Front Door Experience: Revamped Student Orientation; College Life First Steps; Academic Success Planner

Published on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 ~ 11:09am

Details:

Revamped Student Orientation: Develop a one-stop registration process with all registration requirements housed in one building. Registration Day begins with an 8:30 a.m. orientation session. The 45-minute session includes a welcome by the President; Introductions (of college leaders and faculty members) led by the Dean of Academic Affairs and Student Services; presentations on Blackboard and emails led by the IT director; campus resources led by the counselor; financial aid led by the Financial Aid director; student life led by the SGA president; and an explanation of the registration process led by the registrar. Students are divided into groups based on the alphabetic first letter of last names. Group I can pick up their programs and study and begin the registration process; Group II has their photo IDs made; Group III attends a brief workshop of emails and Blackboard; and a fourth groups is for students who have not undertaken placement tests. The division into groups helps assure lines will be a short as possible. Folders are provided with information needed by the students, including a map of the building and steps needed and their locations. Faculty and staff wear red MCC tee shirts so that students can easily recognize them if they have questions or need assistance. "Aloha" is theme for the day.

"College Life: First Steps" is a one-day workshop to serve as an introduction to Martin Community College as well as general college life. Using Making Your Mark by Lisa Fraser as a guide, topics include the cornerstones of high performance, budgeting time, notetaking (with a mock lecture), and study hints. A visit to the library, a presentation on Blackboard and email accounts, and an overview of the Academic Success Planner are included.

Academic Success Planner: The 33-page booklet covers general information about the college, college rules and procedures ( in language entry-level students can understand), an explanation of college terms, and course schedule worksheets for their semesters at Martin Community College.

Results:

Orientation: Participation in the orientation program greatly increased (from fewer than 20 students at early orientation sessions to as many as 140 in the revamped program.) Lines are much shorter for registration, and survey results show a much more positive experience.

First Steps: Though concentrated into a one-day workshop, students expressed appreciation for the day as an introduction to the college and for tips offered to help them succeed academically. In the corallary workshops in math and English (one-week experiences) nearly every student moved ahead a full semester of work when they retook placement testing at the end of the experience. Academic Success Planner-- Students noted the planner included information they could find in the college career catalog, but in easily understood language.

Front Door Experience: Revamped Student Orientation; College Life First Steps; Academic Success Planner

Details:

Results:

Category:

Issues addressed:

Comments

Post new comment

Innovations