Student Engagement Retreat #3
May 24, 2011
1
Review and Updates
First retreat (1/18/11)
 Inventory of activities
 Placement of activities on a continuum
Retreat follow-up
 Refinement of activities
 Creation of major goals and related outcomes
2
Review and Updates (continued)
Second Retreat (3/17/11)
 Mapping activities to outcomes
 Defining and identifying Key Points of Engagement (KPEs)
Retreat Follow-up
 Refine KPE criteria
 Focus groups with students
 Consult with responsible units in order to obtain additional
information for KPEs – descriptions, outcomes, etc.
3
Student Focus Groups
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What did we learn from the student focus groups on ways they
became engaged at Ramapo and ideas on how we might better
engage them?
Outcomes for Retreat
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O1: Present a refreshed definition for Key Point of Engagement
(first year).
O2: Gain a common understanding of Ramapo’s Key Points of
Engagement for First Year Students and their intended
outcomes:
– Review mapping of KPEs to previously agreed upon goals
and outcomes;
– Identify and discuss strengths, opportunities and possible
gaps or weaknesses in relation to outcomes.
Outcomes for Retreat (continued)
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O3: Identify how all units can (better) support institutional KPEs
for first-year students.
O4: Brainstorm and begin to develop a student-friendly version
of the plan that addresses:
– How we introduce the plan to students and hold them
accountable for reaching the stated outcomes in this pilot
year (2011-2012)?;
– How will we introduce the plan to students and hold them
accountable for reaching the stated outcomes in the coming
years?
Criteria for Key Points of Engagement
for First Year Students
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A structured opportunity designed for first-year students.
A structured opportunity open to all first-year students.
A high-impact activity or an activity leading to a high-impact
activity where a high-impact activity is defined as:
–
A substantive interaction, in class or out of class, with
peers, faculty, or staff or
–
A common experience that deepens understanding of self
and others or
–
An opportunity to connect in-class and out-of-class
learning.
Review of the Proposed Key Points of
Engagement for First Year Students
Context for Session
 To review agreed upon Key Points of Engagement for first year
students to ensure common understanding
 To review how the Key Points of Engagement map to goals and
outcomes
 To identify and discuss strengths, opportunities and possible
gaps
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Review of the Key Points of Engagement for
First Year Students (continued)
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Activity
 Break down into original groups and take 15 minutes to review
packet and consider the following:
– Do you understand the purpose and outcomes for each
KPE?
– What comments, questions or suggestions do you have
regarding each KPE?
– In looking at the KPEs and the Student Engagement Goals
and Outcomes, what, if any, gaps or opportunities do you
see?
 Take 20 minutes to discuss findings with group and prepare to
report out
– Are there common reactions or questions?
Review of the Proposed Key Points of
Engagement (continued)
Post-Activity
 Report out findings by KPE
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All Aboard: A Passport to Student
Engagement
Activity
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Break down into groups by reporting structure
Take 30 minutes to discuss how your division/unit will support and
facilitate each KPE:
– What resources (human, fiscal, relationship, communication) can
you provide towards the success of each KPE?
– What, if any synergies, exist between your work with first year
students and each KPE?
– Having identified gaps or opportunities between the KPEs and the
Student Engagement Goals and Outcomes, what can your unit or
division do to close gaps or make use of opportunities?
Report Out (20 minutes)
Implementing a Student-Friendly Plan:
Do Now and Dream Big
Context for session:
 In rolling out this plan, we need to decide:
– How and when to present the plan to students;
– How to encourage students to participate and hold them
accountable.
 In responding to those questions, we also need to decide:
– What we are capable of doing now (with existing human,
financial, and physical resources and under time
constraints);
– What we could do in the future (with additional resources
and plenty of time).
12
Implementing a Student-Friendly Plan:
Do Now and Dream Big (continued)
Activity:
 Two groups do now, while two groups dream big.
– Do-now groups:
 How and when do we present the plan to students?
 How do we encourage them to participate and hold them
accountable (with existing resources and under time
constraints)?
– Dream-big groups:
 How and when do we present the plan to students in the
future?
 How do we encourage them to participate and hold them
accountable in the future if we had additional resources
and with plenty of time?
13
Implementing a Student-Friendly Plan:
Do Now and Dream Big (continued)
Post-Activity:
 Ask each group to report its ideas based on the above
questions.
– Dream-big groups
– Do-now groups
 A steering committee member will write down ideas in
abbreviated form.
 Based on ideas from the do-now groups, we arrive at some
preliminary consensus, with later further refinement from the
steering committee in consultation with the reporting units,
about a roll-out plan.
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Creating a Key Point of Engagement
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Based on the Criteria for Key Points of Engagement, create a
new KPE with your team that would occur at the conclusion of
the first year. Be prepared to describe how it will fulfill all
requirements.
Wrap-up and Future Steps
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Ultimately, create WEAVE plan for Student Engagement
Steering Committee will ask unit heads/people responsible for
KPEs to add two more pieces to each template:
– Measures
– Achievement Targets
Formalize the KPE packet as an institutional engagement plan
for first year students and begin work to Do-now and continue
working on Dream-big ideas
This will help to show not only what we are going to do, but in
terms of resource allocation and institutional effectiveness:
– How we will know if it is working? i.e. The Provost Test
KPE
Activity
Outcomes
Met
Method
of
Assessment
Orientation
►Ra-mazing
►2.1
First Year Orientation
Student Evaluation
distributed at end of
Orientation.
Questions will be
specific to ask about
these outcomes?
(i.e.) Did Club Ramapo
give you an
opportunity to explore
ways to get involved
in campus activities?
Race (2.1/3.1)
►Advisement/
Registration (3.1)
►Club Ramapo
(2.1)
►Peer to Peer
(2.1/2.2)
Students will
explore
opportunities for
involvement in
campus activities.
►2.2 Students will
establish
connections with
their peers, faculty,
and staff.
►3.1 Students will
demonstrate their
ability to identify
and utilize campus
resources when
needed.
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CONCLUSION
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Thank you for your work and commitment this semester.
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Our focus on outcomes and being more outcomes-driven is a
big student engagement accomplishment for the semester.
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We look forward to working with you in the fall as we move into
the second stage of student engagement at Ramapo.