Extended Academic Advising in Kazakhstan: Improving the Success of First Year Students

Academic advising is a new phenomenon in higher education of Kazakhstan that comes with the reform of the higher education system. In 2012, the Faculty of Social Sciences at Eurasian National University implemented an extra-course for first year students entitled, “Student's education strategy”. Academic advisors carried this out as a first step to enhance collaboration between advisors and students and improve the first-year student experience. Results of this pilot study indicate that the participating first-year students considered the course helpful to them in their adjustment to the university and that it increased their success at the university.