An Analysis of Using Expert Systems in the Academic Advising Process

University academic advising programs were developed over 100 years ago to assist students with their undergraduate plan of study. Undeclared or undecided students are particularly difficult to advise because they require the advisor to be more knowledgeable in both task and developmental advising areas. The College of General Registration at South Dakota State University specializes in the academic advising of undeclared students. The College and the current advising process were developed in the mid- 1970s. The process is a manual system and is based on numerous handwritten forms. This thesis provides a history and analysis of academic advising programs, expert system technology, and the existing academic advising process used by the College of General Registration. It was determined that expert system technology could be applied to the existing program to improve advisor productivity, streamline the process, improve accuracy, and enhance student relations. Based on these conclusions, a design is proposed to transform the manual process into an automated system