STUDENT ENGAGEMENT FOCUS GROUPS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Professor Robert Sproul and Pat Chang conducted interviews with the following groups
during the months of March and April of the Spring 2011 semester:
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Freshman Class Council
Athletes
Commuter Caucus
First Year Seminar Peer Facilitators
Student Government Association Student Affairs subcommittee
Group sizes varied from individual meetings (preliminary pilot session with Freshman
Class Council President Marissa Eck) to 35 (Commuter Caucus). The questions asked of
each group were:
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What key activities occurred during your first year that you considered to be most
valuable in your decision to stay at Ramapo?
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Where did you meet the people that you feel most connected with?
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If you knew anyone who left Ramapo, why did they leave?
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What programs can we offer to help you better attain your personal and academic
goals?
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What activities could Ramapo do to help you set such goals?
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May we contact you for a future follow up meeting?
A compilation of the responses to these questions can be found on the attached pages.
Special notes and observations are made at the beginning of each section.
STUDENT FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS
What key activities occurred during your first year that you considered to be
most valuable in your decision to stay at Ramapo?
Notes and Observations: No real surprises here-a wide variety of in and out of
classroom experiences were cited-students indicated a shift from the familiar (high
school experiences) to branching out.
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I joined the student government Association right away. I suppose I was
influenced my high school experiences. I got to meet many influential leaders
such as Brandon Martin.
I was involved with the chorale in high school and decided to continue with it.
at college
small classes.
Professors who really care were connected to their field
my friends went here
proximity and affordability of Ramapo.
I'm a returning student. I liked it here the first time that I attended.
Strong nursing program
my friends live on campus, and it's easy commute to.
Receiving a significant scholarship
being close to home
great intramurals: tennis, softball, Zumba, Tone and Core
RASA, SGA, intramural volleyball
joining SGA and meeting people- It helped establish a sense of pride and
Ramapo
SGA; I came from a high school where 12 others came to Ramapo College of
New Jersey-SGA enabled me to break away from that group.
Stateline Diner-I was told that's where everyone hangs out and it’s open 24/7.
Everyone hanging out in the village
I transferred to Ramapo College and the open-door policy in my dorm where
everyone used to hang out was really beneficial, but Public Safety is now too
hard on people
people watching from Laurel Hall
Welcome weekend and just about all of the related events and activities.
First-year seminar and the peer facilitators. Having older students showing
real interest was important.
Octoberfest and the related concert.
Events like Octoberfest that are very well publicized.
Welcome weekend and just about all of the related events and activities.
First-year seminar and the peer facilitators. Having older students showing
real interest was important.
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Octoberfest and the related concert.
Events like Octoberfest that are very well publicized.
The President of SGA (a personal friend) contacted me when I was a
graduating senior in High School and told me that I was going to become
involved at Ramapo and he would show me how.
Where did you meet the people that you feel most connected with?
Notes and Observations:
For residents, meeting people during the first few days/weeks was key and those halls
that offered/enabled the ability to meet each other (e.g., open doors) was integral. A
wide variety of clubs and organizations were cited and commuters indicated that J.
Lee’s was seen as their gathering area.
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I met most people in my First Year Seminar as well as club there in SGA-I
found most people here to be humble and very friendly
living on campus and making good friends.
Being on the swim team since my freshman year
J. Lee’s and ping pong
FASA (Filipino American Student Association)
the people I live on campus with
the people that I lived with on my floor
30 of my high school classmates went to Ramapo-after a week or two, we
decided to break out of our comfort zone and meet people different from us
my First Year Seminar class where topics discussed were more laid-back and
focus on social aspects
from people who lived in my town and their roommates
Nicole Panzica dragged me to an SGA meeting
Joining SGA gave me a sense that I was important and needed as a delegate.
The field hockey team
my dorm /quad
my roommates
my floor mates
Welcome Week; especially Playfair
Pine Hall was a great place to meet people; not same energy in Mackin or
Bischoff
First-year seminar.
The peer facilitation class.
Alpha Phi Omega fraternity
Majors co-curricular meetings where they are available. Especially the
nursing program.
Dance club and other clubs and organizations
CSC
If you knew anyone who left Ramapo, why did they leave?
Notes and Observations:
A surprising number cited such academic reasons as transferring to their wait listed
school of choice or not being able to find the major they decided upon at Ramapo.
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Not because they didn't like it, but because they transferred to another
institution that they had originally been waitlisted at (e.g., TCNJ)
they didn't like the small school setting where they developed a reputation
the major that they wanted was not offered here.
Bad experiences where they made no friends- being a big fish in a small pond
in high school, did not serve them well here at Ramapo, where people could
sniff out BS.
Academic reasons (e.g., transferred to school originally wait listed at)
Armed forces (army, navy)
couldn't get into academic programs at Ramapo, and in fact, were counseled
to transfer to another school in order to gain access to them (e.g., Biology)
they couldn't switch their major and were told to transfer to another school
(e.g., Biology/Nursing)
ended up in getting into their first choice of a college (e.g., Fordham)
they hated the social life; especially with the new policy changes that
prevented parties or hanging out in the Village
didn't offer the major that they wanted
felt that Ramapo turned into a boarding school
grading issues
not being able to be outside has put a genuine crimp on social life
restrictive majors such as business or nursing, where if you miss a class in the
fall, you have to wait a year to take the class again
transfers to TCNJ, Rutgers, Towson and Marist for social life
To live closer to home.
Ramapo is too “cliquey”
President Mercer’s post 4 Loko policies.
