Kilgore College is among the nation's two-year schools profiled in a new report based on the Survey of Entering Student Engagement, or SENSE, which is administered by the Center for Community College Student Engagement. The survey was given to more than 50,000 new students at 120 community colleges last fall to assess early impressions of institutional practices and student behaviors.
The report is titled "Benchmarking and Benchmarks: Effective Practice With Entering Students," and offers six benchmarks for colleges that are trying to improve students' habits during the critical first weeks of the semester.
Not surprisingly, some of the benchmarks deal with college readiness and expectations. But there is also a clear preference for early intervention and personal engagement by college staffers and faculty. Students apparently profit greatly from a social support network. Otherwise they tend to get "lost." This is especially the case with first-generation students who don't know the ropes of campus life. Interestingly, it appears that online orientation is less successful than face-to-face contact.
Here's what the report said about Kilgore College:
Kilgore College (TX) began redesigning student orientation after reviewing unenthusiastic student evaluations. Then, SENSE data revealed that fewer than 30% of entering students believed any staff member other than their instructors knew their names. Armed with these data and with strategies developed at the Entering Student Success Institute, the college abandoned plans to introduce online orientation and instead adopted a high-touch orientation that emphasized interaction with faculty and staff. A staff member who gives each student his or her contact information, along with two current students, conducts orientation in groups of 25. To help students with individualized degree planning, Kilgore doubled the number of faculty advisors available during orientation.
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