Online Orientation:Making the Most of New Student

Orientation

A. Craig DixonCathy Vaughan

Madisonville Community CollegeMadisonville, KY

National Institute for Staff and Organizational DevelopmentMay 22, 2007

Madisonville Community College

• Founded in 1968 as a part of the University of Kentucky Community College system

• Located in rural, western Kentucky coal fields

• 1997 Postsecondary Education Improvement Act- technical and community colleges merge

• Today there are 16 community and technical college districts in Kentucky

• Offer technical, health, and transfer degree, diploma and certificate programs

MCC Challenges

• Coal hangovers • Low educational attainment levels • Unemployment • Lack of preparation for college courses • Low graduation rates • Low retention rates

Origins of the Project• Title III Strengthening Institutions Grant• Strengthen instructional programs and student

services in order to improve student success. • Restructure new student orientation, advising, and

registration process to address this problem.• Form an Advising Task Force consisting of general

education faculty, developmental education faculty, and professional staff charged with developing the new model.– Online Orientation Subcommittee– First Semester Experience Session Subcommittee– Online Registration Subcommittee

The Challenge

“The bulk of advising takes place during open registration sessions, in a public setting, as students make their way through long lines. The challenge is to develop an advising infrastructure that uses up-to-date information systems and technology to deliver accurate and timely information to both faculty and students when they most need it.”

-MCC Title III Grant

The Traditional Model

Orientation• Sessions occurred once a day over a 2-3 day period, 2

weeks prior to the start of a new semester. • Each large-group (100 to 150) orientation session lasted

approximately 2 hours. • Information about student support services was provided

by a “parade of talking heads”. Advising• “Bullpen sessions” were held in discipline specified rooms

with 2-3 faculty assisting as many as 30 students on a walk-in basis in building a semester schedule.

Registration• Students stood in lengthy lines to have their schedules

entered by Admissions staff.

The entire process could last 4 or more hours.

Problems with the Traditional Model

• Delivery of new student information is not interactive. • Large-group setting is not conducive to questions.• Information delivered did not equip the student to

understand academic plan, build his or her own schedule, etc.

• No college contact person until program advisor is assigned mid-semester or later.

• First contact encouraged for priority registration mid-term.

• No guarantee contact would occur.• Prescriptive advising model – scheduling activity.

The Revised ModelThe entire process completed in 3 hours.

Online Student Orientation• Students complete an online orientation at their own convenience

prior to attending a first semester experience session.

First Semester Experience session • Students attend a small group (10-20) session with a trained faculty

advisor who will serve as their advisor for the first semester. • The session details important information enabling students to build

a semester schedule and lay out their academic plan.

Online Registration • Students meet with FSE Advisor for developmental advising &

schedule building. • Students register for term classes utilizing student online services

self enrollment.

Benefits of Revised Model• Students come to FSE session with questions in-hand.

• Student has a point-of-contact immediately. FSE advisor becomes a resource for the student for their entire first semester.

• FSE advisor maintains contact with his or her advisees throughout the semester to monitor progress and build a supportive relationship.

• Students are equipped with the tools to build their own schedule in subsequent semesters consistent with their academic plan.

• Students reassigned to program advisor at close of semester.

Goals of the Project• Eliminate the “parade of talking heads” delivery of important

new student information.

• Create an self-paced, easy-to-use Online Student Orientation that contains pertinent information for a student attending their first semester of college.

• Ensure the student has this information prior to participating in an FSE advising session.

• Monitor student completion of orientation utilizing exit email.

• Collect information on new students via entering student survey.

Project Development

• Develop outline of content to be covered in orienting new students to college.

• Solicit information from the appropriate college departments.

• Structure the material into modules and order appropriately.

• Create module quizzes to verify mastery of information.

