Front Door Project 2006-2007 Final Report

• Front Door Project Home    |   Membership    |   Printable Version

• I. Enhanced Student Services | II. Location of Student Services | III. Create Information Center | IV. Appearance and Access

• V. Enhance Online Front Door | VI. Strengthen Community Front Door | VII. Cross Cutting Issues | VIII. Standing Committee | Appendix

Full Report

For a variety of reasons, students have difficulty accessing Student Services (including Recruiting, Admissions, Advising and Counseling, EOF, Finance, Financial Aid, Registrar, Student Activities, and Transfer and Career Services). The RVCC Graduating Student Survey of General Student Satisfaction revealed some of these problems. Comparing the December 2006 responses to the December 2005 responses is particularly significant because the increase in student credit hours from Fall 2005 to Fall 2006 was the biggest increase in credit hours since 2003. According to the results of the survey, when comparing December 2006 responses to December 2005 responses, the satisfaction of Staff Helpfulness declined overall and in each category. Students who were “very satisfied” in December 2005 totaled 49%, but in December 2006 that category dropped to 42%, a 7 point drop accounting for a significant 14.3% decline in satisfaction. A less dramatic change was seen in students who were “satisfied” in December 2005; they totaled 36%, but in December 2006 that category dropped to 35%, a 1 point drop accounting for a mere 2.8% decline in satisfaction. Taken as a whole, the combined totals were 85% in December 2005 but only 77% in December 2006, an 8 point drop accounting for an overall decline in satisfaction of 9.4% in one year.

Appearing below is a more detailed table reflecting the ten worst overall declines in total “excellent” and “good” rankings for service quality from that survey:

One can easily see that academic advisement, transfer counseling, billing services, financial aid and registration – all student service-related departments – appear on this list with significant satisfaction ranking declines in one year. These results reveal that Student Services are not adequately meeting the needs of our current student population.

This problem is particularly alarming because not only does Student Services lack the resources to serve the current student population, but also these offices will be even less equipped as the student population increases. Some of the most eye-opening demographic statistics that will clearly have a significant impact on the college were cited in the Environmental Scan dated October 2006. The report indicated that the number of high school graduates in New Jersey will increase by more than 29% between 2002 and 2013, a statistical increase which also carries through to Somerset and Hunterdon counties. In addition, the college is expecting an increase in the proportion of the RVCC student body that is low income, minority or first generation college-bound. Thirdly, students over age 35 have declined by 15% in the past five years, and the declining population trend of adults aged 25 to 44 is expected to continue through 2015 in Somerset and Hunterdon counties. The increase in population in general requires an increase in resources, but the expected increase in special populations which require more one-on-one time will even further stretch the already limited resources of Student Services.

The declines in Student Services described above need to be swiftly and properly addressed so that the increase in incoming students, which will be proportionately younger and more disadvantaged than RVCC’s historical average student, can be satisfactorily serviced. These new students will clearly need considerably more support than we have been able to provide in the past due to financial constraints and competing priorities.

The following recommendations are based on the need for a more streamlined approach to student services as well as increasing the consistency and availability of student services. The lack of a coordinating mechanism for student services is evidenced by the lack of a centralized area for all student services locations as well as a lack of coordination in the administration of student services. Due to the shortages in staffing many offices are stretched thin in an effort to simply provide basic student services. The students at RVCC deserve better, and in order to provide that, the College must invest in increased staff in the form of an Admissions Department as well as a Dean of Students position. In addition to the need for coordinating administratively, student services offices are currently on a variety of schedules and located in a fashion that is not conducive to students’ needs. In addition, students appear to get “lost” in the admissions process. The committee recognized the need for a “checklist” to be created for different student populations to guide them through the admissions process. In addition, this checklist could be used campus wide by anyone attempting to assist students.

Establish an Admissions Department with Admissions Counselor positions

With the recruiters off campus a great deal of time, there is no one consistently on campus charged with the important duty of providing a proper welcome to a potential new or transferring student. There are some Enrollment technicians who provide an application form to the interested student, and process the completed application, but an Admissions counselor would serve as the first in-person contact for these new additions to our educational community. The counselors would be able to answer any questions about the college and its procedures and generally make the student feel welcome at a time that most students feel unsure and confused. This necessary addition to customer service would reinforce the feeling that the student made the right choice when deciding to attend RVCC.

