Did You Know? The first semester in community college is a pivotal point in students’ academic careers. Students whose first experience in college is positive and successful are more likely to remain in school, and transfer to a four-year college. If we can find ways to support successful transitions for our incoming students by providing more guidance and academic support, we can increase the odds that they will stay in school and complete degrees.
A Welcome Center
Many of California’s Community Colleges have implemented a variety of innovative and successful programs to provide incoming students the additional support they need to be successful. One of the most celebrated is Santa Monica College’s (SMC) Welcome Center, where last year some 16,425 students found the help they needed behind the doors of their one-stop shop. SMC Welcome Center caters to the unique needs of first-year students and is funded out of 3 sources -- A Title V (First Year Experience) grant, matriculation, and district funds.
Getting Started
Spread over some 39 acres, SMC serves a student population of 33,000 students, and has its student services located in some 29 different offices. Seeking ways to better serve their growing student body, SMC implemented an online orientation and registration system. While their returning students embraced this system, new students needed and wanted to make face-to-face connections to get their questions answered and to plan their course of studies. Five years ago, Santa Monica College opened their Welcome Center to serve their new student population. They expected to keep the center open only during peak enrollment weeks. However, the center had such a positive impact on the college’s students, staff, and faculty, it quickly became a part of the culture, and the center has remained open ever since.
Outcomes
Undoubtedly, new students are getting the help they need as they enroll in SMC for the first time. Student retention has increased. In addition, there have unexpected outcomes, and here are a couple of examples.
- Increased Communication between Divisions: Since most new students receive individual counseling from a counselor in the Welcome Center (following assessment and completion of an online orientation), Welcome Center staff routinely call Academic Affairs to make them aware of scheduling issues or adjustments that need to be made -- for example, the need to add an additional section of a basic skills English course.
- Increased Enrollment in Student Success Seminar: The Welcome Center also plays a large role with regard to retention efforts and overall philosophy to be proactive and "front load" student services. It is also largely responsible for the popularity of Couns 20, a 3 unit, UC transferable, Student Success seminar. As of fall 08, this course has become the 2nd most popular course at SMC with 66 scheduled sections offered during this one semester alone and they are running another 28 sections this spring -- and once again all seats are filled.
VIP Welcome Day
In addition to their Welcome Center, Santa Monica invites new students and their families to a special day where they offer student and parent workshops, opportunities to sign up for academic counseling, and access to financial aid information. Last year over 2,500 students and their families attended this popular event.
Thanks to Brenda Benson, Dean, Counseling and Retention Santa Monica College, for taking the time to share the story behind the Welcome Center ...
another Great Idea from California’s Community College Counselors.