Increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of academic advising through computerization

Academic advising is an essential part of any university degree program and becomes especially important in programs where there is competitive and limited admission to professional courses. This requires that academic advisors have ready access to student scholastic and demographic data for counseling and statistical purposes. The use of computers in creating a database for student records has become routine in most universities and colleges. Computerization of these records through the registration process creates a university database with the potential for many different applications. This article describes the development of a computer software program for a baccalaureate science of nursing program that makes use of a university's database to provide the foundation of a computer software program used in the nursing academic advising office. Identifying the special needs and requirements of the nursing advising program and developing a close working relationship with the computer programmer were essential in the development and implementation process. The result was an increase in the effectiveness and efficiency of the advising process, better record keeping, and better use of available student data for statistical purposes.