it’s never too early for t.o.u.r.s

San Diego State University

It’s Never Too Early for T.O.U.R.S.

Translating Opportunity to Uplift Rising Stars

Bryan Spencer & Rodrigo GutierrezRecruitment & Early Outreach Officers



Topics of Discussion

• Current Issues in K-12

• Purpose of T.O.U.R.S.

• Building an Early Outreach Program

• EOP Volunteer Program

• Questions and Discussion


Current Issues

According to the Campaign for High School Equity and its High School Policy Reform: A Plan for Success (2008)…

• 10% of California’s high schools are drop-out factories educating 17.2% of the students

• California graduation rate for 2006-07 was 67.7%• 50% of CA 8th graders read at the “below basic” level• Drop-out rate for California is 22.5%, based on new tracking system implemented

– On-Time Completion Rates of HS • African-American 55.3%• Latino/a 57.8% • Native American 50.6%• In CA, SE Asians 50%+ did not graduate

• Only 35% of California graduates left high school having completed all the courses required for entrance to the UC and CSU systems

• 10% of 8th grade graduate do not enroll in 9th grade


Solution & Purpose of T.O.U.R.S.

• Inspire students to believe in the reality of attending an institution of higher learning

• Illustrate the SDSU college student experience through facts and personal experience

• Encourage students to do further research into SDSU and other universities and take responsibility for their UC/CSU Preparation

• Provide positive role-models for middle school students


Building an Early Outreach Program


Elements of T.O.U.R.S.

• Establish Goals, Resources, and Demand

• Assess Schools in your Area

• Assess Collaboration Partners and Allies

• Design Services to Offer

• Develop Procedures and Protocol

• Evaluations & Testimonials



• Establish Goals, Resources, and Demand– SDSU did not offer a dedicated program for tours or

presentations

– Staffing – EOP created SSP-1B to design, implement, and assess an Early Outreach Program

– Become visible to middle schools, its counselors, teachers, and other administrators

– Resources Available• Promotional Items

• Educational Materials targeted for grades 6-8

• Student Volunteerism



• Assess the Schools in your Area– Feeder Analysis

• Top Feeder HS to EOP

• Top Feeder HS to SDSU

• Highest Rates of Free/Reduced Lunches

• Proximity to SDSU Campus

• Suspension Rates



• Assess Collaboration Partners and Allies– On Campus

• Gear-UP

• Pre-College Institute

• Compact 4 Success

• Ambassadors & Prospective Student Center

• SDSU Student Organizations

• College Access Program @ SDSU



– Off-Campus• California Student Opportunity and Access Program

(Cal-SOAP)

• Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)

• Community Organizations and Churches

• Local Middle Schools


Building an Early Outreach ProgramDefine Services to Offer• Tours

– Provide a 60-min walking tour highlighting fun areas on campus and the college student experience

• Presentations & Student Panels– Provide a presentation that is energetic with simple language to motivate,

inspire, and educate middle school students.– Attention Getter– Reasons to Attend College– San Diego State Facts & Highlights– A-G Requirements– Eliminate the Fear of College Costs & Financial Aid– EOP

– Provide diverse and prepared student panels to offer a mentor perspective• Material Requests

– Provide Resource Packets for teachers and administrators to aid in their mission to establish a “college-going culture” in their classroom

• Attend College Fairs & Parent Nights– Participate in Cal-SOAP’s College: Making It Happen



Tours– Structure – High Quality Service

• Campus Sites Visited• Information Disbursed• Tour Guide Behavior & Dress Code• Develop goodwill with teacher

– Correspondence• Request Protocol• Confirmation/Denial Procedures• Tour Evaluations (Collection Database & Teacher Eval)

– Goals and Limitations• Tour Size• Student Volunteerism & Knowledge of University• Number of Tours Offered• Designated Times for Tours