Create an Admissions Checklist

Create an instructional checklist that also serves as an outline to help guide the student step-by-step through the entire enrollment-to-class attendance process, including relevant time frames and deadlines for each step. The checklist should be created for each type of new student. It would also be helpful to students if we could provide them with a campus map that would identify the site of pertinent locations and departments, such as the Bookstore, the Cafeteria, Enrollment Services, Finance, Testing, etc.

Improve hours of Student Services

All Student Services should be open during the same business hours to serve students. This includes availability during extended hours when expected heavy in-person registration periods occur. We should further enhance students’ payment options by utilizing a secured tuition payment drop box to allow students to physically deposit payment envelopes after hours and on weekends while they are on campus and the payment window is closed. The proper receipt can be mailed to the student on the next business day after the payment is processed. We could place one near the front entrance of the college and another by the Finance Office.

Create a more accessible Recruiting Office

The Recruiting Office must be accessible to students who enter the front of the College. In addition, the office must be open and inviting to potential students and their families. The Recruiting Office needs a more prominent office space that allows students to easily locate the office and to travel efficiently from Recruiting to other Student Services. This office must be in an area that reflects the warm, inviting image the College wishes to portray.

Open the space for the Testing Center

The existing entrance to the Testing Center is isolated and tunnel-like; it is not readily visible to anyone outside the Testing Center. Not only is it unattractive, but it also presents security risks, especially on evenings and weekends when there is only one staff member in the Testing Center. The Testing Center should be expanded into the space currently used by Media Services, thereby relocating the Testing Center entrance onto the main hallway and creating windows along the hallway area for better light and visibility. The Testing Center would also be a lighter, more open and attractive space if the dropped ceiling could be redesigned to allow light from the existing skylights to come in. The air system needs to be upgraded as it gets much too hot in the Testing Center for students to be comfortable while taking tests in hot weather. The excessive heat is also not good for the students, staff or equipment.

Create Proper Signage

Signs should be obvious from all entrances of the College that direct students to a variety of areas, including Student Services. These signs should be clear and easy to read. In particular, signs need to be created to direct students from the front of the college (including the Testing Center) to the College Center.

Create Dean of Students to coordinate all Student Services

The departments that work within Student Services currently report along three chains of command. There is no position that seeks to coordinate the efforts of Student Services in order to decrease duplication of effort and provide support with an understanding of how the college functions. Creating a Dean of Students to coordinate the work of all Student Services mentioned above will allow for all Student Services to coordinate their efforts in providing their services to students. This position would coordinate and provide support for informational student programs, coordinate college experience courses as well as direct the retention efforts begun under the Title III grant. This position would also seek to decrease duplication of effort by the many offices within Student Services as well as provide support and leadership for activities already in place. This position should also oversee all student judicial affairs and strengthen Student Government by incorporating students into the judicial process. Examples of coordination of services include: hold financial aid fairs in conjunction with Open Houses to inform students about financial aid; establish “best practices” where students can set up appointments with counselors via an online appointment book; establish a practice where students would be asked to fill out a confidential survey after their use of a school service (each department’s directors can then review and monitor the surveys on a regular basis and utilize the responses to continually improve customer service). Additional examples include considering the possibility of providing students with an incentive to register and pay early, such as discounted tuition, to motivate students who might normally wait until one or two weeks before classes start. If this incentive is successful, it should spread the impact of registering students over a greater amount of time, thereby reducing long lines during typically peak registration periods. Student Ambassadors could also help during peak registration periods (two weeks before classes begin) and during the evening hours.

Location of Student Services

Student Services are spread throughout the College and many require students to travel through one department to speak with another department. Examples include EOF, Recruiting, and Financial Aid. Also, visitors find it difficult to find these services when entering through the front of the College. There are no signs when entering the front of the College that direct students to the College Center for most Student Services. Offices are desperately short on space, causing slow response to student inquiries as well as giving students the perception that the College does not value its Student Services. Student Services, including Admissions, Advising and Counseling, EOF, Finance, Financial Aid, Registrar, Recruiting, Student Activities, Testing, and Transfer and Career Services, are currently understaffed and overcrowded. Efforts are underway to correct staffing issues in some offices, and this trend will need to continue to other offices as our population increases. Without any increased staffing, Student Services offices are already short on space, and the space they are located in is inappropriate. Metal walls, a lack of sufficient office space, no direct student access to some departments, and other overcrowding conditions means that students’ privacy is not protected when they are meeting with a Student Services representative in almost any area.

