Campus Connections Program Proposal

Springville College

April 15, 2009

Anna Adams, Kari Dockendorff, Lauren Gehrke, Cory Headley, Lay Kou, Nereida Oliva,
Justin Reuter
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Introduction

At Springville College, home of the Cowboys, we boast an intimate community of 2800

students. Of these 2800 students, roughly half, 1400 students are freshmen and sophomores.

Following a new directive given to our committee by the Director of Residential Life that states

students will be required to live on campus during their freshman and sophomore years, we are

proposing a new program intending to make the Springville campus less intimidating, more

inclusive, and a program that will support students throughout their time in the residence halls.

We have named the program Campus Connection Series. The program is also based around the

theme: Grow. Discover. Community. We chose this theme because at Springville College, we

want our students to grow, we hope to present opportunities for students to discover new ideas

and new dreams, and with this program we will do both by creating and maintaining a

community for the students to succeed in.

Background

Catalyst for Program

The mandate given by the university administration through the Director of Residential

Life is that, “for the first time, all students will be required to stay on campus for their first two

years of enrollment” (A. K. Hunter, personal communication, March 10, 2009). Since this will

be a completely new program, no past programs at Springville College were available for

reference. As the leading planning committee in the Office of Assistant Director for Programs,

we researched similar programs at other small four-year liberal arts colleges to use as
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benchmarks. Some of these colleges researched included San Diego State University in San

Diego, California, Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, and Adams State College in

Colorado. The closest programs from these colleges that can be used as benchmarks are the

welcome week activities.

Implications

Our committee is purposeful in planning this community-building program to promote

internationalization, social justice and inclusiveness between freshman and sophomore students,

as evidenced in the workshops and activities. This community-building program will be

explained in greater detail later in the proposal. Please reference Appendix A for a detailed

schedule of events during the Campus Connection programming.

Guiding Documents

Although Campus Connection has adopted numerous documents to spark it’s planning

and fuel its implementation, two primary resources propel its practice more than any other.

These documents include the American College Personnel Association’s 1996 publication the

“Student Learning Imperative” and the CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education.

Through its various orientation programs and educational seminars, the Campus

Connection will capture the “Student Learning Imperative’s” objective to “collaborate with other

institutional agents and agencies to promote student learning and personal development”

(American College Personnel Association, 1996, p. 4). In addition, through its engagement of

students in activities and services that support the Campus Connection’s community

development learning outcomes, the Campus Connection will fulfill the CAS professional

standards for higher education (2006) program vision that states that “[t]he formal education of

students consists of the curriculum and the co-curriculum, and must promote student learning
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and development that is purposeful and holistic” (p. 57).

Relationship to Theory

Some key theories helped to guide and motivate the development of this program.

Tinto’s theory of student departure, Astin’s theory of student involvement, and Perry’s theory on

moral and intellectual development were the three main theories that were incorporated.

According to Ernest T. Pascarella and Patrick T. Terenzini (2005), Tinto’s theory of student

departure states that “satisfying and rewarding encounters with the formal and informal academic

and social systems of the institution are presumed to lead to greater integration in those systems

and thus to student retention” (51). The Campus Connections Week will be able to provide a

great introduction to the college for the first-year students. With those experiences, the first-year

students will be more likely to become invested and involved in their school.

Student involvement is discussed in Astin’s theory. Pascarella and Terenzini (2005)

discuss Astin’s theory as simply “students learn by becoming involved” (50). Our sophomores

will have the opportunity to get involved in several ways throughout Campus Connections week.

The planning committee will have three open positions reserved for sophomores each year,

which will be a great opportunity for the sophomores to have a say in what happens throughout

the week. Sophomores will also be highly encouraged to participate throughout the week in

helping to plan and implement programs, and by being mentors to the first-year students.

Additionally, Perry’s theory on moral development was utilized as the Campus

Connections Week was developed. Evans, Forney, and Guido-DiBrito (1998) descirbe Perry’s

theory, showing how students take direction and process the information that is given to them
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(131). Throughout the week, students will have the opportunity to take part in several programs

that work on ethical decision-making and morality.

