| This study compared and contrasted current goals and practices of institutional advising programs with those utilized specifically by distance education programs. As part of the conceptual framework, the study analyzed seven practices of advising programs identified through previous research on academic advising: delivery systems, organizational models, evaluation, support or reference materials, required occasions for academic advising, group advising, and advisor-student communication. The eight advising goals of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) were also used to build the conceptual framework.;Data were collected through a survey which resulted in descriptive statistics on advising goals and practices in distance education. Data analysis involved comparisons of results of the Academic Advising in Distance Education Survey developed for this study with data from American College Testing's Fourth National Survey of Academic Advising. Participants were identified from Peterson's 1996 publication, Guide to Distance Learning. Institutions selected for the sample had at least one baccalaureate degree program available at a distance, using primarily electronic means of instruction. One institutional representative completed the survey. Eight-nine surveys were mailed to institutions that met the study's definition of distance education. Seventy-three of these surveys were returned for a response rate of 82%.;Results showed that NACADA's advising goals were relevant for distance education; mean achievement was higher for each goal in distance education when compared with institutional advising programs. Advising practices were similar for distance education and institutions as a whole in that faculty advisors were the most frequent deliverers of advising services. There were differences between institutional and distance education advising programs in other practices, with less utilization of group advising, institutional reference materials, and advising evaluation in distance education. |
