RT102 - Orientation and First Week Activities to Increase Retention

Building a program to ensure a smooth "hand off" from Admissions to Faculty is a critical component of student retention. Applicants often develop a strong bond with their admissions representative that ends (from the institution's standpoint) once they begin classes. This online course provides practical ideas on designing an orientation program, first-week-of-class and other retention activities that connect the student with faculty, the college and each other that will help you retain and graduate more students.


 

Course Reviews


Course Rating
"I really enjoyed your information and will share it with my colleagues! Thank you!"
"This is a great way for me to see the broad spectrum of ideas for Orientation/Retention activities. Thank you..."
"This course was helpful and I will walk away from it having learned more ways to proactively maintain retention at my school."
"The course answered my questions about how to improve my orientation and introduced me to the importance of the first week. The forum remarks of students richly enhanced the course material. I will highly recommend it to others on my staff. "
"I currently teach first term students in a program of 5 terms. This course was extremely beneficial to me, thank you!"
"I am shocked about how much I liked this training module. This one is my absolute favorite and is going to benefit me greatly in my position as a professional - Thank you!"
"Excellent course! A must for any instructor or professor starting students out in secondary education. It is also a great course to reinforce key factors as to how a school should operate successfully."
"Loved this course. It made me rethink our orientation program, and I will be making changes as a result of this."
"I truly enjoyed the course. It was easy to follow and built on each concept learned. It had some good ideas that I will be using on my campus."
"Really helpful, especially as I am about to teach a term 1 class for the first time. This class taught me to focus on the first week, and that will really help with retention. Thank you!"
"This course was a very good reminder of ways to engage students early on and foster ideas to promote retention. Sometimes after working for awhile we forget the basics."
"This course reinforced that the efforts put forth by myself and co-workers for orientation are right on target. I definitely agree that ALL staff as well as current students should be a big part of orientation."

Course Structure


Course Format

  • Can Start Anytime
  • Self-paced (within course enrollment timeframe)
  • 4 Hours of Activities

Completion Requirements

  • Study Course Content
  • Pass ALL Required Quizzes

Certificate of Completion

  • 4 Hours of Continuing Education
  • Available for download at the end of the course

Technology Requirements

  • A Web browser with JavaScript and cookies enabled
  • Adobe Flash Player
  • Speakers or headphones

Course Objectives


Module 1: Students' Expectations

  • List the major reasons why students enroll in college.
  • Address students' expectations.
  • Assess what students are thinking about their classmates.
  • Determine students' common fears.
  • Identify the reasons why students decide whether to persist or withdraw.

Module 2: Institutional Connections

  • Apply techniques for helping students overcome buyer's remorse.
  • Build institutional credibility.
  • Provide opportunities for students to connect with multiple departments.
  • Describe how leaving orientation as a student helps build retention.

Module 3: Faculty Involvement

  • Recognize the importance of having faculty attend orientation.
  • Identify the role of faculty at orientation.
  • Recognize the importance of setting academic expectations.
  • Facilitate classmate accountability.

Module 4: First Week and Late Enrollments

  • Enhance assimilation during the first week.
  • Acclimate late enrollments to ensure success.
  • Identify signs of potential withdrawal.
  • Apply methods for proactively retaining students.

Module 5: Community TV

  • NA

Lounge Group


This course provides you with a lifelong peer-to-peer learning opportunity through a specific Performance Group created within the Career College Lounge, a learning community of career college professionals. This allows you to learn and share with your peers at any time you want, even after you complete the course.

Go to the Performance Group for this Course

How to Enroll

  1. Buy Enrollment Keys

  2. Enter an enrollment key in the field above.

  3. Click "Enroll".