THE SECOND YEAR AT EMORY PROGRAM: ASSESSING A RESIDENTIAL - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

THE SECOND YEAR AT EMORY PROGRAM: ASSESSING A RESIDENTIAL SECOND-YEAR INITIATIVE

Ben Perlman John Lynch Brett Page

Emory University 15th National Students in T ransition Conference 2008

GOALS FOR PRESENTATION

 Explain the basics of building a living-

learning community for second-year students

 Understand the history of Emory’s

program

 Learn about difgerent ways to assess

your new initiative

 Identify implications for student afgairs

practice

SNAPSHOT OF EMORY UNIVERSITY

 Private, selective, research

university w/an undergraduate population <6,000

 2-year live-on requirement  Undergrad students admitted to

liberal arts college

 Some students pursue education

in business or nursing school after 2nd year of college

 Many of our students are

interested in pre-health or pre- professional majors and programs

THE SECOND YEAR AT EMORY PROGRAM

 Living-Learning Community

dedicated to second-year student success

 4th year of program  Programs

 Career Planning  Academic Advising  Faculty Interaction  Life Skills  T

raditions

SYE TIMELINE @EMORY

• Nov 2002: support and approval of the Campus

Life Committee of the Board of Trustees

• Nov 2003: SYE Committee formed
• Fall 2004: began pilot program in

predominately sophomore hall

• Summer 2005: extensive renovation of

Woodrufg, home to the program

• Fall 2005: offjcial start of the program
• Fall 2007: Incorporation of second residence

hall

• Fall 2008: Expansion to all of second-year

housing

SOPHOMORE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT MODEL

 Staged model in which second-year students

move through 4 difgerent stages:

 Random Exploration  Focused Exploration  T

entative Choices

 Commitment

 Student focus on these stages in three areas:

 Peer relationships  Self  Academic choices

Schaller (2005)

SCHALLER (2005)

Friendships Self Academics Stage 1 Random Exploration

Accepts friendships as they come, may be very unhealthy Wanders through life choices, not sure of what to believe Has not yet considered academic/major choice

Stage 2 Focus Exploration

Is disenchanted with friendships, frustrated with

• ptions

Recognizes problems within self, bothered but not clear what to do Looking for major or career idea that might fit with self

Stage 3 Tentative Choices

Decides to keep some relationships and leave others Begins to make statements about beliefs, desires, describes self Found major or career, but still not clear how it will “work

• ut”

Stage 4 Commitment

Makes healthy choices, “college buddies” Firm in description of self, knows what wants Sees how future will unfold, committed to career

SCHALLER (2006)

 Implications for Community Colleges

 Financial Issues

 Use of credit/loans  Loss of fjrst-year aid

 Developmental Education

 Not directed enough in educational choices to

make a choice of major

 T

ransfer Preparation

EMORY NEEDED TO PURSUE SYE

 Gap between wealth of services for

fjrst-year students and absence of services for upperclassmen

 Concerns about students transferring

and satisfaction issues

 New second-year living requirement

STAFFING

 2 Buildings

 Woodrufg Hall  Clifton T

• wer

 Area Director

 Full-Time  Post-master’s degree  Live-in

 Graduate Student

Hall Director

 Part-time  Live-in

 Hall Director Fellow

 Full-time  Post-bach  Live-in

 Academic Advisor

 Part-time  Graduate student  Live-in

STUDENT STAFFING

 1 Senior Resident Advisor (Senior)  17 Resident Advisors (Juniors and

Seniors)

 26 to 1 - Resident to RA Ratio

SEMI-SUITE STYLE APARTMENT STYLE

WOODRUFF SPACES

Grilling Area Study Rooms RA Offjce Grilling Area Study Rooms RA Offjce Smart Classrooms Smart Classrooms Exercise Room Exercise Room

WOODRUFF SPACES

Drop-In Spaces Professional Stafg Offjces Drop-In Spaces Professional Stafg Offjces Academic Advising Offjce Academic Advising Offjce Dining Facilitjes Dining Facilitjes

ASSESSMENTS WE’VE DONE

ASSESSMENTS

• National instruments:

– Educational Benchmarking Incorporated (EBI) – National Study of Living Learning Programs

(NSLLP)

• Local instruments:

– Sophomore specifjc survey – SYE registration form – ResLife Rewards program – Program evaluations

EBI

 Measures resident satisfaction and

perceptions of learning experiences and climate

 Distributed online  3,000 undergraduate residents

sampled

 25% response rate  EBI provides an in-depth statistical

analysis accessible online and in paper format

HIGHLIGHTS FROM EBI

 Sophomores in SYE residence halls were

much more satisfjed than sophomores not in SYE residence halls

 Sophomores in SYE residence halls reported

higher perceptions of learning than sophomores in other SYE residence halls

 Students, in general, reported higher

satisfaction and learning when they reported going to programs “often”

NSLLP

• Relatively new national instrument
• Uses the I-E-O model of assessment
• Measures input variables, environmental factors,

and learning outcomes

• Distributed online
• Compares students in living-learning programs

to students not in living-learning programs

• 17% response rate
• NSLLP provides a statistical analysis accessible

in paper format

HIGHLIGHTS FROM NSLLP

 Signifjcantly higher than other LLP

participants in terms of:

 Infmuences on signing up for program:

wanted to live in a specifjc residence hall

 Perceived growth in cognitive complexity  Perceived confjdence in college success  Confjdence in problem-solving ability

SOPHOMORE SURVEY

 Asked about learning, perceptions, and

feedback

 Locally developed questions based on

anecdotal feedback

 Distributed online  Sent to all sophomores  30% response rate

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SOPHOMORE SURVEY

 Second-Year students want more support from

Residence Life

 Where students live as a second-year greatly

impacts their perception of and participation in SYE.

