Passport program still thriving
After a semester's success, the program continues
Joey O'Brien
Issue date: 1/28/10 Section: News
The Passport to Success Program, which went underway last semester, was designed to motivate students to become engaged in campus events by offering free books to the student who attended the most events in one year. All plans indicate that this program will continue to grow.
Under the watch of Vice President of Student Development Nate Dehne, the program has met his expectations in terms of freshmen attendance to campus events.
"This year's freshmen class is engaged and active," said Dehne. "They have become solid members of our community."
As the program came together, Core I faculty started incorporating the Passport to Success in their syllabi, requiring their students to attend a number of Passport events throughout the semester. The number of required events varied from professor to professor. The common goal of Core I classes is to encourage freshmen to engage in the Lakeland community and to become involved in groups and organizations.
The future relationship between Core I and the Passport Program isn't solidified, but the connection that it did have last semester proved to guide the freshmen through the basic steps of this new idea. "I appreciated the connection with Core I because I believe that it got the program established," said Dehne.
This summer, Nate and his team will be hard at work ironing out the finer details of the program. One of the issues that had already been brought to Dehne's attention is the process of which attendance is recorded. They will look into a more concrete system of recording students' attendance to these events. The main goal this summer is to determine what types of events held were the most attended, and then relate it to the student's retention, academic success, and personal success.
Bureaucratic and institutional formalities aside, this should ring as sweet music to the ears of participating students. The effort placed behind this community project is progressing towards more student input into scheduled events and a stronger relationship with administrative endeavors. The program exposes students to community tools, such as career development seminars, that are at their disposal. These events have gone largely ignored and now may see more traffic in the limelight of this program.
Whether the program remains unmolded or expands into something greater, its initial success of freshmen engagement has established it as an attractive possibility for the future. Administrative staff members will assess the program's format through faculty and student feedback. They will also reach out to upperclassmen for their opinions on the Passport program to possibly determine the scope of the program's expansion and existence.
Under the watch of Vice President of Student Development Nate Dehne, the program has met his expectations in terms of freshmen attendance to campus events.
"This year's freshmen class is engaged and active," said Dehne. "They have become solid members of our community."
As the program came together, Core I faculty started incorporating the Passport to Success in their syllabi, requiring their students to attend a number of Passport events throughout the semester. The number of required events varied from professor to professor. The common goal of Core I classes is to encourage freshmen to engage in the Lakeland community and to become involved in groups and organizations.
The future relationship between Core I and the Passport Program isn't solidified, but the connection that it did have last semester proved to guide the freshmen through the basic steps of this new idea. "I appreciated the connection with Core I because I believe that it got the program established," said Dehne.
This summer, Nate and his team will be hard at work ironing out the finer details of the program. One of the issues that had already been brought to Dehne's attention is the process of which attendance is recorded. They will look into a more concrete system of recording students' attendance to these events. The main goal this summer is to determine what types of events held were the most attended, and then relate it to the student's retention, academic success, and personal success.
Bureaucratic and institutional formalities aside, this should ring as sweet music to the ears of participating students. The effort placed behind this community project is progressing towards more student input into scheduled events and a stronger relationship with administrative endeavors. The program exposes students to community tools, such as career development seminars, that are at their disposal. These events have gone largely ignored and now may see more traffic in the limelight of this program.
Whether the program remains unmolded or expands into something greater, its initial success of freshmen engagement has established it as an attractive possibility for the future. Administrative staff members will assess the program's format through faculty and student feedback. They will also reach out to upperclassmen for their opinions on the Passport program to possibly determine the scope of the program's expansion and existence.
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