Presentations & Student Panels– Structure

• How to Communicate to 6th-8th grade students (style, lingo, etc…)• What Relative Topics to Cover• Templates in Existence (CMIH, Admissions, Fin. Aid, etc)• Survey Teachers and Administrators for expertise

– Correspondence• Request Protocol• Confirmation/Denial Procedures• Evaluations (in progress)

– Goals and Limitations• Classroom or Projector Availability• Student Volunteerism• Access to Middle School Sites


Building an Early Outreach ProgramMaterial Request

– Structure• Gather Materials Relative to Grade Level

– Promotional Items– Cal-SOAP CMIH Booklets and Handouts– Admissions – FTF, Fin. Aid, Scholarship Handouts– CSU Office – College Posters– EOP – Brochures, Folders, Promotional Items

– Correspondence• Request Protocol• Confirmation/Denial Procedures

– Goals and Limitations• Limited to What Will Fit in a Large Yellow Envelope• Teachers Will Request Everything & Anything!• Financial Restrictions (materials & promo items)



Develop Procedures and Protocol– Tours & Presentation Requests in 2006

• Letterhead Policy• Data Collection MS Excel• Confirmations via Email

– Tours & Presentation Requests in 2008• EOP Event Request Forms

– Simple– Electronic Format (Speeds up process)– Easy to Collect Data

• Data Collection MS Access– Tour Evaluations

• Easy to Complete• High Completion Rate• Collect Valid Data with Proper Scales of Measure


T.O.U.R.S. Statistics At a Glance


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Semester

Number of Requests for Campus Tours

Total Requests 20 64 24 40

Fall 07 Spring 08 Fall 08 Spring 09


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Total Number of Tours & Presentations Completed for SY 07/08 & SY 08/09

# of Tours 8 16 39 29

#of Presentations 0 14 6 23

Fall 07 Fall 08 Spring 08 Spring 09


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Average Tour Size for Sy 07/08 & SY 08/09

Average Tour Size 44 66 52 69



0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Total Number of Contacts for SY 07/08 & SY 08/09

Tour Contacts 349 1054 2012 1990

Presentation Contacts 0 1017 352 1685



Question

Request Process on EOP web site was sufficient and easy to understand 4.64

Email confirmation provided sufficient information and details of the tour activities 4.79

Bus and parking directions were adequate and easy to follow with the campus map that was provided 4.64

EOP staff provided a warm welcome intro 4.79

Campus Tour educated my students with relevant and important information 4.36

Language used by the tour guides were at an appropriate level for my students to comprehend 4.64

Size of the tour groups allowed for all my students to receive a quality tour that addressed their needs 4.57

Campus Tour had a positive impact on my students 4.71

Satisfied with the campus tour and would bring my students next year 4.64

Tour Evaluations


Testimonials

• “The SDSU fieldtrip is probably one of the best field-trips our 6th graders take. The tour guides definitely build a relationship with the students which completely makes the field-trip successful. “ -6th Grade Teacher

• “I have had parents tell me they have never heard their children as excited about college as they are now” -7th & 8th Grade Teacher

• We constantly talk about college at school, but the students don’t really understand the true concept of college until they visit a campus -6th Grade Teacher

• Many students who once believed college was not an attainable goal, have now changed their minds. -6th Grade Teacher

• I loved the presentation with the "planting of the seed" and the growth into the Giant Sequoia. It was a wonderful metaphor for the students. -8th Grade AVID Teacher


High Demand & Quality Services

Based on…

• The demand and motivation to avoid denying any requests &

• Desire to aid in the retention of EOP students and provide opportunities for community service…

• We devised the…


EOP Volunteer Program!!


EOP Volunteer Program

• Began in Fall 2006

• Current Structure began Fall 2007

• Key component our Early Outreach efforts and T.O.U.R.S.