Short Term Recommendations

Rearrange the first floor of the College Center so that it houses offices that interact with students on a daily basis (Admissions, Advising and Counseling, EOF, Finance, Financial Aid, Registrar, Student Activities, and Transfer and Career Services)

The first floor of the College Center is mostly used for these Student Services, but there are some other unrelated offices on this floor as well. These non-student service offices should be moved in order to allow the appropriate amount of space for a short term physical reorganization of Student Services. Such non-student service offices could be moved to some of the soon-to-be vacated space on the first floor of Somerset. For example, College Advancement could be moved to Somerset so that Recruiting could be moved where College Advancement currently is, which would place Recruiting directly across from Student Activities. Furthermore, another example is that the Central Stores/Mailroom could be moved out of the College Center so that space could be used for Student Services. If Central Stores/Mailroom is moved, offices that need a “front face,” like Registration/Admissions, Advising/Counseling, EOF, and Financial Aid, could be reorganized to take advantage of that space and door availability. Other rooms vacated on the first floor of Somerset could be used as regular classrooms, since we are short on those. We also suggest that one of those classrooms be turned into a quiet study lounge for students. We recommend that these short term recommendations be completed before the Fall 2007 semester begins.

Long Term Recommendations

Build a Student Center to house all Student Services

Despite any short term changes made to the College Center, that space is still not remotely sufficient to house our current Student Services, let alone house what will have to be an expansion in Student Services to accommodate a projected rise in enrollment. A space must be created where all Student Services have appropriate space as well as direct student access. Many offices share student documents so the concept of a centralized “back office” with individual “front offices” is proposed. While creating such a space in the existing front of the college was an option we liked because it brought all relevant offices together near the “front door,” this option ultimately did not seem feasible because of the lack of space for such offices and the lack of parking. A new Student Center should be built to house all Student Services, including Admissions, Advising and Counseling, EOF, Finance, Financial Aid, Registrar, Recruiting, Student Activities, Testing, and Transfer and Career Services. In this centralized place, prospective and current students would find assistance with all aspects of their college experience. The building should not be physically connected to the current mass of campus buildings, but rather be built a short distance away near Lot 5. Locating the building away from the current structures allows for ample parking, which is already built, as well as an opportunity for students to have a place away from classrooms for their Student Services. This building must include ample space for student lounges, offices for Student Activities staff, offices for student government, and cubicles and storage for club use. In addition, the building should have wireless internet access and plugs for students to bring their laptops. Sufficient space for snack bars, TV rooms, and a game room should also be included. As part of this increase in staffing and space for Student Services, student athletics must be staffed more appropriately, with more sports available and more appropriate space and equipment for student athletes.

Create Information Center

Lack of access to information is a campus-wide issue. Offices across campus do not have access to basic information about other offices on campus. The lack of information affects not only the College’s ability to effectively disseminate information to students but also the College’s ability to effectively disseminate information within itself. Through the creation of a well-staffed information center, campus calendar, and call center during peak times, students and visitors from the community will have the opportunity to speak with someone to answer their basic questions as well as be properly directed for more in-depth information.

Create an Information Center

There is a current need for a central repository of all RVCC-related information. An Information Center could provide basic information, like Student Services FAQs and other printed material. The Information Center should be staffed by an in-person and phone information team who can answer all basic questions about student-related issues, events, and the College in general. To help create this Center, restore the Evening Administrator position and add that position to this Information team. For now, the current Welcome Center Desk can be utilized to house this team. When it is feasible at a later date, create an Information Center in the Student Center. Students, visitors, and employees will turn to the Information Center for all general information including, but not limited to: office locations, phone numbers and emails, final exam schedule, location of events on campus, etc. The Information Center will be accessible in person, on the phone, and via email and the web.