Needs Assessment

Recent surveys at Springville College have provided information that illustrates the

strong sense of frustration among students. They are not satisfied with their experience at

Springville College due to lack of student outreach and activities.

Moreover, further research has indicated that freshmen need to feel they belong on their

campus in order to have higher rates of success and satisfaction. The transition from high school

to college is not always easy. Students come to college with certain expectations and ideas. A

study conducted by Keup (2007) revealed that students have high expectations about their

interpersonal relationships and personal development. Students want to establish long lasting

friendships aside from excelling in their academics. In addition, sophomores need to receive the

same support and attention they received as freshmen. According to Lipka (2006), sophomores

encounter a slump that hinders their momentum, causing some sophomores to become

disengaged or even to drop out of college.

Campus Connection will provide freshmen the support and guidance they need as they

transition into college. As students become more comfortable among each other and with the

campus, they will be more likely to become engaged with their campus community. The

community they create will assist them to have a better college experience and will help deter

them from becoming disengaged. Sophomores will also receive support through Campus

Connection programming. It will be tailored to fit their needs through the social, educational and
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academic variety of programming being offered.

In an effort to increase student involvement and student satisfaction, freshmen and

sophomores will be required to live on campus. Requiring students to live on campus will also

help bring in revenue that will allow the development and implementation of additional

programming.

Major stakeholders involved in the implementation process are the Director of

Residential Life, President of Springville College, Assistant Director for Programs, Board of

Trustees, current students, parents of Springville students and local business owners.

Program Goals and Objectives

Please reference Appendix B for the program goals and objectives.

Legal or Risk Management Items

In compliance with all entertainment contracts, Springville College will ensure that

activities are accessible for all students. They will also have an obligation to each entertainer to

uphold all financial aspects of each contract. The planning committee will need to coordinate

with campus police for any large-scale events to ensure safety of all attendees such as crowd

control. Additionally, the planning committee will need to communicate with the local business

sponsors as to appropriate recruiting and selling behavior when on campus. Please reference

Appendix C for specific information on how much the sponsors will be donating and a complete

budgetary breakdown.

Program Planning

Overview of Program

The planning committee was intentional in developing the Campus Connection series.
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We wanted to have a week of activities before classes begin to get the freshman and sophomore

students off to a good start, and at the same time, to ensure that these students continue to engage

themselves in activities outside of the classroom throughout the year. The ACT Policy Report

stated that “studies indicate that first-year orientation programs are a promising retention strategy

that integrates both academic and non-academic factors to create a socially inclusive and

supportive environment that addresses students’ academic and non-academic needs (Colton et

al., 1999; Fidler, 1991; Tinto, 1993)” (ACT, 2004, p. 22). While a first-year experience program

is important for freshmen, equally critical is the continual involvement of sophomores to ensure

their retention in college.

In line with that retention strategy, there are three significant aspects of the Welcome

Week activities. These include: several workshops, such as Intercultural Relations, Leadership

Development and Writing Techniques, and the Peer Mentoring program are ongoing throughout

the year. These workshops and programs serve to keep students engaged in these areas

throughout their first and second years at Springville College.

All of the events emphasize educational, social and leadership developments of freshman

and sophomore students. Students discover and re-discover their identities, learn to see others

and issues from various perspectives, partner with faculty and staff and students of different class

standing and develop their leadership and academic skills.

All second-year students serve as mentors to first-year students, and are strongly

encouraged to get involved in the planning and organization of workshops and events throughout

the year, not just during the welcome week programming.

Planning team
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The planning process for Campus Connection will involve one core planning committee

and another small set of representatives who will meet once with the core planning committee.

The core planning committee will be comprised of six representatives, three staff members and

three students. The five representatives who will meet once with the core committee will be a

staff representative from campus recreation, a staff representative from the health and wellness

area, a local business representative, a faculty representative and a staff representative from the

leadership office.

