Creating a Sustainable and
Collaborative Orientation
District-Wide Student Services Task Force
Presented by:
Vice Presidents & Deans of Student Services
April 20, 2012
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Mission Statement:
Creating a Community of Success
Student Engagement
Academic
Skills and
College
Readiness
Instruction
Learning
Community
Education
& Career
Goals
Course
Alignment
Support
Faculty, Staff,
Students and
External Community
Support Services,
extra-curricular
activities, clubs &
organizations
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Retention Factors
• Retention is multi-variant and single
causal factors are difficult to ascertain.
• Persistence depends on the extent to
which an individual has been integrated
into the academic and non-academic
components of the campus
environment (student engagement).
• Students do not come to college with a
cognitive map of functioning and
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prospering.
Promising Practices in
Student Success
Planning for success:
Assessment & Placement
Orientation
Goal setting & planning
Initiating success:
Accelerated Developmental Education
First Year Experience
Student Success Course
Learning community
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Promising Practices in
Student Success
Sustaining success
Class Attendance
Early alert & Intervention
Experiential Learning
Tutoring
Supplemental Instruction
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Elements of Successful Orientation (Learning
Assistance Programs)
Demystify the college experience
Decode the environment
Demystify
Decode
Diagnose
Diagnose individual readiness
Develop
Develop academic preparedness
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Orientation Objectives
Introduce the college community to new
students from both an academic and
personal perspective
Provide information and assistance to new
students so that they may succeed
academically and develop personally
Ensure that students feel adequately
prepared to face the challenges of their first
year
Allow students to meet each other and
develop new relationships
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Orientation Objectives
 Provide peer counselors who can share their
own experiences as a source of support and
information
 Expose students to the wide range of issues
facing them as PCCD students, including factors
affecting their personal health & safety
 Introduce the variety of students services that
are available on campus, so that students feel
able to navigate the college on their own as they
transition into their second year
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Re-framing Orientation –
Learning Assistance
Orientation is an on-going process that is
designed to providing students the right
information at the right time. It is not a static
event but an evolving and holistic process of
educational development.
Orientation requires the intelligent leveraging
of resources both human and fiscal.
Orientation is collaborative learning process
– student/faculty; staff/faculty and,
staff/student.
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Orientation as a Continuum
Core Elements
Career
Courses and
Learning
Communities
Orientation,
Assessment
and
Counseling
Student Success
Courses & FYE
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Orientation Manifesto
Orientation and matriculation
must be mandatory
Collaboration between instruction
and student services is essential
Elimination of obstacles that deter
students from being successful
Be prescriptive: Intervene early
and often (engage)
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Student Support Manifesto
Sustained: Lasting throughout a student’s
college career
Intrusive: Mandatory & structured so
students must participate at regular
intervals
Integrated: Multiple forms of support are
offered and silos broken down
Personalized: Students receive the type of
support they need from someone who
knows them well
Proposal: Two Part Orientation
1. Intensive: One to two day Orientation
(occurring prior to the beginning of the
semester and prior to counseling and
enrollment into classes).
2. Continuous: One or two semester –
First Year Experience
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Intensive
One to Two Day Orientation Model:
• Presentations – General overview, interactive,
student panels, mock classes
• Specialized program orientations
• Campus Tours
• Centralized Advising, Course Scheduling and
Enrollment.
• Financial Aid Support Workshops
• SLO Assessment
• Success Checklist
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Team Presentations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
EOPS/CARE
Financial Aid
DSPS
Counseling
Tutoring
Teaching Faculty (CTE and other cohort programs)
English
Math
Library
Learning Communities
Career Center
Health Center
Student Panel/Clubs and Organizations/Leadership
Veterans
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Process Flow
Orientation
Assessment
Counseling
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New Orientation Model:
Continuous
Year Long:
• College Success
Course
• First Year
Experience Program
(cohort)
• Contextualized
and/or Accelerated
Instruction
• Career Development
Course
• Learning
Community
• End-of-year
Orientation
• Student Educational
Plan
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First Semester
Orientation
Assessment
Advisement/Course
Selection
College Success
101A
First Year or Reentry Course
SEP
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Second Semester
Advisement/Course
Selection
Career Development
Learning
Community
College Success
101B
Orientation
SEP
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Program Elements
Mandatory for all new students
New students could not enroll prior to
intensive orientation
New students could not enroll late
Program begins 2013
New students have priority enrollment
for the second semester
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Online Orientation*
•
•
•
•
•
•
Welcome
Success Tips
Every section has a test
Final test at end of orientation
45 minutes
Results will be submitted and included
in matriculation process
• SEP
SLO for Online Orientation
Student Learning
Outcomes
1)
1)
1)
Students will be able to identify
the matriculation process at
Merritt College
Students will have information
to Merritt College services that
will support their educational
and personal goals, e.g.
libraries, information
technology, academic,
counseling and student services
departments
Students will have an
appointment or have signed up
for their Math /English
assessment (as a measure of
current skill levels in reading,
writing, and mathematics)
Assessment
Methods
When will you collect this
information?
Student will
complete online
orientation quiz
Student will
complete online
orientation quiz
After the completion of online orientation
quiz, (possible cut score)
Student will
complete online
orientation quiz
After the completion of online quiz, link
to assessment appointment page OR
printout of assessment schedule
After the completion of online orientation
quiz, online certificate
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Implementation Timeline
Stakeholder consultation and campus
planning teams to develop detailed plans now
Peralta teams communicate with feeder high
schools, and other local community
agencies/organizations beginning in fall of
2012 to describe the program.
Begin Spring 2013 as a pilot
Full implementation – Fall 2013
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Issues to Address
• Definition of new and/or matriculating
students
• On-line orientation implementation
• Involve students in planning and develop
student peer advising component.
• Clarifying the scope of "First Year
Experience“, and Learning Communities
within the framework of Orientation.
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Shared Governance
Stakeholders that need to be involved in planning:
• District and college matriculation committees
• District and college academic senates
• VP/Deans of Instruction and Student Services
• IT (mandatory holds, etc.)
• Admissions & Records
• College Counseling and Teaching faculty and
classified staff
• Assessment staff
• District and college marketing staff
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Questions?
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