Office of the Provost

Student Affairs and Academic Affairs Collaboration (Community Colleges)

Workshops Initiated towards Needs of Students - "WINS"

Campus: Monroe
Contact: Peggy Harvey-Lee

Program Objectives

The campus need for Workshops Initiated towards Needs of Students - WINS was developed by Monroe Community College's Counseling and Advising Center because there had been a steady decrease in the numbers of students attending regular Counseling and Advising Center workshops. Professional staff would spend hours developing student success workshops which were generally held during college hours when fewer classes were traditionally held. Prior to the inception of the WINS series, two, maybe three students would be in attendance at the regular workshops. They were becoming a drain on human and financial resources and an alternative strategy needed to be developed to reach these students. A series of meetings were convened with Student Affairs and Academic Affairs to address this emerging issue. Through the collaboration of these two divisions and the Director of the Counseling and Advising Center, the two counselors who developed the concept were given the support needed to move forward with the WINS series proposal. The program would meet the following campus needs:

• Collaboration between Department of Counseling and Advising and Academic Services
• Cost effect; minimum budgetary impact
• Use of professional staff
• Presentation of WINS to captive audience
• Increase numbers of students receiving information in a new way
• Support for faculty to have an alternative to canceling classes when absent
• Students learn more about the college/academic process

Standard workshops can be taught or specific ones can be designed to meet class needs.

Program Design

The WINS series is a collaborative effort of the Department of Counseling and Advising and Academic Services. It is designed to help students learn more about how to succeed in college while effectively engaging professors, counselors and /or advisors simultaneously. WINS brings "how-to" workshops into classrooms, it enables the Counseling and Advising professional staff to reach a large number of students (a captive audience) in one setting, many of whom would not be reached in any other way. Also, the standardized workshop packets are "grab and go," which eliminates the "design" time for the WINS series. When a professor knows at least two weeks in advance that it will be necessary to cancel class, contact is made with Department of Counseling and Advising to request a member of the staff attend a class and teach a workshop. A professor can learn more about the WINS series and register for a workshop by going on the Counseling and Advising Center website:  http://www.monroecc.edu/depts/counsel/WhileAway.htm or by calling (585)292-2250.

The WINS series consists of the following:

• Study Skills at Your Fingertips - Learn how to develop a study method. Identify how much time you need to study and learn how to make the most of that time.
• Time Management - Learn techniques to manage your time, build a schedule, and prioritize and set goals.
• Note-taking - Learn how to identify important information and take notes successfully. Find out how to be an active listener.
• Test Anxiety - Learn what to do when anxiety blocks your performance. Learn how to prepare so that you feel in control; be able to put the test in perspective, make a study plan and practice relaxation.
• It^'s Never too Early (or Late) to Prepare for Advisement - Learn to prepare for the advisement process so that you are in control and ready for the upcoming semester.
• Design your Own - Have something special that you want your class to know/learn? We can design a workshop specifically to meet the needs of your class (requires a minimum of three weeks' notice).
• What Can I do With a Major In... - Learn about career options within a particular academic major. Topics include education and training, employment options, jobs outlook, earnings, etc. The presenter will be a representative of the Career Center.
• Creating Your Career: Career Exploration - Learn about the career decision-making process, how to research a career, use career assessment, locate print and online career resources, conduct an informational interview and learn how to network.
• Transfer College Advisement 101- This presentation covers information about the transfer application process, the transferability of credits, articulation agreements, 2+2 programs, transfer college scholarships, and will orient students to the resources needed to research four-year colleges/universities and majors. The presenter will be a representative of the Career Center.

Program Effectiveness

Counseling and advising staff recognized that the numbers of students attending their regular workshop series, outside of the classroom, were down and even with the use of extra marketing strategies, the numbers continued to decrease. A process had to be developed that would be cost effective and easily maintained to not deplete the financial and human resources of the Counseling and Advising Department. Also, there had to be collaboration with other campus departments to develop the most effective strategies to engage students in a new learning model. The program has met its objectives by being cost effective, using the Counseling and Advising staff as well as other college professionals to present workshops as part of their workload. The numbers of students receiving information from these workshops has increased approximately 20% each year since the inception of the WINS series five years ago. The program has been very successful and faculty has supported this initiative and appreciates not having to cancel classes.

Collaboration

Monroe Community College is the largest college in Western New York with a population over 38,000 students. It has four campuses and in the fall 2003, residence halls opened. Presently, there are over 750 students who live in the residence halls. With the population of students continuing to increase, with resources essentially remaining the same, and the Counseling and Advising Center workshop series having a decreasing number of students in attendance, it became apparent that students needed to be engaged in a different way to receive essential information. There was now an opportunity to collaborate between Academic Services and Student Services. Meetings were convened by the Director of the Counseling and Advising Center with Dr. Susan Salvador, Vice President of Student Services, and Dr. Janet Glocker, Vice President of Academic Services, to determine the best forum for delivering student success strategies through the classroom environment. WINS was conceived through those meetings and was developed as an alternative to faculty having to cancel classes. As a captive audience, students could now be taught useful strategies for personal, career and academic success.

As the program grew and began to take on a life of its own, there became a greater opportunity to reach a larger number of faculty through various marketing venues which included:

• A letter to all faculty
• MCC Daily Tribune (daily E-newspaper)
• Counseling Center website
• Online registration form
• Program evaluation - faculty feedback
• Personal note to faculty/presenters

Other department staff was recruited to teach in the WINS series by using these strategies. In particular, Residential Life, Health Services, Educational Technology Services and the Career Center staff has worked collaboratively with the Counseling and Advising staff to teach specific workshops focused on several areas of interest to students. Students have been exposed to additional college resources. Their ability to explore various personal, educational and career options has been broadened by college professionals sharing their knowledge and expertise. Students have been able to explore more options for their success here, at Monroe Community College, and for the future. Presentations in the classrooms have lead to individual personal, academic and career counseling with appropriate professionals and use of the comprehensive resources available in a myriad of departments on campus.

Outcomes Assessment

A data management system was designed to process requests, organize information and evaluate feedback from faculty, presenters and students. The database consists of:

• Requests Maintenance
• Presenter Information
• Workshop Information
• Reports
• Exit

Information is captured on line and on forms that have been designed for WINS.

• Process for requesting a workshop
• Workshop online request form
• Initial Introduction letter to faculty
• Workshop descriptions
• Evaluation Form for faculty
• Evaluation Form for presenters
• Evaluation Form for students
• Power point presentation on the WINS program

Two years prior to the inception of the WINS series, the attendance at Counseling and Advising Center workshops had diminished to a point where only two or three students attended. WINS outcomes are the following:

• Eighty-six (86) WINS workshops have been taught in classes to a total of 2420 students
• Student Services and Academic Services continue to collaborate with student programming
• An alternative to canceling classes has been implemented
• Students are taught useful strategies for personal, career and academic success
• Prep time for workshops has been reduced due to the use of standardized workshop packets
• A larger "captive" student audience can be reached