 Programming for and interactions with

second-year students must be difgerent from those with fjrst-year students

 Second-Year students want a stronger cohort

identity/community

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SOPHOMORE SURVEY

 More programming on…

SYE REGISTRATION

• Locally developed
• Originally used as an “application” into the

SYE program

• Online
• All rising sophomores were required to

complete the form if they wanted to live in the SYE designated buildings: Woodrufg and Clifton

• 85% participation

SYE REGISTRATION

• Name, student ID #
• Please mark if you are interested in any business or

graduate school programs: Pre-BBA, Pre-Health, Pre-Law, PhD or Master’s, Pre-MBA

• Please mark any majors you are currently pursuing or

are interested in: (60 majors listed)

• Please mark the topics you would be interested in

learning about at future SYE programs: Choosing a major, Health and Wellness, Career decision- making/Internships, Academic advising, etc.

• How would you contribute to or participate in the

Second Year at Emory program?

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SYE REGISTRATION

 Interest in professional or graduate

programs

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SYE REGISTRATION

 T

• p fjve majors:
• 1. Business Administration
• 2. Economics
• 3. Psychology
• 4. Biology
• 5. Chemistry

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SYE REGISTRATION

 T

• p fjve programming interests:
• 1. Study Abroad
• 2. Career Decisions & Internships
• 3. Community Service
• 4. Planning for Junior & Senior Year
• 5. Choosing a Major

ADAPTATIONS OF SYE REGISTRATION

 Require all rising sophomores to

complete form as part of their housing sign-up process

 Make some questions more specifjc  Ask about extracurricular involvement  Use the form as a tool to get students

to think about their sophomore year and future plans

RES LIFE REWARDS

• Stemmed from our fjnding that more engaged students

generally were more satisfjed and reported higher levels of learning

• Attendance at events is carefully tracked
• For every six programs a student attends he/she receives

a reward

– Water bottle, hydro-clock, t-shirts, journals, etc.

• Analyze what types of programs students are interested in
• Analyze demographics and residence hall location

associated with high attendance at programs

• Eventually we will analyze difgerences associated with high

engagement versus low engagement

PROGRAM EVALUATIONS

 Distribute online  Normal satisfaction questions (how did

you like this program?)

 Learning outcome related questions

USING THE DATA

SHARING AND INTERPRETATION

 Share data with RA’s and Hall Directors

for programming and Coke Conversations

 Share aggregate data with other offjces

(particularly the Career Center, Business School, and Academic Advising) to assist them in their own planning

 Ask students and RA’s to interpret the

data

IDENTIFIED A NEED FOR CHANGE

 Sophomores felt left out of SYE

programs

 Students did not have a clear sense of

the purpose of SYE

 Students wanted more support and

programming

 Residents felt disconnected from their

student stafg (Coke Conversations felt awkward)

DEVELOPED PLAN FOR SYE

• Form partnerships with more campus offjces
• Ofger programs and services that all sophomore

residents can utilize

• Ofger programs and services that support student

development so that the students:

– Develop greater self awareness – Defjne goals for their Emory experience – Utilize campus resources – Connect with others through meaningful relationships

• Use assessment to plan and evaluate programs and

show what learning occurs as a result of participation in SYE programs

SYE LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Developing Self-Awareness

 Demonstrated self refmection skills  Identify personal strengths

• Setting Goals

 Articulating their goals  Choosing a major  Think about possible career fjelds

SYE LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Finding Resources

 Identify required classes for their major  Creating and maintaining a resume  Identify co-curricular and extracurricular interests  Identify university resources

• Connecting With Others

 Displaying social skills necessary to live and work  Forming meaningful relationships with students,

stafg, faculty, and alumni

 Feel stronger ties to the university

ASSESSMENT PARADIGM SHIFT

 Old assessment model:

 Compare students in SYE to students not in

SYE (“experimental group” vs. “control group”)

 New assessment model:

 Use involvement in SYE programs

FUTURE ASSESSMENTS

 Research project: long term outcomes

• f the SYE program

 Development of a pre- and post- test

survey instrument for sophomores

 Connecting assessment with 1st year

program and upperclassmen experience to do a longitudinal analysis

DISCUSSION GROUPS

CONTACT INFO

 Ben Perlman

 ben.perlman@emory.edu

 John Lynch

 jwlynch@emory.edu

 Brett Page

 btpage@learnlink.emory.edu