ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education
Key Performance Indicators of the Academic Advising System and Student Performance among Undergraduate Dental Students: A Retrospective Analysis
Provisionally accepted
Khlood Baghlaf*
Safia Al-Attas- Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
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Abstract Background: Academic advising should be central to an institution's educational mission, rather than merely treated as an additional service. Aims: This study evaluates the effectiveness of the academic advising (AA) system at the Faculty of Dentistry over 5 years, emphasizing its essential role in fostering student success and achievement. It investigates the connection between academic advising meetings and student performance as indicated by grade point average (GPA). In addition, this study provides ratings for academic advising systems. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional analysis was conducted by collecting data from undergraduate students regarding their participation in AA meetings and their academic performance over the past five years. Key performance indicators were calculated from 2020 to 2025. The analysis of data from 2024 examined the mean GPA and its association with the number of AA sessions attended. Results: A significant increase was observed in key performance indicators from 48.31% in 2021 to 68.50% in 2025, reflecting enhanced student engagement and advising effectiveness. Furthermore, a positive correlation was identified between the frequency of advising meetings and student GPA, with high achievers participating in more meetings than lower-achieving peers. Female and senior students demonstrated greater advising engagement and academic success. The study also highlights the challenges faced by the academic guidance unit, such as faculty time limitations and uncooperative student behavior, which impede effective advising. Conclusion: This study presents recommendations for improving the AA process, stressing the importance of ongoing evaluation and adopting innovative strategies to better address student needs. Overall, the results highlighted the vital role of academic advising as a foundational aspect of the educational experience that facilitates personal growth and academic success among students.
Keywords: Grade point average, higher education, Tutoring, Academic success, student retention
Received: 10 Sep 2025; Accepted: 10 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Baghlaf and Al-Attas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Khlood Baghlaf, kbaghlaf@kau.edu.sa
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