Browsing by Subject "College student orientation"

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The implications of persistence theory on new student orientations in community colleges
(2004) McGilvray, David Harold; Moore, William, 1928-
Community colleges, with their “open door” admissions policy, provide higher education opportunities for both traditional and at-risk students. However, the conditions that define “at-risk” make a high percentage of community college students vulnerable to attrition, increasing the need for effective retention efforts. The question of the applicability of existing persistence theories to community college populations and the theory implications for the design of new student orientation programs in community colleges are the underlying issues of this study. This qualitative study utilizes literature review, individual interviews, group interviews, and a document review for data collection to examine the perspectives of four sources on new student orientation programs in a community college. The perspectives examined were: (1) retention theory as found in the literature, (2) community college students, (3) community college administrators and (4) the documentation of the college’s orientation program. The correspondence between these four perspectives was then examined in a pair-wise comparison. The study found that the students’ perceptions of their college experience and the persistence issues they confronted were in agreement with that indicated by the literature. Further, that the administrators were generally aware of the content of retention theory, however, the design of the existing orientation program did not make full use of the implications of persistence theory.