Evaluation of a Community College's Nursing Faculty Advising Program Relative to Students' Satisfaction and Retention

Problem was the community college recognized a decline in student retention rates from 2009 to 2012 in the School of Nursing. Purpose of this program evaluation was to evaluate a faculty advising program (FAP) in the School of Nursing at a community college in regard to students' satisfaction and retention. Evaluation period was from Fall 2012 to Fall 2016. The FAP was implemented in Fall 2013 term, and baseline data were collected from Fall 2012 to Spring 2013.

Regarding methods, the sample was a convenience sample of 210 nursing students. Researcher used the context-input-process-product model for program evaluation. Only the process and product components of the model were used. Two evaluation questions guided the cross-sectional descriptive-research design. The Nursing Student Academic Advising Inventory (NSAAI) was used to answer process question (Evaluation Question 1). Retention data for product question (Evaluation Question 2) came from Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

Findings for Evaluation Question 1 showed students reported satisfaction with advisors. For Evaluation Question 2, there were high retention percentages ranging from 72% to 96% for each semester during the program implementation period of Fall 2013 to Fall 2016. Conclusion was how nursing faculty advisors responded to nursing students greatly influenced students' decisions to persist in nursing programs.