September 26, 2008

Renaming of Day on Campus as STAR signals emphasis

Almost a year's work by a campus task force, collecting data and feedback, pointed the way.

 "We want our students' earliest experiences with Purdue to instill a culture of success," said Pam Horne, assistant vice president for enrollment management and dean of admissions. 

Instead of being called Day on Campus, the program will now be called Summer Transition, Advising, and Registration (STAR). The change more directly conveys what occurs during the program, says
Andrew Koch, director of Student Access, Transition and Success Programs.

"A six-year study of summer advisement and registration program attendance patterns revealed that about 55 to 65 percent of the students who do not come to the program are residents of either Indiana or Illinois — in essence, students with the closest proximity to Purdue," Koch says. "A common perception among these students was that they did not need to attend because they already spent time on campus. The program name did not explicitly convey to these students the purpose or importance of the summer program, which enables students to meet with their academic advisor, register for classes, take placement tests and credit exams, find out about financial aid and address other important academic transition needs.

"We ask all of our colleagues across the campus to alter their Web sites and new publications to reflect this change."

An analysis of the first-to-second-year retention rates of students who attended the program compared with those who did not shows a significant positive difference for attendees, Koch says. For the 2006 attendees, participants had an 85 percent first-to-
second-year retention rate compared with 76.7 percent for non-attendees.

Koch says attendance at STAR will now be required whereas in the past it was merely encouraged.

The task force is working with others on campus to finalize the details associated with the STAR changes, some of which include:

-- Creating a Web portal to allow STAR registration immediately following the payment (or waiver) of the admissions deposit.

-- Establishing a University-wide welcome session for students and families in which general information will be shared before students join their respective colleges and schools.

-- Creating a plan and protocol for a general student registration lab. With the implementation of Banner at Purdue, students now will register themselves for their courses following their advising appointments.

-- Coordinating the dissemination of information on placement tests and related exams to decrease student confusion.

-- Creating an approach for sharing consistent college transition information and financial aid and billing content with families and students.