Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 12-1988 An Evaluation of a Student Orientation Pilot Project and Counseling Services as Retention Activities at Grand Valley State University Mary T. Gustas Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/masters_theses Part of the Higher Education Commons, and the Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons Recommended Citation Gustas, Mary T., "An Evaluation of a Student Orientation Pilot Project and Counseling Services as Retention Activities at Grand Valley State University" (1988).edu/masters_theses/1147 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact wmu-scholarworks@wmich.
AN EVALUATION OF A STUDENT ORIENTATION PILOT PROJECT AND COUNSELING SERVICES AS RETENTION ACTIVITIES AT GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY by Mary T. Gustas A Project Report Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Specialist in Education Department of Educational Leadership Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan December 1988 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. AN EVALUATION OF A STUDENT ORIENTATION PILOT PROJECT AND COUNSELING SERVICES AS RETENTION ACTIVITIES AT GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY Mary T.
Western Michigan University, 1988 The field experience was completed in the Counseling Center in affiliation with the Dean of Students Office, and the Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs, spring of 1986 through spring of 1987. The emphasis of the experience was to become familiar with the managerial perspective of stu dent services offices as they relate to the retention of stu dents in a four year college environment. An objective of the experience was to determine if an increased orientation pro gram and counseling service impacted the retention of fresh- men students at Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI. Data were gathered and compiled which supported an extend ed orientation program at other institutions.
Recommendations for implementation were prepared and presented to the Retention Committee at Grand Valley State University. Additional data collection was done for the Counseling Center, Grand Valley State University, to, determine the impact of this student service on student retention. Concerns with the data collection process in this project were presented to the field supervisor and recommendations for future data collection and evaluations were prepared. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A special thanks is in order for my field experience supervisor, Dr. Diana Pace, Director of the Counseling Center at Grand Valley State University. Without her constant support and encouragement, the accomplishment of this project would have been very difficult.
Her insight and friendship made this a very enjoyable experience. I would also like to thank the staff and administrators at Grand Valley State University who worked with me in this project, and for giving me an opportunity to expand my know ledge of institutions and managerial styles. Gustas ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
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O r d e r N u m b e r 1335711 A n evaluation o f a student orientation pilot project and counseling services as retention activities at Grand V alley S tate U niversity Gustas, Mary Therese, Ed. Western Michigan University, 1988 C o p y rig h t © 1 9 8 9 b y G ustas, M a ry Therese. A ll rig h ts reserved. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S.
ii LIST OF T A B L E S. RATIONALE FOR FIELD EXPERIENCE. REVIEW OF SELECTED LITERATURE. DESCRIPTION OF FIELD E X P E R I E N C E.
9 Week of January 8, 1986 .9 Week of January 16, 1986. 10 Week of January 24, 1986. 11 Month of September, 1986. 13 Month of October, 1986.
16 Month of November, 1986. 16 Month of December, 1986. 16 Month of January, 1987. 17 Month of February, 1987.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS.20 Recommendations and Guidelines. 26 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS— CONTINUED A P P E N D I C E S.
Freshmen Seminar Evaluation (Student). Freshmen Seminar Evaluation (Presenters). Background and Summary of Evaluations (Student and Presenters). Comparative Data— Institutional Analysis and the Counseling C e n t e r.
42 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES 1. Characteristics of Pilot Groups.
v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I RATIONALE FOR FIELD EXPERIENCE Introduction The utilization of Grand Valley State University, Allen dale, MI, as a field experience site, was based on the conven ience of the location and the interest of the institution and myself in student retention factors for four year colleges. My familiarity with the institution aided in developing communica tion resources and securing information.
Grand Valley State University is a medium sized, state university, with an approximate enrollment of 8,500, serving the metropolitan area of Grand Rapids and the surrounding tri county area, which includes the counties of Muskegon, Kent and Ottawa. My prior experience in higher education, 1978 - 1981, was related to a small private Catholic college located in the Southwest. During that period of time, I was involved in the development of an extended orientation program and de veloped the initial retention studies at that college. The Grand Valley field experience provided me with an excellent opportunity to expand my knowledge of orientation programs and the impact and importance of retention in a state funded institution.
Much of the information that I secured may be applied to other two and four year institutions. 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The impact of retention and orientation on an institution of higher education is of major concern for individuals intend ing to pursue administrative positions in a post-secondary academic institution.
The National Orientation Directors Association (Zarvell, 1984) reported that student dropout rate after the first year in state and private institutions is 30- 35%. This high attrition rate reflects the importance of orien tation programs which may be used to address the retention problem. Areas of involvement during the field experience included student services and academic offices existing at Grand Valley State University. The field experience presented opportunities to meet the directors and deans in various offices and divisions throughout the campus, who are involved in the planning and development of orientation and retention programs at Grand Valley State Uni versity.
This exposure allowed exchange of various administra tive perspectives and expansion of my understanding of the aca demic hierarchy existing within an institution of higher edu cation. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF SELECTED LITERATURE The purpose of this section is to analyze selected litera ture and relevant research in the areas of attrition, retention and orientation.
Examination of the literature revealed numer ous suggestions about intervention and improving retention through the use of orientation practices. The information in this chapter will primarily reflect concepts developed regard ing general student populations. The relevancy of the informa tion is evident in the recommendations and evaluations made throughout the field experience. Lenning, Beal, and Sauer (1980) and Beal and Noel (1980), as well as many additional references, were reviewed for recom mendations on student services and academic programs through which retention could be enhanced.
According to Tinto's model (1975), the greater the degree of integration into the institution the greater the student's commitment will be to the college or university and the goal of completing the degree. The Tinto (1975) report reviewed six studies which supported his model and the dynamics of attrition with social and academic integration. Similar findings are re flected by Bean (1980), who indicates that institutional com mitment is a primary variable related to retention. Bean also presented perceived quality of education as an important vari- ble.
Beal and Noel (1980) presented institutional assistance 3 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4 programs as being successful in improving student retention. Individuals enter institutions of higher education with a variety of attributes (e., sex, race, ability), pre-college experience (e., grade point averages, academic and social attainments), family backgrounds, (e., social status, and value climates) each of which has direct effects upon perform ance in college (Tinto, 1975).
According to Upcraft, Finney, and Garland (1984), a col lege influences new students in two fundamental ways: through the kinds of students it admits and through the influence it exerts upon the students' enrollment. If an institution is in terested in maintaining its entering students, it must consider the student body characteristics and backgrounds. Orientation is an effort on the part of a college or uni versity to help entering students make a transition from their previous environment to the collegiate environment (Upcraft, 1984). The orientation program may accomplish a myriad of in stitutional objectives, one of which includes the improvement of student retention (Zarvell, 1984).
Definitions Retention: Among the students who originally plan to com plete their academic program the reasons for dropping out are complex and overlapping (Astin, 1975; Cope, 1978; Tinto,1975). Retention may be defined as that which occurs when students complete, continue, or resume their studies (Lenning et al. Noel (1978) reports that retention is a by-product of the institution's concerted effort to create a staying envi ronment in which students can discover and develop their Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
talents to the fullest extent. Attrition: Attrition occurs when students are no longer enrolled in a college or university (Lenning et al. Student attrition is defined as the cessation of individual student membership in an institution of higher education (Beal, 1980).
