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Example research essay topic: Consulting Evaluation For The Advising Office Project - 1,937 words

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The current system that we have been working with is Undergraduate Business Advising. After doing some research we have found that there are a number of different problems with the current system. The main problem we have discovered is inconsistent information. One of the proposed solutions is an Undergraduate Business Advising website. The website will provide a way for advisors to communicate information to students more clearly and efficiently. It will also, in the same way, provide a way for students to access the information much quicker and easier.

In addition, it will allow students to schedule appointments online. By offering this feature, we hope to increase the number of appointments and in turn decrease the number of walk-ins. Our goal is to decrease the amount of inconsistent information that students are receiving. Absolute Consulting was hired by the Undergraduate Business Advising Office to develop a web page to help enhance the advising process. We were approached by Monica Farrell to update the current process by integrating user-friendly tools on the web.

Our role in the project was to gather information from students and faculty to determine what requirements are necessary for the web page. We have accomplished this through extensive interviewing, research, and questionnaires. Our team is comprised of six students from Dr. Sauters analysis class. Each member has strengths in different areas of the project, thus increasing our proficiency. The team has an excellent set of checks and balances to ensure that no one part is overshadowed by another.

One of our main concerns was keeping within the scope of the project. We had to pay careful attention as to not get outside of our parameters. Through much discussion with Monica Farrell, we determined what would and would not be appropriate for the project. Monica, our contact, took our ideas to the other advisors to get feedback and we were able to adjust accordingly. Also, the process worked in the opposite direction. Some of the advisors ideas were not within the scope of the project, so we had to compromise.

The most important part of staying within the scope was the communication line that was established and maintained with Monica Farrell. Through our discussions with her, we were able to arrive at an effective solution. Methodology Absolute Consulting has helped to determine what problems the current Undergraduate Business Advising Office has. While talking to Monica Farrell, Senior Academic Advisor, on September 20, 2000, we discussed the current system and determined what we needed to find out from the users. During the week of October 16, 2000, Absolute Consulting distributed questionnaires to users of the current advising office. The questions were carefully thought out in order to get the best possible feedback about the positive and negative aspects of the Undergraduate Business Advising Office.

A brief background of each user was preformed to determine the demographics of those being questioned. The users were also questioned to determine their use of the Internet. These questions were asked to see if the users would take advantage of advising resources supplied by the Internet. Next, the users were asked questions dealing with their use of the current advising services. We asked general questions about the students advising experiences to figure out what needs to be done to solve any problems students are having.

These questions were crucial in our research to determine the success of the Undergraduate Business Advising Office. If the majority of students reply with positive answers to questions regarding advising, we know the advising office is doing things right. This will determine what the advisors need to continue doing. The more negative answers we receive, the more changes need to be made. We also asked specific questions to get a good understanding of the types of questions students ask and the type of advising session that is preferred. If more students made appointments instead of walking in, we would have a better idea of what the advisors time consists of and if more advisors are needed.

Findings And Conclusions The majority of the users questioned were seniors, Management Information Systems majors, had a G. P. A. between 2. 01 and 3. 00, and between the ages of 21 and 25. By distributing and analyzing the user questionnaires, we were able to determine a common problem.

A summary of the questionnaires is available in Appendix (? ). We have found that users are receiving inconsistent information from the Undergraduate Business Advising office. When a student walks in to meet with a counselor, less is accomplished. From the questionnaires, we have concluded that when students walk in, they seem to see a negative change in counselors attitudes, longer waits, unfamiliarity with counselors on duty, and less organization. The majority of the students questioned said that they see a different advisor each time they go in for an appointment.

It seems that if a student meets with a different advisor every time, different information is received. If a student makes an appointment, they can choose the counselor they wish to see. If a student met with the same counselor throughout their college years, they would become accustomed to each other. Knowing each other on a personal basis and becoming familiar with the student, the counselor would help to maintain consistent information.