• Volunteers made up of EOP and Non-EOP students


EOP Volunteer ProgramHistory

Fall of 2006

- Tours were conducted by Staff and whichever students happened to be around - This would create problems obtaining student assistance with Tours & Events- Tour groups were limited in size- Many requests had to be denied because of these issues

Summer of 2007 - Outreach & Recruitment added another Staff member for Early Outreach efforts- Current EOP Volunteer Program developed- Tour Group sizes increased- Less requests were denied as a result

Spring 2008- Outreach & Recruitment Coordinator hired to allow Early Outreach staff to focus on Tours and Events

and developing and expanding the EOP Volunteer Program


Goals of the EOP Volunteer Program

- To provide EOP and non-EOP students with an opportunity for community service, to educate prospective students, and to stay engaged with EOP and its staff and services.

- To be flexible with our Outreach efforts in events and programs

- Allows Outreach & Recruitment Staff to focus on other duties (visits, application period, etc.)

- Hosting more and MORE students with campus visits

- Outside of time conflicts, not denying any requests for a campus visit.

- Assist with EOP department events

- Get students INVOLVED!!


EOP Volunteer Program• Opportunities for Involvement

– Middle School Campus Tours– Student Panels– Freshman For a Day (fall semester)

– Middle School Visits (College Access Program)

– EOP Graduation (spring semester)

– EOP Student Advisory Board– Explore SDSU 2009– Community Events


EOP Volunteer ProgramImplementation of a Volunteer ProgramHow do we create a program out of nothing? Where do we get our students? How do

we communicate with them? Isn’t there something like this already on campus?

Step 1. Knowing your goals and objectivesExpand tours and event size and number. And keep US in the office.

Step 2. Knowing your potential volunteer pool.Year One: EOP Students and select Student OrganizationsYear Two: EOP Students, Students Organizations and the general campus population

Step 3. Love Technology.Flyers to Email to Campus-wide Newsletters



Implementation of a Volunteer Program (part II)Step 3. CONSTANT Communication

Weekly Announcement and Emails, electronic course communication (Blackboard)

Step 4. Know Your ResourcesDo MORE with less



Challenges and Limitations of a Volunteer Program

a smart man once said, ‘the answer to all your questions is money.’ Challenge 1. Budget

$0 in our department’s General Fund for the Volunteer Program

Challenge 2. Incentives

See Challenge 1. What will it make it worthwhile for students to take time out of their busy day and take their ONE free hour to give a tour to some kids?

Challenge 3. Student Availability

Tours mostly fall between 10am and 2pm Monday through Friday. So do student volunteers classes.


EOP Volunteer ProgramChallenges and Limitations of a Volunteer Program (cont.)Challenge 4. Volunteer Pool Size

The more the merrier

Challenge 5. Campus Visibility

Look outside of EOP for students and look outside email to reach potential Volunteers

Challenge 6. Show Rate

Yeah they say they can volunteer, but do they show up?

Challenge 7. Training

“I would give a tour, but I don’t know how to give one.”



Blackboard Academic Suite aka ‘Blackboard’- Easy and Efficient way to communicate with students- Program is added as another enrolled course- Free for US!! Paid for by the University- Stores all your program information and resources for

you and your volunteers



TestimonialWhat did you enjoy the most about being an EOP Volunteer?

“I enjoyed leading the tours around campus the most. I felt good about being able to give prospective students a positive experience which could result in them joining the SDSU campus.”



Statistics of volunteer participation

- 200+ Volunteers since Fall 2007

- Real cost of Volunteers based on $9/hr wage:- 2007/2008 - $2965- So far 2008/2009 - $1580

- Fall 2008 had 44 unique volunteers.

- 89 current members


Future Possibilities

• Build a pipeline program that co-exists with our High School and Community College Recruitment & Outreach

• Measure effectiveness of T.O.U.R.S. by evaluating Admissions: Applicants and Enrollees

• Create a “Freshman For a Day” program for selected middle schools

• Provide a tutoring/mentoring program that involves EOP students and middle school students


Thank YouAny Questions?

it’s never too early for t.o.u.r.s

Documents