SL, Orientation changes still being discussed

The original proposal for the expansion of The Orientation Program and the redesign of Student Life has changed. While Student Life will not look exactly the same as it did this semester, the changes being made appear, as of right now, to be much less drastic than originally predicted.

The original proposal that was presented to the Student Life coordinators on Nov. 9 would have eliminated Diversity, Leadership, and Intramurals as stand-alone clusters as well as cancel several annual events.

In the Nov. 9 issue of The Accent Director of Student Life Cheryl Richard is quoted saying that these programs had to be eliminated to make the new orientation requirements work.

"The good news, for me, is that I feel like we are moving towards keeping all our programming," Richard said.

While everything is still very much in the planning stages one very strong possibility is that Diversity and Leadership will be combined into one cluster.     

One thing that will impact how these redesigns take place will be the deadline by which students must be oriented. At a meeting with the Student Services Council on Dec. 3 it was clarified that to be considered orientated; students would have to have attended orientation by the first day of class. The consequences, which are still being finalized, may be that students who fail to get oriented will have holds placed on their accounts, and be dropped from their classes.

Student Government Association Vice President Mike Reid and Secretary Brice Gump, on Nov. 19, at the Student Rights and Responsibilities Committee meeting, suggested that students should have their first semester to complete orientation before holds are placed on their account. 

"We felt like it was wrong, they should have a semester, and then place a hold on their account," Reid said. SGA is looking into conducting a survey to gauge student opinion about the changes before the end of the semester.

The decision to expand orientation comes from the ACC's established Student Success Initiative, and new involvement with Achieving the Dream, a community college student success program, that provides funding to select community colleges.

Currently orientation is technically a requirement for students, but failing to attend will not keep them from attending classes. According to studies done by the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCSSE), student retention is increased by involvement with the school and with peers.

"The goal is student engagement, and one of the ways we can do that is the orientation program," Vice President of Student Support and Success Systems Kathleen Christensen said. "Going forward with a mandatory orientation that is monitored, one goal is to get students involved with each other, like how they where in high school, or how they are in other parts of their lives."