Developing a Mandatory Eight Day Welcome Week Program that Supports Student Persistence

Stephanie Brown, Assistant Director for Orientation and Transition Programs, University of North Texas

Josh Walton, Coordinator for Orientation and Transition Programs, University of North Texas

Sara Watkins, Graduate Hall Director, Texas A&M University 0

Institutional Facts

• Founded in 1890 in Denton, Texas

• Currently enrollment 36,216 students

• About 4,241 freshman students attended orientation

• About 5,813 transfer students attended orientation

• 11 degree granting colleges and schools

• Award more than 8,500 degrees annually

• About 6,000 students live on campus

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Orientation and Transition Programs

• Functional Areas and Large Scale Programs – Freshman, Transfer, and Parent Orientation

– Eagle Camp (Extended Orientation Program)

– First Flight Week

– Parent Programs

• Family and Sibling Weekends

• Parent Association

– Transfer Center

– ACCESS Mentoring Program

– Class Identity and Class Cause Programming

– Emerald Eagle Scholars Program

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Welcome Week History

• First Flight Week began in 2009

– Previously know as Howdy Week

– Programming was done the first week of classes

• Programs planned and hosted by campus partners

• Spring welcome week began in 2012

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2013 Piloted Program

• Mandatory for Biology, Chemistry, and Engineering Students

• 27:1 new student to FFL ratio

• Mandatory Programs – College Day

– 5 Small Group Meetings

– Attendance at a Succeed at UNT program and one of their choosing

• 42% Participation Rate

• Yield Rate – Fall 2013 to Fall 2014

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Institutional Changes

• Disbanded programs at UNT

– The Office for Exploring Majors

– First Year Seminar Course

• New requirements for freshman

– Students Required to Declare a Major

– Mandatory Advising

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Creating Campus Buy-in

• Task Force

– Faculty, deans, advisors, and university staff

• Tasked with developing learning outcomes

• Decision makers on shared experiences

• Planning Committee

– Large-scale evening programming

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Vision Statement

Every student at the University of North Texas has the potential to succeed. Despite this, the transition to college can often be difficult for students as they begin to navigate a new environment where they are now responsible for all of their decisions. In an effort to help our students transition to UNT, First Flight is designed to…

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Learning Outcomes

• Provide students with a sense of preparedness for their first year of college (My Prep)

• Begin to build a sense of community (My Life)

• Begin to formulate beneficial physical and intellectual lifeline habits (My Health and Wellness)

• Begins to make plans for the future (My Future)

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Shared Experiences

• First Flight Kick-off Event

• 6 Small Group Meetings

• 7 First Flight Programs – 3 My Prep, 2 My Life, 1 My Future, and 1 My Health and Wellness

• Special Interest Session

• Library Tour

• University 101

• Student Life Time

• New Student Convocation

• College Day

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Communication Plan

• Online messaging – Program website

– Social media

• Mailings – Brochure and other mailed

publications

– Postcard after orientation

• In-person communication – Content during small group

meetings at orientation

– Discussions during Parent Orientation

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

8:00am

Bucket Programs Bucket Programs Bucket Programs

8:30am small group

meet-up

9:00am

University 101 Library Tour Student Life Time

College Day

Bucket Programs

Bucket Programs

9:30am

10:00am First Flight Check-In

10:30am

11:00am

Crumley Park until 3:00 p.m.

Small Group 2 Small Group 3 Small Group 4

Mall Mania – Utilize campus shuttles to get to Loop 288 shopping AND Stop Hunger Now (1-4 p.m. - Coliseum)

Bucket Programs

11:30am

12:00pm LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH

12:30pm

Coliseum at 3:00 p.m. for Commuters

1:00pm

Bucket Programs Bucket Programs

Bucket Programs

Select from Bucket Item Programs

1:30pm

2:00pm

2:30pm

3:00pm

3:30pm

Small Group 5 4:00pm Kick-off BBQ

4:30pm

5:00pm Opening Ceremonies

and TIME Speaker

Convocation

Bucket Programs

5:30pm

Mean Green Fling

6:00pm

6:30pm Small Group 1

Spirit Night at Apogee

Small Group 6 7:00pm DLS Event

Rec-a-palooza!

7:30pm

8:00pm

UPC -Concert

UPC Comedian 8:30pm

9:00pm

9:30pm

10:00pm UPC - Movie on the Lawn

10:30pm

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Small Group Meetings

• Pairings by major and residence hall

• Baxter Magolda’s Theory of Self-Authorship – Activities, videos, and conversation prompts created to

help students understand they have the ability to make college their own experience

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Tacking Attendance

• Program check-in

– Sunday – Tuesday

– Received materials, group number, expectations

• First Flight Leader attendance sheets

– Small group meetings

– University 101, Library Tour, Student Life Time

• Online “check-in” feature

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Commuter Student Needs

• UNT freshman on-campus housing policy

• 20% of freshman orientation attendees are commuter students

• Small groups dedicated to commuter students

• 64 First Flight programs offered online

• 68% commuter student participation rate

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Program Budget

Staff Compensation Summer intern, OL stipend, performers

Food Meal tickets for commuters, staff meals

Programming $1,000 allotment per college/school

Facilities Space rentals

Clothing Participant t-shirts, staff t-shirts, convocation pin

Kick-Off Event Speaker, advertising, facility rental, food, tents

Printing Program booklet, evaluation, training materials

Revenue Event sponsorships, department t-shirt sales

Budget $51,632.21

Sponsorship $36,701.71

Total Budget $88,333.92

Spending $86,920.07

($1,413.85)

Overall Participation

• 84% of required students participated

• 40,989 unique check-ins online at 392 events throughout the week

– Kick-Off Event, Small Groups, University 101, Student Life Time, and Library Tours did not require a code. Tracked by First Flight Leader.

• Students attended an average of 11 events

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Program Outcomes

• Evaluation given to participants during last small group meeting – 3,709 total participants, 1,508 sample size

• Successes – Overall, faculty and staff involved in First Flight programming made

me feel welcome at UNT

– I believe UNT will be supportive to me through my transition to college

– I feel I am joining a community by coming to UNT

– I am very eager to get involved at UNT this fall

– I am very proud of my decision to attend UNT

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Things to consider for next year… The good, the bad, the ugly

• Timing/scheduling of programs

• Program check in process – online to expedite the process

• Relying solely on attendance codes for attendance numbers

• First Flight Leaders

• Smaller small groups

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Please complete an evaluation of this

session in Guidebook by clicking the link

after the session description.