Tracy Gottlieb, Ph.D. Dean of Freshman Studies and Special Academic Programs,

1. Getting to Know You:A Campus Initiative to Engage First Year Students Before They Arrive on Campus Tracy Gottlieb, Ph.D. Dean of Freshman Studies and Special Academic Programs, Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J.

2. Our Summer Goals for the Class of 2009 • The student will confirm attendance at orientation. • The student will complete placement testing before attending orientation. • The student will become more comfortable with the laptop computer that is distributed at June orientation. • The student will complete alcohol.edu. • The student will complete a library tutorial. • The student will become familiar with the learning portal Blackboard. • The student will become familiar with the university, its policies and services.

3. Once the Student confirms attendance at the University • Beginning in March, Freshman Studies sends home brochures to engage the students and invite them to involve themselves in the life of the university • A Blackboard community is populated as early as March so that the new students learn to enter the technology portal the way we want them to.

4. Blackboard • We use it for Placement Testing • We use it to communicate with the new students • We use it as the repository for all the forms that students need to submit (health forms, immunizations, insurance waivers) • We use it to make announcements and to connect students with their University Life course before the semester begins

5. Placement Testing • Used to use Accuplacer for Math and English. • This year switched to a campus based testing program administered through Blackboard. • The Advantage? Students learn to use Blackboard before they ever set foot on the university campus.

6. Laptops • Seton Hall’s mobile computing program is now nine years old. • All new Seton Hall students receive a laptop when they come to orientation in June. • University shifted to this because we thought it would help students connect to the unversity and bring more students to the June orientation sessions. • It worked!

7. Laptops in June • We didn’t want to just hand students a laptop and let them play. • Created a deliberate program to encourage students to interact with the university’s IT throughout the summer. • Gave the students assignments that required them to use their laptops.

8. The Doubloon Project • Seton Hall’s nickname is the Pirates • Doubloons are Spanish gold coins

9. The Doubloons Project • Plays on the SHU Pirate mascot • Seeks to engage SHU students as soon as they have completed orientation. • Encourages students to familiarize themselves with the SHU web site, with SHU departments and services that could benefit them. • Prompts the students (and rewards them) to complete the “chores” that they must accomplish in order to be students in good standing.

10. How it Worked • We distributed a notice to all students at orientation telling them to log on to blackboard to start the search. • We gave them hints that encouraged them to explore our academic and student oriented departments. • We posted regular hints to continue use.

11. What the Students Said: • 42 percent of the freshman class participated (469 students of a class of 1114) • 89 percent of those students who responded to our post Doubloon project survey said it helped acquaint them with the university’s policies and procedures and helped them acquire a comfort level using our IT.

12. Timeline • Student sends a tuition deposit. • Student receives a brochure from Freshman Studies articulating four distinct steps they need to accomplish before orientation (orientation confirmation, placement testing, Information Technology). • Student completes the four steps