BREAK THE SPELL: VOODOO SECRETS FOR

SERVING “INVISIBLE STUDENTS”

Texas Woman’s University

Annie Phillips Newton & Amy O’Keefe

JONATHON SWIFT ( IR ISH AUTHOR AND SATIRIST 1667 -1745)

 “VISION IS THE ART

OF SEEING WHAT IS INVISIBLE TO OTHERS.”

SPELL INGREDIENTS

Unique needs of non-traditionals and

commuters

National best practice standards

Role of orientation to meet these

needs

Social media, tools, applications

WHOOOOOO

Commuter

Non-traditional

students

Student parents

Adult learners

Veterans

Onliners

Transfer

OLD SCHOOL: COLLEGE’S MOST IMPORTANT TREND IS

THE RISE OF THE ADULT STUDENT

Who’s a typical college students?

Of the 17.6 million undergrads now enrolled in higher

education:

43% attend two-year institutions

37% are enrolled part-time

32% are working full-time

25% are over the age of 30

Only 15% attend four year colleges and live on campus(The Atlantic, 2011)

UNIQUE NEEDS

Juggle school, family and work & integration of all

of these roles

• Transportation, childcare, finances

Little time or patience for policies that make no

sense for them

Very focused on timely completion of their degree

May need more assistance navigating the

university

May feel disconnected/lack of support due to

physical distance

• May struggle to develop a sense of belonging

ASTIN’S THEORY OF INVOLVEMENT

“the more students are passionate and

wholehearted about their educational

experience, both psychologically and

physically, the more likely they are to

succeed and be satisfied with their

collegiate experience” (Astin, 1984).

GET STUDENTS INVOLVED

Connect them to your institution

through:• Student organizations, honor

societies, traditions, more interaction with other students and faculty

Involvement yields:• Learner success• Retention

TINTO’S THEORY OF DEPARTURE

• Academic and social integration are fundamental to student retention (Tinto, 1993)

• “the more central one’s membership to the mainstream of institutional life the more likely, other things being equal, is one to persist” (Tinto, 1987).

• “a person will tend to withdraw from college when he [or she] perceives that an alternative form of investment of time, energies, and resources will yield greater benefits” (Tinto, 1975).

TEACHING NAKED

“All of your students are already in this

virtual community [facebook] and asking

them to join a class group creates a virtual

community where they already live; posting

an announcement on Blackboard is the

equivalent of asking them to come to office

hours in your building. Posting on Facebook

is more like showing up in the dorms for

dinner.” 

Bowen, 2006

3 FACTORS INFLUENCING ONLINE STUDENT RETENTION:

1. Student support & student connection with the institution

2. Quality of interaction between faculty & students = “eSolated” (Appana, 2008)

3. Student self-discipline(Heyman, 2010)

C O U N C I L F O R T H E A DVA N C E M E N T O F S TA N D A R D S I N H I G H E R E D U C AT I O N

( C A S )

CAS – Orientation Programs• “Programs have evolved from simply providing individualized faculty

attention to focusing on a multitude of important issues while responding to the needs of an increasingly diverse student and family population”

CAS- Adult Learner Programs• “must provide programs and services that assist in increasing the

retention of adult learners…including orientation”

CAS – Commuter Programs• Provide programs that meet specific needs of commuter students and • “ensure that all students must have equitable access to all institutional

services, engagement opportunities and the total educational process regardless of place of residence”

C O U N C I L F O R T H E A D VA N C E M E N T O F S TA N D A R D S I N H I G H E R E D U C AT I O N ( C A S )

CAS –Distance Education Programs• “Formal higher education in which the student and

faculty member are separated by time and/or space”• “Institutions must provide appropriate student

services for all students enrolled in distance education programs. These services must be sufficiently comprehensive to be responsive to the special needs of all distance students”

• “-must be of comparable quality to services provided to on-campus students”

• “Orientation must be offered”

ROLE OF ORIENTATION

Provide mechanism to address transition issues• Meet and greet avoid defeat

Utilize orientation as the beginning of the retention

plan• Large numbers of commuter students may be

under prepared for college (Jacoby,1993)• Opportunity to collect valuable data about the

minority/majority• Opportunity to address unique needs and

concerns immediately

BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES

5 steps for effective commuter student orientation (Wilmes &

Quade, 1986)• Accurate & timely info• Promote institutional identification• Encourage involvement with others• Interact ion with campus personnel• Integrating outside support systems & significant others

University of Houston Veteran Orientation• Financial aid, tuition fees, money management (VA benefits)• Career, Counseling & Health Services• Academics: tutoring, library, computer• Getting involved: SVA, ROTC, Vet Museum, VFW, American Legion

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUTER PREVIEW DAY

Commuter Preview Day is a one day, orientation-like program just for new commuter

students.  Commuter Student Affairs sponsors the day and it will provide new commuters the

opportunity to:

Practice parking in the West Campus or Central Campus parking lots

Practice using the CABS Bus system (which shuttles student from and to the parking lots)

Find all of your classroom buildings (even the exact rooms)

Visit the bookstore to purchase books

Take care of campus business

Meet other new commuting students

Get helpful information to help you get started at Ohio State 

Any commuter student, freshman, transfer, or regional campus change student, may attend

Commuter Preview day!