Staff this Information Center appropriately

The Information Center needs to be staffed during normal business hours by people who are equipped to answer general questions about all aspects of the College, including Student Services, the Theatre, the University Center, and the Planetarium. People who staff the Information Center should be college employees and not security personnel. They would be responsible for answering basic student and visitor questions as well as directing students and visitors to the appropriate offices.

Create a Campus Calendar

The Information Center must be aware of all events on campus and their locations. There is currently a project underway to centralize the creation of a Campus Calendar, and this work must continue. The project involves the development of a campus calendar that would be available on the Lion’s Den and the College website. The calendar would provide a comprehensive listing of all events and activities on campus, as well as important dates and deadlines. A campus calendar is being created by the Marketing department, but support is needed to assist in making sure that the project is sustainable and requires as little manual intervention as possible. The calendar should be maintained by the Marketing department in conjunction with the Information Center. The electronic bulletin boards that are in the process of being installed could also reflect the events in the Campus Calendar.

Create a Call Center

Admissions, Advising and Counseling, Finance, and Registrar’s offices all experience exceptional call volume during peak registration times. Many students attempting to contact these offices will call any office on campus until someone answers a phone in order to speak with someone and avoid leaving a message. Much call volume may be due to students contacting these offices multiple times. Students contacting high volume numbers during peak times could then have their call routed through this call center, staffed by people with general knowledge about various Student Services. Students with more in-depth questions could have a message taken and their call returned by the appropriate office.

Physical Aspects of the College

There are a variety of concerns regarding the physical appearance of and access to the College. The College sits on a beautiful campus, with a pond, wetlands, rolling hills and a view of the surrounding areas. However, students and visitors tend not to see this beauty because they are instead either figuring out where they need to go or noticing the garbage strewn around campus, which takes away from the natural setting. Finally, the campus is not as accessible as it should be to people with physical disabilities, a serious problem because there is an ever increasing population of students and visitors to the College who have physical disabilities. As this population increases, the limited accommodations that the College offers will be stretched beyond its ability to provide access and opportunity to them

Improve General Appearance

There is often garbage strewn about the campus that should be picked up more frequently. Perhaps more outdoor garbage cans and recycling bins would be helpful. Weeds should also be cut back and landscaped more frequently. Also, the walkways between parking lots and building should be well lit at all times that the campus is open.

Increase Visitor Parking

Until a Student Center is built where prospective students would park at, some parking spots in the current Visitors’ lot should be designated for prospective students. In addition, people who need to quickly drop something off or pick something up don’t have a convenient place to park, so a spot could be designated for that as well. Also, a shuttle going between campus and the North Branch train station, for example, could alleviate parking and encourage those without cars to come to campus.

Create walkways to access entire campus

Students, employees, and visitors would be able to appreciate the campus grounds more fully if there were walkways covering those grounds. Creation of a park and a walking trail would not only contribute to the beauty of the campus but also encourage students, faculty, and staff to spend more time being active in accordance with the College initiative “One World: Health and Wellness”. Also, when the College is open all paths and roadways should be clear of ice and snow. After recent storms many entrances have not been accessible due to ice and or snow.

Recommendations specific to improving access to the college for people with disabilities

Increase parking

The campus is currently experiencing a shortage of handicapped parking and building accessibility campus-wide. There is no designated drop off area at the front door for students with physical disabilities. In addition, there are not enough handicapped parking spaces at the front door, or campus wide. The current work around to this problem has been for handicapped students to request entrance to parking lot 6 which is gated and to park in the handicapped spaces there. This reduces the number of handicapped spaces available to faculty and staff.

Improve walkways, elevators, ramps, and stairways

All ramps and stairways should be well lit, have good lines of sight and have the proper handrails. Elevators are frequently out of service for long periods of time. There should also be more signs noting where ramps and elevators are. Elevator doors should open wider and for longer times. The elevator buttons need to be at a more appropriate height. All areas need to be accessible; the cyber café, for example, is not. Stairs should be well lit and labeled so that persons with visual impairments will know where they are for safety reasons. Traveling to the Arts building in a wheelchair is difficult due to the steepness of the walkway from the Physical Education Building to the Arts Building, so that should be improved. Finally, walkways should be properly plowed so that students in wheelchairs can navigate these walkways safely.

