A Character-Based Academic Advising Model to Improve the Students’ Self-Concepts

The aim of this research is to explore the model of faculty academic advising and its relationship with the students’ self-concept, i.e., self-understanding, self-awareness, and selfrecognition. A Character-based academic advising was proposed in response to the ineffectiveness of implementation of academic guidance at the Teachers College of Universitas Islam Nusantara to improve faculty advising for all advisors in the University. This research used research and development method. A number of students from Indonesian Department and Special Education Program along with their academic advisors were the subjects of this study. The results showed that the model was able to enhance the students’ self-concept in moderate to high category consisting of self-understanding (33% high, 38.3% moderate, and 29.7% low), self-awareness (37% high, 39.5% moderate, and 23.5% low), and of self-recognition (43.66% high, 31% moderate, and 25.33% low. In addition, the response of the students to the model was positive even though its implementation was considered not optimum. The Academic Supervisors also stipulate positive response to the model due to its efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, and flexibility. Keywords—academic advising; character; self-concept