Online Orientation Content

• Module 1Getting Started

– Student Email– Selecting Classes– Managing the Class

Load– Your Advisor– Quiz Instructions– Quiz

• Module 2Paying for College– Financial Aid Assistance– Business Office– Barnes & Noble

Bookstore– Quiz

Online Orientation Content

• Module 3 Being Prepared

Academically– Role of Class

Instructor– Your Role as a Student– Quiz

• Module 4 Serving Students

– Academic Counseling Services– Job Services & Cooperative

Education– Ready to Work– Disability Resources– The Learning Center– Library Services– TRIO Student Support Services– Registrar/Admissions– Quiz

Online Orientation Content

• Module 5Student Activities - Career-Oriented Activities

- Service-Oriented Activities

- Academic Activities

- Social Activities- Quiz

• Module 6Policies & Procedures that Students Need to Know– Student Right-to-Know

Policy– Drug-Free Policy– Sexual Harassment– Student Records – FERPA– Student Code of Conduct– Compliance Statement– Quiz

Project Implementation• Fall 2005 applicant correspondence included Online

Orientation information.

• At completion of orientation, the student was asked to provide information that was emailed to a designated email box.

• Student completions monitored by Student Success Coordinator and forwarded to appropriate FSE advisor.

• FSE advisors assisted students in completing registration process upon notice of student completion.

Technical Considerations

• Originally used client-side Javascript to ensure a linear progression through the orientation.

• Student’s browser configuration could allow this mechanism to be bypassed.

• Restructured orientation in Spring 2006 to utilize server-side code.

Project Evaluation

• Students (approximately 625 responses from Fall 2005)

– 97% agreed or strongly agreed that the orientation answered many of their questions about MCC.

– 96.5% agreed or strongly agreed that the orientation information would be relevant to them during their college career.

Project Evaluation - Quotes

“How to register for classes [was the most helpful section] because no one in my family has been to college and we are all clueless to anything pertaining to college.” “All sections were very helpful for my future with Madisonville Community College. The information presented was vital to my success in the coming years.”“The whole thing was very helpful, even if I thought I knew all about it, it still helped me learn something new.”

Most and Least Helpful Sections

Most helpful1. Financial aid (96)2. Programs/registration

(54)3. Bookstore (29)4. Advising/CAP Center

(22); College units – contacts and operating hours (22)

5. Policies (16)6. Tutoring and support

services (11)

Least helpful1. Policies (36)2. Financial aid (29)3. Student activities (27)4. Sexual harassment (25)5. Disability (14)6. “The parts that didn’t

apply to me”/“The parts I already knew”/“The things everybody already knows” (10)

281 students said there was no least helpful section!

Least Helpful Section – Student Rationale

“I would say the least helpful section for me was the financial aid because I have already taken care of that before completing this orientation.”“The section on FAFSA was not helpful because I’m not going to receive that type of government aid.”“The student organizations (were least helpful). It was very informative, but with working possibly two full-time jobs and being a full-time student, I’m not going to have the time to participate in any organizations.”

Technical Considerations• 99.5% agreed or strongly agreed that the

orientation was easy to use and navigate.

• 94.2% agreed or strongly agreed that the orientation instructions were clear and easy to follow.

• Reported problems:– Local computing problem (14)– Redirect problem (13)– External link problem (2)– Script error (2)

Questions Remain AfterOrientation Completed

• When?– Registration (8)– Choose a major– Letter of acceptance– Financial aid

• Where?– Class locations (2)– Obtain Student ID

number– Satellite campuses

• How?– Advisors selected (2)– Access financial aid

info

• What?– Placement exams (2)– Part-time jobs– Transfer– Tutoring– Tuition– Class attendanceAnd our personal favorite:

“What do I do when I go to college and have forgot (sic) all of this orientation?”

Project Improvements

• Deleted entering student survey since information is being captured in another way.

• Student issued a Certificate of Completion rather than tracking student completion by email.

• Removed student activities module to decrease size of content and decrease time needed to complete quiz.

Planned Retooling

• Add a graphical timeline of the orientation, advising, and registration process.

• Include overlooked factual information (tuition, etc.).

• Add information about distance learning courses and delivery media (ITV, online, telecourse, etc.).

• Streamline module quizzes to reduce programming complexity and shorten time needed to complete orientation.

Questions?

For More Information• Online Student Orientation:http://www.madisonville.kctcs.edu/orientation

• OLO Slides available:http://

www.madisonville.kctcs.edu/facstaf/cdixon/