Automate doors

Not all areas of the College have sufficient automated door openers to accommodate these students. Also, access to different buildings on campus is limited by the physical set up of the campus. Not all Student Services have adequate automated door openers, and most classrooms lack them as well.

Improve signage

Not all signs have Braille, and this should be standard across campus.

Improve classroom access

There are no lab tables for students with disabilities in the Science building. Many computers across campus are also not accessible for those in a wheelchair.

Improve access to rest rooms

Rest rooms are difficult to enter and exit without assistance due to the heavy the doors. Also, stalls should be designated for those with disabilities. Many of the sinks in restrooms are not accessible to someone in a wheelchair.

Improve access to Student Services

All Student Services should be accessible by automated door openers. Also, all personnel in Student Services should be accessible by students with disabilities. There are many staff members that students with disabilities are unable to meet with unless that staff person moves to someone else’s office. In addition, the Library and Testing Center should be equipped with more sound proof rooms to accommodate students using assistive technology or other services that require talking.

Create Campus-wide Training

Faculty, staff, students, and visitors with disabilities should have information regarding plans for students with disabilities in case of emergency.

Online Front Door

While there is a lot of information available online, it is not always updated or easy to find. The design of the website is not consistent throughout, and all pages are not updated on a regular basis. The web site has recently added “text only” links to all pages, but a move to make the main site ADA compliant should still be a major consideration. In addition to the web site, Lion’s Den is a wonderful resource for students, faculty, and staff. Improvements to Lion’s Den should also be continued.

Shift to Content Management

An assessment of our website was conducted in early 2007 by Sungard. Navigation, broken links, and lack of CSS (style of designing websites that is ADA compliant) were listed as the three areas that were most in need of attention. The RVCC website uses frames, which are an outdated technology, in order to keep the look of the pages across the site consistent. There is no system of governance in place to prioritize the major changes needed for the website or to monitor the status of the entire site. There is not a current culture of personal/department responsibility for content updates; funneling those things through one person is inefficient. Many pages, for example have not been updated in a few years. While it is possible that there are no changes required to these pages, it is also possible that the source of much of the misinformation or incorrect information may be due to the lack of ability to monitor the updating of these pages. Create a governance body to oversee web initiatives, and subsequently create a policy and culture that support decentralized content updating, facilitated by a content management tool. From a technology standpoint, this would allow RVCC to streamline both its web design and content functions, and allow for easy global branding or visual changes. From a content standpoint, a simple web interface and automated reminders to keep content current should encourage individuals to maintain their own website areas, with workflow and content approval options where needed. The implementation of this new system would require training by the representatives from each department who are responsible for the website for that department. This new training and management would be a jumpstart to review the website as a whole and in terms of each department to determine the validity of the information stored on the site.

Continue to develop Channels

Admitted, non-registered students have their own tab in Lion’s Den to provide them with personalized information to help them begin their career at the College. Currently, Channels are being rolled out that simplify the use of ROARs for faculty, staff, and students. Channels should continue to be implemented not only for these groups, but also for prospective students. In addition, more emphasis should be put on new students using Lion’s Den to access services rather than calling or coming to campus. By increasing the use of Lion’s Den, students will be able to complete registration, grading, financial aid and student accounting transactions without the need to come to campus and wait in line.

Continue to make the website ADA compliant

The website has been recently been made ADA compliant by the use of a text only link option for those using the site. However, effort should be put into the recreation of the site under content management as listed above to increase the likelihood that the site could be accessible to those using assistive devices without having to link to a text only version.

Community Front Door

High School and Community Outreach

Many students who come to RVCC directly out of high school are unprepared for the rigors of higher education. In addition, there is a need to provide a more seamless connection between secondary and post secondary sectors without creating the “grade 13” mentality.