Timeline for planning process

Freshmen and sophomore students at Springville College will be required to live in

starting in the fall of 2010. Planning for Campus Connection starts currently in the spring of

2009. The representatives for the core planning committee will be chosen and will meet once

before school is out. Assignments and liaison areas will be determined at this time. In the

summer of 2009 the staff members on the core planning committee will meet once per month to

check progress. When students arrive back to school in the fall of 2009, the core committee will

meet to review assignments and check for progress. Freshmen will be assessed at this time about

their move-in experiences. This committee will meet bi-monthly throughout fall semester for

progress reports. In the spring of 2010, the committee will meet once monthly until March when

the program will be proposed. In April the proposal will be re-submitted with any changes,

suggestions or feedback given in the March meeting. In the fall of 2010, the program will be

fully implemented.

Planning resources

Resources will be pulled from an existing housing budget, local business sponsorships
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and a Springville College Presidential sponsorship. The funds being used for the welcome week

programming and throughout the academic year have been reallocated from a variety of

programmatic events throughout previous years including game nights twice a month. After

assessing student interest in these previous programming activities, over 70% said they didn’t

like attending game night and 30% said they were not even aware game night existed. To see a

complete budget breakdown, please reference Appendix C. To see letter from the local business

community in support of Campus Connection Programming, reference Appendix D.

Marketing plan

There will be one person assigned to be the marketing liaison on the core planning

committee. Market strategies include send home fliers, mass emails, website announcements,

word of mouth, posters and fliers. However, because this week of programming will occur

immediately following mandatory move-in days for freshmen and sophomores, we believe that

there will be a high rate of attendance during the weeklong programming.

Approval Process

There are four levels of approval that are needed for the Campus Connection

programming to be implemented at Springville College including the Director of Residential

Life, Vice President of Student Affairs, President of Springville College, and the Board of

Trustees.

Post Assessment/Program Evaluation

The assessment plan will include qualitative and quantitative measures. In the fall of

2009, freshmen will be surveyed about their move-in experiences. Resident advisors for each

hall will be responsible for distributing and collecting these surveys during their floor meetings.
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This feedback will be used in the planning process for the following year. In fall of 2010,

students will be surveyed again about their move-in experiences. Additionally, following each

educational session students will be required to complete an evaluation form for the presenter as

well as the planning committee. Please reference Appendices E, F and G for the specific

assessment measures that will be used.

Conclusion

It is our hope that through participation in the Campus Connection programming during

welcome week and throughout the academic school year, students at Springville College will be

able to experience the benefits of living in a campus community. The faculty, staff and

administrators are strongly dedicated to the success and implementation of this programming and

look forward to continuing the tradition of providing an inclusive environment for students to

grow, discover and build community here at Springville College.

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References

ACT. (2004). ACT policy report: The role of academic and non-academic factors in improving

college retention. Retrieved April 11, 2009, from

http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/college_retention.pdf

Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education. (2006). CAS professional

standards for higher education (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Evans, N,J,, Forney, D. S., & Guido-DiBrito, F. (1998). Student Development In

College: Theory, Research, and Practice. (pp. 130-133). San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass.

Keup, J.R. (2007). Great expectations and the ultimate reality check: Voices of students during

the transition from high school to college. NASPA Journal, 44(1), 3-31.

Lipka, S. (2006). After the freshmen bubble pops: More colleges try to help their sophomores

thrive [Electronic version]. The chronicle of higher education. 53, 3, A34. Retrieved

April 14, 2009 from http://www.beloit.edu/syi/research/pdf/freshman_bubble.pdf.

Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). Theories and Models of Student Change in

College. In How College Affects Students: A Third Decade (pp. 50-51). San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass
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The student learning imperative: Implications for student affairs (1996, February 14). Retrieved

March 10, 2009 from http://www.myacpa.org/sli_delete/sli.htm

Appendix A
Campus Connection Program Schedule (see attached pages)
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Appendix B

Program Goals and Objectives

• Goal 1: To assist students in the transition of moving from a home environment to living
on campus in a community setting.

• Objective 1: After attending Welcome Week, students will be able to locate campus
resources, purchase a parking permit, and sign up for classes.

