Academic counselor's attitude toward university counseling and counselors duties; Babol dental school

Universities and scientific environments are involved in many challenges and changes; therefore, mental, spiritual and social support of the students and university academic members and having mutual interaction seems essential. This study aimed to assess the attitude of Babol Dental School professors toward educational counseling and counselors’ duties. This cross-sectional study was conducted among Babol Dental School academic staff in 2011. The study population consisted of 14 counselor professors of the Dental School of Babol Medical University who were selected by census sampling method. A validated researcher-made questionnaire was applied for data collection, which had three sections including the demographic characteristics, 16 attitude style questions related to counseling and 14 knowledge and attitude questions toward the features of appropriate counseling process. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software using descriptive statistical methods and Correlation tests, one-way variance analysis and regression. Almost half of the respondents (42.7%) were not aware of university counselors’ duties and (42.8%) of educational rules. Overall, university professors didn’t have a positive attitude toward the performance of counselors (35.7% poor, 42.9% moderate and 21.4% good). However, 85.7% were aware of the characteristics of the perfect situation and believed in it. There seems to be a positive attitude toward the duties of counselor professors in the studied university, but university professors don’t have a positive attitude toward their present performance in spite of knowing their duties.