1. Marian A. Ford EDHE 6740 Dr. Baier Summer Two

2.  Private university with three campuses  Founded in 1890 by Methodist Episcopal Church  Established downtown campus in 1997 for School of Law  Enrollment ◦ Fall 2008 – 3202 ◦ Spring 2009 – 2886  Programs ◦ Dual enrollment high school ◦ Eight graduate programs ◦ Law school  Goal : To improve student success through restructuring new student programs with academic success center, new student orientation and mentorship program Texas Wesleyan University ◦ New doctorate of nurse anesthesia ◦ Education programs

3. Academic Success Center established  To provide services targeted towards new students  Needed additional staff and resources New Student Orientation restructured  To provide information for students and parents and provide new students familiarity with campus and offices  Provide positive first time experience for new students on campus Mentorship Program  Introduce new students to mentors around campus  Create peer groups with similar interests and learning groups Purpose of Planning Effort

4.  Create a home for new students to feel connected to the university  Provide means for new students to succeed socially and academically through tenure at University  Share correct/current information from multiple departments around campus with students and staff  Help promote the advancement of use of technology to communicate and inform students  Help with retention and student services efforts Strategies for Improving Student Success

5.  New director and staff needed to head up center, mentorship programs and orientation  Orientation: ◦ Scheduling coordination for multiple departments participating in orientation ◦ Initial meetings needed for representatives and expectations and goals planned ◦ Facilities must be scheduled for all sessions of orientation ◦ Students reservations needed for orientation to ensure space is filled ◦ Times and dates must be chosen that work best with student, staff and faculty timeline Logistics

6.  Mentorship Program ◦ Marketing of program to new students and faculty and staff and current students ◦ Coordination of matching new students with mentors ◦ Activities and scheduled events need to be planned throughout the semester ◦ Assessment of program and recruitment of students for program Logistics

7. Academic Success Center ◦ Director and staff ◦ Student volunteers ◦ Advisors/Faculty ◦ Support from Provost and Academics ◦ Budget for staff and tools to provide services Participants/Resources Needed

8.  Orientation ◦ Director of Center and staff ◦ Student volunteers ◦ All relevant departments on campus  Admissions, Registrar, Business Office, IT, Security, Housing, Student Services and Student Life  Parent panel with parents of past Wesleyan students ( often staff)  Senior staff ( President or Provost) Participants/Resources Needed

9.  Director of Center oversees orientation, schedules advising and registration for new students  Staff for mentorship program and matching students  Must supervise and coordinate multiple departments and schedule students  Share purpose of programs and orientation with departments on campus  Dependent on team collaboration and shared knowledge with departments  Must share vision and encourage participation Leadership

10.  Give incentives to staff for participation and support of program  Provide feedback to departments  Provide surveys to students for summative evaluations of programs  Stakeholders include: ◦ Students  More informed  Less miscommunication  Connection to university  Positive first experience  Create relationships ◦ Departments/Staff participating  Shared knowledge of areas  Connection with students  Disseminate correct, current information for ease of student entrance Leadership

11.  Orientation: 4 scheduled sessions of 30 freshman students and 3 sessions of 30 transfer students  Lower registration payment and housing applications on orientation day than in 09  Fall 09 registration 6 percent higher as of 7-1-09 compared to previous year (Fall 08)  Orientation: 5 scheduled sessions of 60 freshman and 3 sessions of 60 transfer students  Increased speakers from multiple departments, including involvement by senior staff  Positive feedback from surveys conducted thus far Outcome of New Programs Restructure 20082009

12.  Positive feedback, experience from students and parents  Involvement with departments around campus  Better perception and knowledge of student services offered by Texas Wesleyan  Increase of cost effectively “marketing” the university  Creation of orientation for transfer students, increased participation and involvement  Increased level of communication and clarification of information  Created a home for new students to feel connected to university and to help with preparation academically and socially  More satisfaction from students leads to greater retention rates, positive word of mouth and increased enrollment Value of New Student Programs Restructure

13.  Centralized and designated location for new students  Orientation with relevant campus departments represented  Mentorship program provides social and academic support for new students  Orientation and mentorship programs are not mandatory  Lack of communication university wide about orientation and new programs, could departments be missing out?  Departments not involved in planning orientation PROCON Critique of Planning Effort

14.  Orientations conducted in summer so it’s the best time for students and obtaining unoccupied classrooms and facilities  Unsure if all key players from relevant departments involved  Attention and commitment by all parties involved in effort  Meeting reminders not sent out with schedules, resulted in departments not showing up to orientation dates  Coordination meetings not scheduled early enough to recognize departments missing  Summer is the hardest time to have staff on hand to participate PROCON Critique of Logistics Process

15.  Orientation involves more relevant departments than ever before(i.e. housing and student life)  Center is staffed and specialized to assist level and demand of students  Mentorship program involves current students, chance at leadership and social involvement, campus loyalty and connection  More marketing needed for mentorship program and orientation  Collaboration with admissions office to insure prospects know about programs.. include in admission packets to applicants  More communication to ensure director lets all departments know dates/times/schedules for full staffing PROCON Critique of Participants and Resources Involved

16.  Orientation is the responsibility of center so more centralized and organized than in the past  Excitement and desire, willingness to work together and include departments on campus  Not afraid of change and adaptation depending on evaluations and feedback  Spirit of community created  Change in staffing provided misinformation and old info not being updated and distributed  Schedule was not consulted with departments to ensure full participation  Full resources not used to best of center’s ability PROCON Critique of Leadership

17.  Summative evaluations used to see if goals and expectations for students are met  Increased orientation dates due to demand  Increased fall registration compared to previous year  Strong interest in mentorship program at initial meeting  Lack of communication between director and departments involved  Internal communication to university about programs not done  Turnover in new department already a signal of perhaps poor planning  Assessment plan needs to be in place to monitor success of center, orientation and mentorship program PROCON Critique of Outcome of Restructure

18. Academic Success Center  Providing services targeted towards new students  Providing “home” for new students New Student Orientation  Providing information for students and parents Academic Success Center  Additional costs for new staff and resources  Qualified staff New Student Orientation  Input not given by departments  Planning meetings conducted without department consultation Not mandatory for new students PROCON Critique of Value of Restructuring

19.  Providing new students familiarity with campus and offices  Providing positive first time experience for new students Mentorship Program  Introducing new students to mentors around campus  Creates peer groups with similar interests and learning groups Mentorship Program  Marketing efforts not as strong as need to be  Not mandatory for new students PROCON Critique of Value of Restructuring

20.  Goal : To improve student success through restructuring new student programs with academic success center, new student orientation and mentorship program ◦ Benchmarks will be needed along the way to determine whether restructuring and new resources and programs accomplish the goal of improving student success  How to measure?  Higher participation in student orientation  More first semester students joining clubs/involvement on campus  More new students returning second semester  Higher GPA of new students