Guided Pathways and Student Onboarding

A December 10, 2024, InsideHigherEd article regarding on-campus activity involvement based on Student Voice data showed gaps for stop out versus non-stop out students in their levels of involvement and belonging on campus.  The article also cited gaps in perception of academic quality and career exploration opportunities for stop out versus non-stop out students.  While intuitive, the information is meaningful and provides ammunition for institutions working to grow student persistence to graduation.

From my perspective, the information shows the importance of onboarding and guided pathway experiences for new students.  I served an institution that, at one point, led their peer group in the percentage of new first year students who melted (the percent of students who submit an enrollment deposit but ultimately do not enroll).  At the time, the campus culture could be summed up by two senior administrator sentiments, “it’s all here, they (the students) just have to find it” and “the smart ones figure it out.”  So much for guided pathways…

Over time, after doing an inventory of communication sent to students, a three-legged stool of leadership emerged at the institution involving Student Life, Enrollment Management, and Academic Administration.  The group coordinated communications, personalizing them, and created theme weeks where messages sent to students were sent in topical blocks (i.e. class registration week, billing week).  The group reduced the number of communications sent to students by over a factor of five, making them clearer, personal, and relevant to the student.  For example, international students would receive communications relevant to them and students receiving financial aid would receive communications on actions they needed to take to complete the financial aid process. 

A new student portal was also created where students completed online module tutorials over the summer as a checklist of administrative items.  Communications were also sent to parents/guardians to help keep their students on track.  For a subset of students, an in-person pre-orientation was created to further help students with onboarding to the institution.  Ultimately, student melt decreased from 13% to 7% and the deliberate student onboarding pathways influenced increases in student persistence.   

Perhaps of greatest value, a dedicated first-year seminar was created to help transition and onboard students.  Via a willing dean, the first two classes were offered in one college that enrolled 34 students.  Over time, as other deans realized the success of the class in successfully transitioning students to the institution, nearly 100 sections were offered to over 1,000 students.  The course curriculum involved topics pertinent to a student in a particular college but also were general in helping students find activities of interest to them, research opportunities, internship and career development opportunities, how to navigate the library, how to explore the surrounding community, as well as time management and study skills.  Students also created a four-year academic plan and learned skills tied to working in diverse teams.

Perhaps what was most meaningful in the class was that students met other students from their college – leading to friendships – as well as engagement with clubs and organizations outside of class.  Students also helped each other solve problems from issues with roommates to finding good food on campus.  As someone who facilitated a section in the class, students also knew that there was someone who cared about helping them succeed; a data point referenced in Gallup research about the importance of a caring faculty member in impacting student persistence.  In the end, students who enrolled in the class persisted at higher rates than those students who did not take the class.

The InsideHigherEd article reinforces the importance of guided pathways in onboarding students as well as the importance of a dedicated first-year seminar, and even broader, a dedicated first-year experience in working to facilitate transitions and belonging to an institution.  For some additional information on the importance of student onboarding and transitions, see my July 2022 post.  Enjoy!