We have a two day orientation and in it we discuss the necessary skills needed to succeed in the vocational environment. We attempt to give the student the necessary information to begin the first week of school in a compliance format. We have in many cases succeeded in getting this information across. As with most though we still have the occasional slug that nothing gets in. We are trying to get the new orientation to include a slug repellant that will help weed out and fix the student before he fails. We are adding an additional orientation present by the instructor group and allowing them to be the second line of defense.
We currently have 2 parts to a one day orientation. The morning session is for the students and consists of the usual introductions, rules, & ends with lunch. The students return in the evening with their spouses/partners for an evening session which focuses on what they both should expect during the program (stress of being in school and the importance of setting time aside for family). We are currently in the process of changing to a week long orientation. This will help by allowing more time to focus on the students and not feeling so rushed. By reading all the replies I feel that adding more student bonding opportunities, having faculty present, and graduates in attendance will help with retention.
I think our current orientation program can be improved by working closer with admissions. Also putting together activities for the new prospects. Right now i am working on a power point presentation to conduct the orientation and I wouldn't mind getting the students email address to check up on them after the first week to see how things are going.
Yes, your topics can scare students. So, think about how you can cause fascination with the topic. Or, what can you do to provide vision... how will the student use what you are teaching in his or her new profession? This causes a connection which helps students to stay the course.
Dr. B
Just like the massage therapy case study, our program dives into anatomy and physiology on the first day, scaring the you know what out of most students. Our current orientation program could be adjusted to ease that anxiety by slowly introducing the material rather than the big surprise on the first day of class. This can also help in setting realistic expectations of course content and the extra time they will need to set aside for self-study.
We continue to build our online orientation program as we grow. Our continuous improvement process includes student feedback as well as faculty support. I think student input has by far been the most important part of what we need to develop and deliver.
Our school utilizes an orientation program but it might be better served if we had existing students show new studetns around and get them their books and introduce them to the school rather than faculty and find another way to integrate faculty into the orientation to become more effective.
Excellent. Students learn the most from good role-models.
Dr. B
I cannot but agree more. I think that we should constantly put before the student the contemporaneous application of the materials presented. I am always trying to be pragmatic and real with all my students.
Modeling is one of our primary modalities of mentoring at my campus. We are very visible to the students and carry ourselves professionally. We also reach out to any student within reach to offer hospitality.
We have attempted to improve our mentoring programs, but each managerial change has added more work. Additionally, they started scheduling us from the moment we are on campus to the end of our day to be in class with students. If administration wants to have a winning mentoring program they have to have clear guidelines, expectations, and set up the faculty member with the necessary tools and time to execute the plan.
In our location we have a diverse population we need a program to help students improve their reading abilities before they start classes until this is done our retention will be unexecptable
Awesome. TPI helps to set minds in the "I can do this" mindset. Don't disconnect the linkage to career services. They come to school, becasue they want the job.
Dr. B
Our Career Services facilatates a grad prep for all new students a day before they start. Then in their first class GS 101- Career Development, we talk with them about the rules and expectations.
We are getting ready to take The Pacific Institute (TPI)training in September and will be changing our GS 101 class to include TPI materials. All of our staff will be trained on TPI and will be able to provide guidance to our students.
We are also in the process of improving our faculty training program so that our teachers have the tools they need to work with our students more effectively. We believe that retention is everyones job and we are working to provide guidance to our staff so they can help us with retention.
Sounds like you need to help the organization to see the benefits of linkage. Link the departments all you can.
Dr. B
I think that our recruiting staff could benifit from attending orientation on a regular basis. This could help with student expectations.
Do you talk about how education will increase the probablity of employment? Always introduce and center what is being said on career themes.
Dr. B
Our school also has an orientation day typically a couple days before school starts. We go over the "tools" necessary for them to succeed in school even though it's discussed again on day 1. I think students are nervous and not completely paying attention to everything that's going on. Besides, there usually is so much going on, and so much new information for them, it makes it very challenging to absorb all of the material. Our senior students also help with the orientation process so they can also better assist our new students.
We should have a session in that day that lasts about 15 min to have an instructor talk about what the students should expect on their first day of class. This will increase their interest and have them real excited about attending school and not finding it so nerve recking!
We hold orientation approximately one week befor the start. Our orientation is multi-faceted. Students register with Admissions they go to a central location in school. Here they are greeting by the President & Vice President, Deans and their first instructor.
The instructor takes them to their class location where the school policies are discussed. They are also given information about class contact and expectations.
We have also set up a Starz program which is a formal mentoring program. Instructors are assigned to the student through out thier stay. Students are also advised of all the services, clubs etc.