The perception that other colleges are more socially integrated.
What programs can we offer to help you better attain your personal and
academic goals?
Notes and Observations: commuters expressed feeling like second class citizens to
their resident cohorts. Advertising and marketing events was cited as a major area of
improvement.
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Personal Development Workshops during First Year Seminar on time
management and making the most of the time you have
more affordable summer fees since classes are more expensive than they are
during regular semester.
The opportunity to meet with professors during the common hour
Less stringent ticketing of commuters
better job of snow removal.
Better information about parking rules and regulations.
Majors for athletes (e.g., Exercise Science)
extended library hours (until at least 2 AM would be great for athletes)
priority registration for athletes.
General understanding for faculty regarding athletes (e.g, restricted schedules)
athletic events that encourage better participation by students.
Better communication of when events take place.
Off-campus late-night activities (the shuttles to local pubs is much
appreciated)
do a better job of making things more accessible-you have to find everything
on your own here
better academic advisement-my own advisor couldn't figure out things. It
took 4 advisors from CAAFYE to interpret what courses I took at my previous
institution would transfer to Ramapo.
More flexibility on the absentee policy, particularly for those who live a good
distance away , such as Northwest New Jersey where we got hit with much
more snow than you did.
Better communication with commuters. During one snowstorm D lot was
closed off and we never received any notification
allow Mackin & Bischoff Hall residents to keep their doors open during the
first week of classes so they could get to meet each other
keep the Pavilion open on weekends for meal plan-while their more choices at
the Birch, the food is better at the Pavilion.
I had a hard time getting into biology as a major-I ended up declaring
biochemistry. If you are unable to get into a class. You might have to wait as
long as another year to get them.
There is not enough to do here on weekends. You need to do an awful lot of
coordination with an awful lot of people to convince them to stay.
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More advertising, the great deals that are available (e.g., Broadway show
tickets, sporting events and weekend trips) , but offer some form of an online
countdown so people don't have to wait all night for tickets.
The Residence Hall Council (RHC) should play a more active role in
providing activities that establish building/floor pride (e.g., “Floor Wars”)
housing selection shouldn't penalize those with large numbers of AP credits
during housing selection the drop-down list should only list the available
housing and not a list of possibly available apartments.
Don't allow online classes
re-examine the strict drinking penalties-this could be a deciding factor when
freshmen decide where they want to come to
more outdoor activities (e.g., Laurel Courts)
after Oktoberfest. It seems that all events drop
offer more extended weekend or daylong theme-based programs
offer one giant building event, as opposed to several smaller floor events
be allowed to serve hotdogs and hamburgers at student activities sponsored
events (health and safety issues)
athletic events lack any sense of school spirit
More LLC [facilitator’s interpretation] type programs especially for first-year
students.
More information about tutoring and the Writing Center which defuses the
perception that using these resources carries a bit of a stigma.
Professors more assertively welcoming on a personal level.
Campus organizations in general more welcoming.
More aggressive marketing of the Berrie Center events
More major-specific co-curricular groups..
What activities could Ramapo do to help you set such goals?
Notes and Observations: once again we run the full gamut from academic advisement
to Public Safety
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Spread the word about the shuttle to New York City, trips to Boston and
Philadelphia, varsity sports such as baseball, men's volleyball and basketball
and more active recruitment and advertising (“Find Your Nook Here”)
offer same-day appointments for academic advisement counseling
offer a more consistent version of First Year Seminar-the course was too hard
for some students, while others breezed through
make it easy to get in touch with your advisor-there is too much redundant
work you have to do before you can finally meet with them
Carla Kozen has been wonderful! Carla taught me to check for hold on my
account prior to registration. Her door is always open and she's always
available and I can e-mail her directly
Jennifer Kim was exceptionally helpful. She provided great resources and
helped me get into science courses that were tough to get into with course
overloads.
Enable me to e-mail my advisor, as well as to call them.
More honestly inform us about our chances of getting into a major. I started
as undeclared and if I knew what I know now about how hard it is to get into
biology, I would've initially declared it.
Have a master calendar of events and games highlighting weekend athletic
events
establish class pride with competitions similar to Greek Week.
Advertising and awareness is a major problem-a master calendar on Facebook
or Ramapo website would be helpful
trusted faculty or staff (or peers) who students can speak with telling us “like
it is.”
Athletics need to promote events for Varsity sports
Have tailgates sponsored by clubs and organizations for athletic events
Bring back the Ramapo Rowdies
Bring back those calendars for the beginning of the year as well as for every
month-whatever happened to the ones that used to be at Roadrunner Central?
Bring back beer and wine tasting events for seniors
More civic behavior from all of Public Safety; some officers are extremely
nice while others are nasty
The chief of Public Safety is inaccessible to meet with-there is a sense that he
is the only one who can get something done involving Public Safety
Provide a “first warning” before issuing noise and alcohol violations
Most of the answers had to do with older students and staff expressing
excitement and personal passion about academic and social activities.
Concerted effort to create social bonding throughout floors in the residences.
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More aggressive programs for commuters.
Closing Observations:
The College has embarked on significant changes to alcohol and guest policies.
Discussions with students became more “real” and focused when the discussion focused
on what true social life is defined by students. Most groups eventually admitted that
being able to drink socially (regardless of age) is considered to be an integral component
of social life. As the College embarks on an integrated marketing campaign based on
“Pushing Boundaries”, we need to determine how we will push these boundaries that
students have on what social life could and should be like.