Strengthen and clarify information about Concurrent Enrollment

The Concurrent Enrollment Program (CEP) is a partnership between Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) and high schools whereby qualified high school juniors and seniors enroll in a credit-bearing college course as a part of their high school day. CEP is designed to meet the educational, economic and social demands of the Twenty-first Century as identified by high school faculty, students, and parents: addressing dissatisfaction felt among capable senior high school students who have completed most of their graduation requirements by the end of their junior year; offering creative and alternative means of financing four years of higher education; and fostering partnerships between secondary and post-secondary institutions of higher education that provide improved educational services. The program has received validity of grades within English I, and there has been consistency in standards and assessment. A number of colleges are interested in expanding this program, and enthusiastic testimony from students who have gone on to college is compelling evidence of the success of the program. Information on Concurrent Enrollment is hard to find on the College’s website and the registration process can be discouraging to students as well as those administering the program. A new director of Academic Outreach has been hired to coordinate all high school outreach efforts. One of her many goals will be to streamline the process for students to enroll and pay for the program. BANNER should be fully utilized to ensure consistently correct registration for these courses. In addition, the professional development afforded English faculty and adjuncts by Title III can be extended to CEP faculty to help reduce the need for remediation among College freshmen, and an annual meeting should draw together counselors from participating schools to address possible problems and suggestions for change. In the future, the program should be expanded to new schools as well as new subjects such as math and foreign language. Also, the ASPIRE program at Franklin High School should be more visible and integrated into the outreach to teachers for professional development.

Strengthen and clarify information about Early Credits

The High School Scholars Early Credits Program at RVCC is a program for high school juniors and seniors. These students may enroll in college level courses on the campus and receive College credit upon satisfactory completion of those courses. Depending on the course(s) taken, credits may be used for satisfaction of degree requirements at RVCC or another college. Similar to the CEP, information on this program is hard to find and once found it is listed in multiple places giving conflicting information. The College should create a simple consistent process for students to register for these courses. Improvements have been made for the registration process for upcoming semesters, but due to the recent resignation of program’s coordinator, the program is need of leadership in order to create consistency in the program.

Strengthen Somerset Academy for Health and Medical Sciences

America’s best and brightest students in the areas of math and science are already two years behind their international counterparts by the eighth grade, and it becomes necessary for colleges and universities to help them catch up. In order for the American economy to remain competitive in a global marketplace, innovation in the areas of math, science, and technologies is increasingly crucial. Vocational education is often disconnected from the contexts and rigor of traditional academic education and interdisciplinary teaching. Advancing content knowledge in the domains of math and science is an ongoing need in the secondary school sector. The curricular connections between the secondary and postsecondary sectors are disconnected rather than seamless, particularly in the skill sets essential in math, science, and composition. The Health Academy has recruited cohorts of the most gifted and talented students in math and science from bicounty high schools, and prepared for them an accelerated curriculum that allows them to graduate with a high school diploma and associates degree in four years. Somerset Academy for Health and Medical Sciences is a four-year, full-time program dedicated to advancing the educational and personal development of all students seeking careers in the allied health field as doctors, nurses, medical technicians, medical assistants, and health care managers. The partnership between Somerset County Vocational & Technical H.S. and Raritan Valley Community College will give exceptional students enrolled in the program a chance to earn an Associate Degree in Allied Health from RVCC while still in high school. The Academy encourages collaborative conversations among College and secondary school faculty in the areas of English, math, and science. The Academy curriculum encourages interdisciplinary teaching, service-learning, applications of technology, and the integration of vocational perspectives into academic course-work. The program should be included in all high school outreach. Continuous work is needed to ensure the success of Academy students in their early college coursework. The content must also be aligned to the content standards of the high school and college curriculum.

Strengthen and clarify information about the University Center

The University Center at Raritan Valley Community College offers a convenient way for adult learners in Somerset and Hunterdon Counties to obtain baccalaureate and graduate degrees certificates, from an expanding number of accredited colleges and universities. The University Center offers a wide range of degree programs to choose from, whether you want to return to college to continue your education, or you need an advanced degree or certificate to move forward with your career. Given the resignation of the program’s coordinator, the University Center is in need of leadership, as well as updated information. The mission of the University Center should be clarified, and the position of the Assistant Dean filled immediately. An internal steering committee should be formed to review existing and future educational pathways as well as the overall operations of the University Center. Further, the University Center needs greater visibility with space and signage, a real “front door”. Also, the information, both in print and on the website, needs to be clarified and updated.

