Replacing Face-to-Face with Online Meetings: Public and Private University Students' Satisfaction on Academic Advising during COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 virus pandemic has caused all governments to implement distance learning by utilizing information technology, including in academic advising. Studies conducted during the pandemic have shown changes in higher education institutions and students. This study aimed to find out and analyse the level of students' satisfaction with academic advising during the COVID-19 pandemic at public and private universities using five satisfaction indicators, namely tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. The survey was conducted online, involving 1158 students from a total of 6 public and private universities in the city of Banjarmasin, Kalimantan Island, Indonesia. The data findings showed that in relation to the academic advising given during the COVID-19 pandemic, the students' satisfaction levels toward the provision of academic advising at both public and private universities during the COVID-19 pandemic were in the same category, which was "very satisfied". Thus, students' satisfaction levels toward academic advising at the university in Banjarmasin were very high, the demographic characteristics of the students, academic advisors, frequency of academic advising meetings and method of the academic advising meetings explained the significant differences in the students' satisfaction levels toward academic advising during COVID-19.