Student Retention team meets with the new students during orientation and also in their Strateties for learning class within the first week of school. This includes the Dean of Students, Ass. Dean of Students and the Student success manager.
Dean of Education also meets with the student body the same way.
Jennifer--
The survey is an excellent idea! Have you made specific changes as a result of the feedback?
Susan
Terry--
Excellent...and very true. The more connections students have to the school, the more likely they are to persist.
Susan
Financial Aid has the most interaction before enrollment. After enrollment, it's pretty much the library, the Deans and the faculty.
Our classes are pretty small, 20-25 students. We usually begin with an introduction of the Adminsitration and then have the students introduce themselves. We always ask questions as we move through the agenda. At the end we do hand out a survey to see how our service was prior to enrollment.
That depends on which particular class or program is involved. Being an automotive training institution, there exists the main campus, various elective programs, and also the OEM manufacturers sponsored programs. Each has their own particulars. Fo example, when the OEM's are involved, representatives from that part of the industry also attend and participate in the orientation. In general, though, for most courses, there are representatives from the education dept. present of course, combined with those from others, such as student services and employment. Each adds something to the student's experience early on.
The education department has a program entitled "Jump Start" where the students continue on with a second level of interactive orientation. This builds upon any prior orientation and helps them to become more at home within the institute's environment.
At our school we use a full team effort, they are greeted with admissions, then introduced to a representative from each department, so they know there is much more to the school than individual classes
Michael--
This sounds like a great program. I bet your students are very excited with this experience.
Susan
I work at a culinary school. All students actually attend a shorter version of their kitchen lab class on orientation day so they can be in uniform, meet their chef, see their kitchen, etc. We also do a "hand off" from the Director of Admissions to the President. At this time, students meet a rep from Career services, and Student services. They also attend a culinary demo performed by our dean of Culinary Arts. Finally, one of our instructors takes them to a computer lab where she shows them how to log onto and manipulate the student portal.
Juliette--
This sounds like a wonderful process. I especially like the program Dean demonstrating as this allows students to get excited about their career and builds credibility about the faculty. Great job!
Susan
Besides Admissions, students meet with representatives from Career Services, the Dean of Students, the Program Dean, and Library staff. Career Services and the Dean of Students explain the services their departments offer; the explanation is brief because they return as guest speakers in one of their classes later in the week. The Program Dean demos a recipe (we're a culinary school), the Director of Education gives them an overview of our city, the library staff introduce them to the student portal, and so on.
Kathi--
It is difficult to find a time that works for everyone. Is anyone from education in the orientation? It would be helpful for the new students if at least one or two faculty could 'pop in', even if they can't stay for the entire event.
Susan
Education
We are not involved at all in orientation.
A big hurdle is that some of the teachers are in classes with the 2nd mod and longer students and may not be able to attend the whole process.
FYI---I just found this in my junk mail...sorry for not getting back to you sooner.
Our students usually have the most involvement with memebers of the student services department and they are introduced to the students on the first day of orientation. This department consists of professional development instructors and classroom coordinators. The students seem more relaxed about starting school knowing that the staff is there to assist them with removing barriers and problems that may occur during there time in school.
During our orientation ,we have employment services come in to advise students on jobs in the area and help them prepare a resume.
Our instructors have the most interaction with students.The beginning of each course is the time to explain procedures.My fortune lies in the fact that I teach a fun high paced class with the fewest dropped students.Do you think the word "fun" has anything to do with it?
I would suggest that everyone involved would sit in and tour an orientation front to back.Corrections(if needed) could be made.Other positive reinforcemants could be suggested.Some may not need to feel that "I thought that's what orientation is for." Product knowledge is everthing.
In general, the education department deals with students significantly and so I make it a point to tell students about the qualifications of the staff during the orientation in my own class.
That's great! Transportation is always an issue, and providing this for your students is a great learning experience as well as a benefit to your students attendance.
We get all of our academic departments involved in the orientation process, discussing each career individually and explaining what each department has to offer them as students of our institute. Each department can offer all of our students something outside of just the education process. For example we offer an Automotive Program and we explain to the new students of the benefit that offers to each of them, if they are having car trouble they can bring it to the Auto Shop for work, with our students we have found that reliable transportation is a big concern and point of stress for them. This we hope may eleviate some undo stress by them knowing if they have any car issues they can bring it over to the shop and someone will assist them, thus eliminating any potential worries about their cars.
