College Activity to Map Current Onboarding

College Onboarding Mapping Tool

This exercise works best with a collaborative team and takes about 30 minutes.

Goal:  The goal is to map a potential student pathway from the time the student applies to the college until the student attends on the first day of class. Consider how the website and catalog communicate a student's pathway beginning with application, from an institutional viewpoint, and compare that with the pathway most students report as their experience, in other words, examining the student's  actual pathway to the institution's intended  pathway.

Flowcharting the Student Experience: In the catalog and on the website it appears linear but it is not linear.

Beware: Often, students report that the simple 5 to 7 step onboarding process is more like a bowl of spaghetti as they try to walk through the requirements. 

Step 1: Using a collaborative team (e.g. with students, classroom faculty, financial aid staff, admissions and records staff, and counselors) begin with a first time student perspective. Map the steps as the student applies, goes through orientation, registers for courses, and attends on the first day of class.

  • Beginning with the CCC Apply process
  • Proceed to matriculation steps
  • Connect the requirements for enrolling in courses
  • Attends first day of class

Draw a flowchart mapping how students apply, go through orientation, register for courses, and attend on the first day of class and may include seeking financial aid, meeting with a counselor or other onboarding activities. Below is an example of a flowchart from a college that did this exercise and a picture of the college's intended matriculation steps from the website. 

 

Step 2: Take a deep dive using the Download  Collaborative Onboarding Exercise   (click on the

Download title to download Download  or the camera icon to get a preview  )  here to evaluate the services your institution provides for guiding and onboarding students. Download . CONSIDER: Who your students must contact and how and where that contact usually takes place.

Example of activity as reported by a college

Institutional Intended Steps                                                                                                         Actual Steps as Reported by Students

Picture of Institutional Matriculation steps in a simple linear patternCollege onboarding activity example-1.jpg

 

Click here to go to the next page in the module arrow.png Examples from other colleges