Having committed to spreading the culture of academic advising amongst the teaching staff members in the University, believing in its pivotal role in preparing highly qualified manpower in the quality field, the Deanship of Development and Quality held the second workshop concerned with the academic advising. The workshop was conducted and presented by Prof. Khaled bin Abdalkream Basndi, the faculty member in the Faculty of Arts, King Saud University. Fifty eight trainees from both genders attended the workshop. The workshop focused on the concept of the academic advising, and its fundamentals. In addition, it draws the attention of the attendees toward the importance of the academic advising. It also explains the objectives of the academic advising and its different types. In other words, it raises the awareness amongst the attendees about the major role played by the academic advising in improving the academic environment.
The trainer resorts to using different strategies which include but not limited to the following: lecturing, brainstorming, role-playing, power point presentation. The workshop witnessed unprecedented discussion between the trainer and trainees, as the discussions were focused on the expected problems that might face the teaching staff in the process of the academic advising. The workshop introduced different and new experiences of academic advising implemented at various institutions of higher education with the aim of exchanging the experiences which might cater solutions to the expected problems facing the academic advisor while practicing his job.
The trainer stated that the main responsibility of the academic advisor is to guide and steer the students toward choosing the academic courses that suit their actual academic level in terms of the designed academic plan so as to complete successfully the requirements necessary to obtain their academic degrees.