When a student makes an appointment, the advisor is more prepared, organized, and does prior research before the meeting. This can cut down on mistakes made by a quick session with an unfamiliar advisor. Every appointment meeting is scheduled for at least a half-hour. This gives ample time for the student to ask questions, solve problems, and make schedules. There is no sense of urgency to speed up the appointment and no long wait to see an advisor. The students seem to be more pleased with appointment advising rather than walk-in advising, although, some students are not aware of the benefits of making an appointment.

Our recommendation to the users, based on the questionnaires analyzed, is to make more appointments to see advisors. Making appointments with specific advisors using an online scheduler can do this. The student can choose the same advisor each time to cut down on inconsistent information. They also have the advisors schedules right at their fingertips to choose the best time for them to meet. This means less walk-ins and most importantly, less inconsistent information.

RECOMMENDATIONS/IMPLEMENTATIONS To solve any problem, it is important to understand the source of that problem. Then, create a solution that directly solves the source of the problem. After distributing questionnaires and speaking to users of the current system, we have concluded that inconsistent information is being given to users of this system. This affects many different subsystems. Consequentially, there is no one simple solution to this problem. The first step we propose is to create a web page.

This page will distribute information that is important and pertinent to all users of the system. We understand that there are already methods in place to distribute information. Office leaflets and information on notice boards throughout the campus are good ways to make users aware of this information. According to our questionnaires, these methods will work well, but in this information age it is imperative that pertinent information be made available online as well as in printed form.

This web page will not only distribute standard operating information such as the phone number and office hours, but it will have various other sections such as a calendar of important events. This will provide a quick reference to find important dates of events such as the last day to drop a class, the last day to register for a class, and what time the advising office closes on those evenings. To a student that is considering one of these actions, having all the information in one place would be an important advantage. Along with this information, the web page will also provide an online scheduler.

The scheduler will be used to manage appointments for specific advisors. This feature is needed to correct and simplify the process of making an appointment to see an advisor. It will also be used to emphasize the importance of making appointments. It is a resource that students can use to make an appointment. The advisors, along with the receptionist, will also have access to this web page. This will allow the advisors to directly schedule a future appointment for a student.

It will also allow students to walk in or call to make an appointment. The web page will not correct the source of the problem by itself. Many students have expressed a concern that they receive too much inconsistent information. This is from the way the advising office is set up. We propose that as a second step, current and new students receive an advisor that they see consistently. This will help remove the inconsistent information that students are receiving.

Each advisor should be assigned an emphasis area. The advisor for a particular student should be assigned based on the students major. If a student enrolls in the MIS program, the advisor that specializes in MIS should be assigned to that student. Many students switch their major a few times throughout their educational career. Having advisors that specialize in certain emphasis areas will be an advantage because students who are looking to change majors can speak with the advisor that specializes in that area.

For example, a student that came to UMSL as a general business student is given one advisor. If that student decides that finance is an area that looks more appealing, they will have the opportunity to speak with an advisor that specializes in the finance program before they make the transition. This advisor will have more knowledge of the financial program than the other advisors. Because of this, they may be able to give the student insights that other advisors would not be able to offer.

This leads to step three of our solution. There should be more available appointment slots. To do this, the walk-in visits should be cut back. Many walk-in questions do not need an advisor to answer them. They are normally simple questions that could be answered by a FAQ section on an advising web page or a well-trained receptionist. If the question is more in-depth, it should be answered in an appointment visit.

Otherwise, the advisor may feel rushed and ill equipped to handle the question. They will still answer the question, but since they were unprepared, they may miss an important detail that would otherwise change their advice. To keep up with students expectations and to get feedback from the users, we recommend that advisor evaluation forms be made available for students. An advisor evaluation form is available in Appendix (? ).

The web page should be implemented as soon as possible. It is unrealistic to assume that advisors can train for an emphasis area in the short amount of time between the current semester and the upcoming one. A more realistic time frame would be the fall of 2001. This will give the advisors ample time to train, yet allow the new system to be in place when most new students arrive. The third step should be implemented soon after step two.

A few weeks should be ample time to coordinate this effort. This will allow time for the receptionist to be properly trained. For any new source of information to be useful, the users need to know it exists and how they can access it. A marketing campaign should be run after the new web page is in place. It will consist of canvass...


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