Strengthen the Writing Agenda

The first report of the National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges, The Neglected ‘R,’ issued in April 2003, recommends that “Higher education should address the special role it has to play in improving writing.” In fact, it calls for “a writing revolution” that places the teaching of writing at the center of schooling nationwide. All prospective teachers, no matter their disciplines, should be provided with courses that demonstrate how to teach writing. Meanwhile writing instruction in colleges and universities should be improved for all students. The second report, The Ticket to Work, extends this need to improve writing in the workplace, and the third report, issued in May 2006, looks at School Reform. In spite of its place at the center of schooling, writing is the “Neglected ‘R,” and the Commission calls for a “Writing Revolution.” The RVCC website should have information that is easy to find. Also, a timeline should be created so that information and programs are created and published in a timely fashion.

Marketing and Recruitment

Implement BANNER Recruitment Module

Currently, not all student contact information (for students in the early phase of the recruitment process) that is collected is stored in the BANNER student information system. Targeted marketing and recruitment toward CCE and other internal subgroups is weak. Data about Alumni that identifies outcomes is not collected. Follow-up work is needed on additional recommendations developed in the CLARUS reports. RVCC has a variety of recruitment events that attract students, and RVCC Alumni are successful both in career and transfer. There is also a large group of potential students in the Police academy and CCE. CLARUS study and high school outreach programs have established baseline information on the College’s image in the community.

Increase targeted marketing and recruitment

Create transition procedures to utilize the BANNER recruitment module to track and report on outreach to students and student contacts. Begin targeted marketing and recruitment of Policy Academy graduates.

Showcase faculty and student achievements

RVCC faculty have a depth of knowledge that exceeds their areas of expertise that should be showcased. Such publicity would assist in the recruiting process, and prospective students would benefit from interaction with and relationships begun with faculty during the recruitment process. Highlight success stories of Alumni on both the college website and during the recruitment process. Increase the use of faculty in the recruiting process.

Consider hiring a consulting service

Consider employing a professional consulting service to establish college “branding” (companies to consider include Noel/Levitz, Goal Quest, and SAS Educational Practice).

Continue to address issues raised in the CLARUS high school scan

Recommendations from this scan included capturing RVCC’s “high tech” aspect more effectively in the recruiting material (both print and on-line) and targeting high school students’ parents and guidance counselors more effectively. These issues have begun to be addressed, and such efforts should continue.

Bound Brook

In 2006, the College and the Bound Brook schools entered into a mutually beneficial partnership aimed at addressing the following identified needs: the acute learning resource needs of Bound Brook High School (in terms of technology, media, and facilities support); the needs of the district to offer enhanced learning opportunities for high school students as well as parents of school students who need to learn to speak English; and the College’s need for a facility to offer a range of courses to this otherwise underserved community and thereby extend the post-secondary access for some individuals and create convenient close to home/work scheduling options for others. The number of courses running and students being served is growing, creating on-going challenges for coordination and seamless service. In the Fall 2006 semester, 58 students were enrolled and in the Spring 2007 semester, that number more than doubled to 126 students in 9 sections. Further growth is projected for the 2007-08 academic year, with semester enrollments projected to be in the range of 175-200 students. The College has used some available grant resources for start up to pay for minimal staff coordination, laboratory, and technical enhancements.

Fund the Bound Brook initiative

The College needs to allocate operating funds for a part-time coordinator to address and resolve the many issues that arise on an ongoing basis. Funding is also needed to continue the hourly position of Building monitor who at once serves the security needs of the school building as well as the “front door” by greeting and signing in faculty and students as they enter the building.

Franklin Center

The Franklin Center, created in 2000, was founded to offer an RVCC education to students who did not want to travel to the main campus. The Franklin Center is accessible by public transportation and located near a variety of other services such as restaurants and shopping. The location offers an education to a community from within that community and has the ability to provide public outreach and leadership. However, the Franklin Center’s course offerings are inconsistent, and support is not provided to the Franklin Center to provide all of the services provided at the main campus. Academic advising, academic support, student accounting and student activities are examples of services not fully provided to students at the Franklin Campus.

