cs, Ds, and Fs in psychology courses than control subjects. There was no effect on overall GPA or retention within the psychology major. |
