Mission Critical- Mission Impossible Celia Esposito-Noy Vice President, Student Services Cosumnes River College CACCRAO Annual Conference May 1, 2006

Our Students See no relevance in educational experience Poor experiences in K-12 Participants of social promotion Limited interest in process of learning

Managing the Student Experience Student experience cannot be entirely left up to students Student experience must be purposeful, choreographed, and intentional Must be relevant for them We must create opportunities for students to discover relevance

Managing the Student Experience We want and need to know who our students are, but don’t know how to find out Students in cohorts feel a greater connection to the campus community, sense their education is relevant, develop stronger ties to faculty and other students, and utilize support services (examples: Puente, Student Athletes or tutoring/group study)

Managing the student experience We are (still) struggling with low course completion and retention rates, low transfer numbers, and extended time to degree completion. We are faced with changing demographics, a new generation, and high expectations for success.

Teachable moments are everywhere Lessons on civility Completing administrative tasks Reading is fundamental Negotiating bureaucracy Self advocacy, self reflection Reframing the problem and knowing what questions to ask

Perspectives on Student Retention and Success Student engagement- what do we mean Who defines “student success” Student Services’ responsibility for retention Consider educational success a “public health” initiative

Managing the First-Year Experience Too many choices Loss of accountability No shared experience to connect with other students Unfamiliar expectations in the classroom and on campus Changing the student paradigm- “This is what college students do…”

Creating Campus Community What role do we play in creating a sense of community What does the college community value and how is that communicated by staff Creating opportunities for student/faculty/staff interaction outside of class

What can we do Create opportunities to connect the curriculum and the co-curriculum Create opportunities for students to utilize their skills and knowledge Establish office and program standards and stick with them Participate in the development of the First-year student experience program Talk about student services as an instructional unit Develop methods for measuring outcomes