An open source information system for online counseling for a Mexican university

Abstract

One of the primary goals of undergraduate studies programs is to promote the professional and personal growth and success of their students. First year students, however, often suffer higher desertion rates and have lower academic performance levels than their more mature counterparts. Effective counseling and tutoring of students can help lower desertion rates that are often caused by academic demands, adjustment problems, maturation, personal or economic problems, alienation, or a lack of contact and effective guidance by faculty and staff. This paper describes an open source system for online counseling and tutoring that is designed to access and provide timely and accurate information, increase and optimize contact time, provide communication tools to facilitate interaction between professors and their tutees and assist in the administration and tracking of students.