Strengthen support for the Franklin Center

In recent semesters, academic advising and academic support has increased for students at the Franklin Center. However, students are not able to complete a degree at the Franklin Center as many courses are not offered there. The College should make a commitment to provide all of the courses for selected degree programs at the Franklin Center. By combining good academic advising, specialized courses could be offered on an annual basis allowing students, with the correct planning, to complete their entire degree at the Franklin Center. Also there are extreme timing delays in processing information from the Franklin Center. A system should be created to allow information that is received at the Franklin Center that must be processed by the main campus to be done so within a timely fashion.

Cross Cutting Issues

Information Sharing

Policies and procedures are not always available either between departments or within a department.

Cross Train employees

We should cross-train front-line employees in student service-related departments across the college to be able to properly answer a wide range of student questions. This will eliminate the need for students to be sent to multiple departments (either in person, by phone, or by e-mail) to obtain answers to the relatively simple and usually repetitive questions. This will also result in the front-line employee more effectively listening to all the students’ questions to properly answer, resolve problems and/or forward the student to the correct department, and eliminate any “runaround.”

Create FAQs

We should collaboratively create a college-wide list of “FAQs” (Frequently Asked Questions) and their appropriate responses to be used by all departments and post them on the RVCC website for faculty, staff and students to access. It would also be helpful to create a college-wide Internal Glossary that can be referred to by all departments, so that faculty and staff could understand the often specialized terminology of other departments.

Systemic Thinking

The College encourages initiative and free thinking in its employees as a way of creating new ways to innovate and succeed in the face of shrinking resources. As a result, many different areas of the College have developed different ways of completing the same task. Also, not all departments are taking full advantage of the integrated systems on campus such as BANNER, the Lion’s Den and Microsoft Outlook. Innovation and development that happens behind the scenes is not seen by the College community as a whole, and as a result, there is duplication of ideas and work being done on many levels.

Develop procedures within all departments to use the integrated systems in order to decrease workload

For example, all student information pertaining to the Early Credits and Concurrent Enrollment programs need to be stored and processed within BANNER so that all departments needing access to this information can access this information as necessary. In addition, use of the Lion’s Den portal should be expanded to allow access for students in the recruitment process to encourage interaction with the College and to help make their transition easier.

Sustainability

Due to the lack of resources, many projects are implemented quickly and without thought to sustainability. In addition, these projects may not make full use of all resources due to lack of awareness of their availability.

Create sustainable projects

All projects undertaken at the behest of the Front Door Project Committee Report should do so with the idea of sustainability in mind. Communication should be enlisted at all levels of the College in order to determine ways that technology can be fully used in order to decrease the long term need for manpower. An example of this is the Campus Calendar. This calendar should be implemented using as much technology as possible to reduce the manpower required to monitor and publish the Calendar. The implementation of Content Management for the website is an example of implementing a more sustainable solution than the one currently in place which requires more manpower.

The Future of the Front Door

The Front Door Project Committee has spent a great deal of time researching issues related to the College’s front door and produced recommendations based on that research that should bring the College’s actual front door in line with how the College wants to present itself.

Create a long-term Front Door committee

The Front Door Project should remain a committee. The purpose of the committee would be to provide guidance on the recommendations submitted in this report as well as to review any new issues that are found relating to the front door.

Appendix

1) Sullivan, John. “RVCC Report on the State of Student Affairs.” June 2006.

2) Front Door Project Committee’s recommendation that, based on a visit, Brookdale’s campus provided some good models for us: We visited Brookdale Community College and thought the CAR Building (Center for Admissions and Registration) provided an attractive appearance and excellent function for visitors and new students. The front of the building had been redesigned with an open, airy appearance (lots of windows), and a good functional layout. The entrance had automatic doors, and the foyer had clear signs and an elevator. Brookdale’s Student Life Center was very open and welcoming. The atmosphere was happy and relaxed. The bookstore looked more like a Barnes & Noble than a college bookstore. Textbooks were located in the back. The Dining Room had doors leading to a spacious outdoor patio with very attractive tables and chairs, like café tables, not picnic tables. There was plenty of open space to sit and talk with fireplaces and flat screen TVs.

3) Adelman, Clifford. “How to Design a Web Site That Welcomes Prospective Applicants.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. 27 Oct. 2006: B26.

4) Results of the Mystery Shopper Questionnaire

5) Sample FAQs

6) Letter to Superintendent David Livingston

7) Writing Agenda

return to top

Updated 060507 ERB