• Goal 2: Welcome Week will establish a tradition of promoting community building.

• Objective 2: Events at Welcome Week will introduce new students to other new students,
present students, faculty and staff.
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Appendix C

Campus Connection Proposed Programming Budget

BUDGETED REVENUE
Student fees: 2800 @ 7% of $19, 600
$50.00 ea. ($3.50) X 2 semesters*

President’s office sponsorship of $5,000

1 event + food
Business Sponsors/Vendors
$5,000
*total sponsors- 5 @ $1,000 ea.

TOTAL ESTIMATED $29,600

REVENUE

BUDGETED EXPENSES
Food $9,800

Marketing $3,000

Room rentals $1,000

Buses $1500
10 @ $150 ea.
Entertainment: $10,000
Hypnotist
DJ
Equipment
TOTAL ESTIMATED $25,300
EXPENSES
TOTAL ESTIMATED $4,300
DISCRETIONARY
AMOUNT
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*The student fee that makes up the residential life programming budget is now being reallocated
to support this specific Campus Connection programming. Previously, the funds were used to
provide snacks and activities for game nights twice monthly.

Appendix D

Letters of support form participating local business sponsors

April 5, 2009
Springville College
Residential Life Department

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to express my enthusiasm for supporting the upcoming Campus Connection
programming efforts in the fall of 2010. Our company is excited about the opportunities students
will have to visit our local office during that week. On behalf of our local office, we would like
to donate $1,000 to be used for programming geared towards the educational sessions on
leadership development training. We look forward to starting an internship program and using
Springville College students in the future.

Sincerely,

Jane Doe

Expedition Travel Agency

1234 Pleasantville Lane
Springville, Iowa 90078

February 12, 2009

Springville College
Residential Life Department

To Whom It May Concern:

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It was a pleasure to speak with you the other day about collaborating with your upcoming
Campus Connection programming in the fall of 2010. Our office is excited to collaborate with
your students in any way possible to grow, discover and build community right here in
Springville! We would like to donate $1,000 to go towards programming addressing social
justice topics. We are aware that students will be facing an increasingly global community
following graduation and we would like to contribute in any way possible to help make students
more informed about these issues.

Sincerely,

Thom Francis

Springville Bank Inc.

3245 Plum Street
Springville, Iowa 90078

Appendix E

Assessment Measure for Fall 2009, Freshmen move-in experiences

1. Overall, please rate how satisfied you were with your move-in experience?

1 = Very Dissatisfied 5 = Very Satisfied

1 2 3 4 5

2. How helpful were the staff and fellow students at helping you move-in?

1 = Not helpful 5 = Very helpful

1 2 3 4 5

3. What was the best experience you had during move-in days?

4. What was the worst experience you had during move-in days?

5. What type of activities were provided to introduce you to your housing community?
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6. What suggestions do you have for us to improve move-in days?

Appendix F

Assessment measure, Fall 2010

Given to all freshmen and sophomores who moved in fall semester 2010

1. 1. Overall, please rate how satisfied you were with your move-in experience?

1 = Very Dissatisfied 5 = Very Satisfied

1 2 3 4 5

2. How helpful were the staff and fellow students at helping you move-in?

1 = Not helpful 5 = Very helpful

1 2 3 4 5

3. What was the best experience you had during move-in days?

4. What was the worst experience you had during move-in days?

5. What type of activities were provided to introduce you to your housing community?
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7. What was your favorite educational session? (if attended)

6. What suggestions do you have for us to improve move-in days?

Appendix G

Assessment measure for Educational Sessions Fall 2010

Given to all students in attendance at that particular session

1. Overall, how would you rate this educational session?

1 = Poor 5 = Excellent

1 2 3 4 5

2. Please list one thing you learned today that you didn’t know before?

3. How engaging was the presenter?

1 = Not engaging 5 = Very engaging

1 2 3 4 5

4. How interesting was the topic?

1 = Not interesting 5 = Very interesting

1 2 3 4 5

5. What suggestions do you have for improving this educational session?

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6. Would you recommend this session to a friend? _____Yes _____No