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA GREENSBORO

Welcome Session

Student Health Services Station (8 - 10am)

Taking Care of Business (Information from Parking Operations & Campus Access Management,

SpartanCard, Dining, Bookstore, Printing & Postal Services)

TASL Groups (Meet your Transfer & Adult SOAR Leader - TASL)

Student Computing (Learn about UNCG's laptop requirement, checking grades and more)

Get Involved

Accelerate you Academics (Learn more about UNCG advising and registration preparation).

Cashier's & Student Accounts; Financial Aid

TASL Q&A Panel (Join our Transfer & Adult SOAR Leaders as they share their experiences at

UNCG).

Taking Care of Business (Get information about Parking, SpartanCard, Printing and Postal Service).

Transition from a Community College to UNCG

UNC GREENSBORO ADULT/TRANSFER SOAR

Especially for Adult Students

Student Health Services & Counseling Center

Career Services

UNCG Traditions (Learn the history & traditions of UNCG).

TASL Groups (Meet your Transfer & Adult SOAR Leader - TASL)

Self-Guided Time

Spartan Expo (Visit a wide array of UNCG services and offices).

Transfer Articulation Station

Campus Tours

College & Schools Welcomes, Advising & Registration

TOOLS & APPLICATIONS

Social Media

Facebook News announcements Videos promoting events/services Provide links to information Staff to student communication Student to student communication Photos of events

Twitter News announcements Provide links to videos promoting events/services Provide links to information Provide links to photos of events Some two-way communication

Blackboard News announcements Discussion boards Email Resources & Links to information Build community

Second Life Alumni Relations Open House Alumni Relations Art Night Art Gallery Lectures

Ustream Student Government Forum/Hearings EOE Honor Society Induction Relevant Speakers & Events

You Tube Promotional videos for events/programs Informational videos about services Videos from actual events/programs

PROS & CONS

PRO CON PRO CON PRO CON

Fans could create a “viral” effect which can potentially spread content worldwide

Cannot change look of profile (some see this as a pro due to consistency of pages)

Mobile – can send and receive updates on your cell phone – instant communication

Limited to 140 character updates

Can provide online students with virtual ‘experiences’

Steep learning curve

Fan pages can target a specific network or age group

Harder to use than Twitter for recruitment searches

Could be very useful in an emergency situation, in addition to existing tools

Limited profile info: allows picture, name, location, website, & bio

Gives a sense of community and presence

Requires a broadband connection and graphics that all students might not have

Ability to view “insights” – statistics on the usage of our page

Relatively frequent updates. Have to learn new ways of navigating site

Use Twitterfeed & Tweetdeck to search for mentions of institution or other terms; allows us to engage students in a conversation

If we don’t tweet regularly, we will lose our existing audience

Allows online students a way to connect with the university by experiencing events and visiting landmarks

Important to use Second Life for the right reasons – using it just to use it can affect student satisfaction and overall experience

85% of students at 4-year universities have Facebook profiles

Cannot track “fans” to see if they are current students

Can link RSS feeds into Twitter with Twitterfeed, EasyTweets or HootSuite – every new feed automatically tweets the headline with a link to the full story = automation

Twitter followers tend to lurk, rather than engage

Provides a meeting space for online study groups and courses

Requires updates at times that may cause problems if being used on campus in computer labs

Combines profile, photos, blog, instant messaging

 Twitter & Facebook can be linked in order to share content on both tools

Must link to photos, websites, videos

Provides a way for online students to meet and interact with students and faculty from other campuses

Very new to most students to they can feel overwhelmed and confused

More than 350 million users accessing Facebook through their mobile devices

 More than 100 million active monthly users

 No cost for students to create account and interact in this space

 

Facebook Twitter Second Life

APPLAUSE PLEASE…

Questions?

twucommuter.com

•Student satisfaction

•Student’s perspective

•Added value

•Choice

•One-stop centers

•Staffing by self-service (70%),

generalist (20%), specialists

(10%)

BEST PRACTICES

•Empowered frontline staff

•Cross-functional teams

•Strategic to institution

•Executive support &

participation

•Shift from transactions to

relationships

•Web portals

GAPS IN SERVICE

Transfer student quotes• “It’s a good school that has a safe feeling to it, along

with the willingness to help its’ students succeed in life as well as academia”

• “Easy transition, nice campus”• “Helpful; TWU made my transferring stage very

smooth”

Collaboration

Diversity of this population is a challenge