Comparison of the students’ satisfaction about the performance of academic advisors before and after the advisor project in Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences

INTRODUCTION Inappropriate advice interferes with the students' achievement of educational and professional goals and they may fail to use proper resources for their educational needs. The present study was carried out to compare the students' satisfaction about the performance of academic advisors before and after the advisor project in Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences. METHODS This longitudinal study was carried out using census report on 244 students in different courses at Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in two stages at the first semester of 2010-2011 and first semester of 2011-2012. To collect the data, we used a self-designed questionnaire including individual and educational information and 10 multiple-choice questions with Likert scale to assess the students' satisfaction about the advisors' performance. Data were analyzed in SPSS 14 using paired t-test, qui-square test. P<0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS Of the ten items of satisfaction, there was only a significant difference in "accessibility to an advisor before and after the advisor project in students of nursing and midwifery school (p=0.010), and the difference was not significant in other items in these students. No significant difference was found in ten items of satisfaction in students at other schools before and after the advisor project (p=0.010). CONCLUSION It seems that the implementation of advisor project could not provide a satisfactory position for students. Adequate supervision of university officials on proper implementation of the advisor project, supporting faculty advisors and strengthening their position can help to improve the process.