An inclusive summer orientation program : increasing collaboration of the Office of Orientation and the Multicultural Center

The purpose of this research project is to increase the number of students of color attending Ball State University and subsequently increase the retention rates of these students until graduation by modifying certain aspects of Summer Orientation programming. This project is based upon the understanding that Summer Orientation is the foundational program through which students begin their higher education and a time when students make their final decisions about which school they will attend and initial decisions concerning how comfortable they are with the campus.The goal of this project is to formulate additional components that can be added to a Summer Orientation program that will offer additional support for students of color. This support will be introduced by the Multicultural Center through informal social settings held during Summer Orientation "free time." This addition to Orientation's schedule of events will offer more focused opportunities for students of color to gain a better understanding of resources available to them on a predominately white campus. The need for these additional components is supported by research conducted by Alexander Austin (1993) who expressed that quality interactions with campus personnel will highly affect student retention rates.The methodology for this project will be for the Office of Orientation and the Office of Multicultural Affairs to schedule certain Summer Orientation sessions together, devise a system of communication with prospective students, and create a script for tour guides to advertise collaborative events. The combined efforts of the Office of Orientation and the Office of Multicultural Affairs should increase minority students' fall enrollment and increase retention rates of students in the subsequent years.Department of Educational LeadershipThesis (M.A.