The growth of academic advising in Gulf countries

Nowadays, many universities and colleges have started giving great importance to academic advising for students. When most students enter college, they are unsure about the speciality that they should take up. Some students end up making the wrong decision and they regret it a lot later on. Wrong choices can lead to unhappiness and depression. This is the reason why the correct guidance of academic advisers is so essential. Many universities do provide some information about various degrees. Meeting one-on-one with an academic adviser can provide a greater degree of clarity to students. Academic advising helps students to gain greater clarity and to make up their mind. It also leads to academic enrichment. The overall purpose of the advising center is to enable students to make well-informed educational choices by helping them find suitable courses, which lead to their career and educational goals. Students become aware of what is expected of them and how they can achieve their aims. Many universities are now setting up student counseling and academic advising divisions for the benefit of students. Many problems can be solved by discussions with a student adviser. “A problem shared is a problem halved”. Students have started to realize that their advisers are their friends and guides. Academic advisers are experts who play a vital role for students as well as for the university. They have various specialities and a variety of experience, which make them ideal to guide new students. Many faculty members also play the role of academic advisers for the benefit of their students. Academic advisers help students to select their desired courses. Students can also get assistance in goal setting and developing strategies. The adviser is an important part of the support system for students I once had a student who had completed three years of petroleum engineering and then decided that he was more interested in computer engineering and started that from scratch. In another case, I came across an engineering student who quit engineering after four years to join the medical course from the beginning. I remember thinking that these two students had wasted their time. If they were clear about their courses, they would have saved time. They would not have felt guilty about making the wrong career decision. It would have been better if they had met an academic adviser who could have guided them to their real interest at the start rather than later on. A productive student is one who can excel in his coursework and can turn out to be a useful and productive citizen of the country. Job satisfaction is becoming more important to employees as well as employers. If an employee is doing a job that he likes to do, he is happy and satisfied. He can then play a valuable role in the development of his country. All students are now assigned academic advisers to provide them with proper guidance. In Saudi Arabia, government universities are in the process of developing and expanding academic advising units to provide academic assistance to students. Various tests can determine the aptitude of students to make them aware of their strengths and weaknesses in advance. This can help them plan a suitable future course of action based on their long-term plans. Irfan Ahmed, Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah