In-class work session on student engagement: Application of Organizational Structure and Organizational Culture research
Followup to George Kuh seminar 4/22/2008
Authors: Students enrolled in Management 300, Principles of Management, Spring 2008
Organizational culture should not happen by accident; its foundations are set by the organization’s founders; it is continually shaped by the selection and socialization of new organization members, and by the resource allocation decisions of top management. It is crucial to understand organizational culture. An organization’s culture determines not only the answers to important questions, but also the questions that are asked and those that go unasked. A strong (deeply held, widely shared) set of values can be an asset, but only if those values help the organization to function well within its environment. Organizational culture helps to shape, and is shaped by, organizational structure.
Organizational structure addresses such questions as:
Who reports to whom? How wide is a manager’s span of control? How “tall” is the organization’s hierarchy? Are standards and norms written down or are they assumed to be understood? How specialized is each person’s job? How centralized is decision-making authority?
Upper division management students used the theories of organizational structure and culture as well as the literature on motivation, learning, and personality. After attending the session with George Kuh, they selected aspects of UH Hilo structure and culture that they evaluated as being especially relevant to student retention and engagement. Their responses are listed below, grouped by general category.
(Robbins, 2003)
BASIC MISSION
Campus needs to have a common mission and vision in order to allocate resources where they are needed to fulfill the mission, rather than individual units trying to sequester resources for themselves.
Organizational culture! We all need to buy into a common idea/goal before we can get things done. The small size of our school lends itself quite well to achieving this.
(Several groups expressed this)
RECRUITING (Selection criteria)
Outreach. We think that outreach to high schools, at least the ones on the Big Island if nothing else, should be more specialized and comprehensive. The generic “college recruiter” doesn’t do it for us. Maybe once a month send out a professor from a different department to a local high school to do a presentation. One month it’s a business professor to Pahoa High, and another month it’s a marine science professor to Konawaena. We agreed that the idea of college can be too abstract for some high schoolers who aren’t sure about whether or not higher education is right for them. Because of this, they either don’t go to college or they go unprepared and drop out, hence, our 33% graduation rate. We think this could help bring in a more focused or at least more informed crop of incoming students.
Change the reputation from a default school to a great university
Make admissions require more from applicants like recommendations, essay, extracurricular.
Make transferring from community colleges more difficult.
ORIENTATION (Socialization)
Orientation week should be mandatory. (this opinion was widely shared; no one thought it shouldn’t be mandatory)
Orientation could be as short as 3 days, but housing and food must be provided for students.
Orientation activities should go late to keep students busy since Hilo closes early
Orientation packets should be sent out prior to orientation
We had a foreign exchange student in our group who didn’t even receive any orientation material in the mail prior to attending UHH. Which brings us to…
Orientation. Make it mandatory, or at least provide extensive material to ALL incoming students and urge them to attend. There should be one orientation, with different functions and parts of the program geared towards the different types of students: traditional, non-traditional, and exchange/foreign. This is where learning communities should be formed, which brings us to…
New student orientation could be similar to University of Redlands or Fairleigh Dickinson
University of Redlands Orientation Schedule 2007
Wednesday, August 29th
8:30 AM – 1:00 PM Check-in at the Hunsaker Center
11 AM – 12:30 PM Alumni Connection Lunch
12 – 1:45 PM Lunch in the Irvine Commons for students
12 – 2:00 PM Lunch and Parent Program in the Orton Center
(Overview of Academic and Student Life)
Parent Program starts at 12:30 pm
2 – 3:00 PM First Year Seminar meeting for students
2 – 4:00 PM President’s Reception for parents
3 – 4:00 PM PLAYFAIR in the Greek Theater for students
4 – 5:00 PM Orientation Mentor Meeting
4 – 5:00 PM First Year Seminar meeting for parents
5:30 – 6:30 PM Welcome Convocation in the Chapel
6:30 - 7:30 PM Dinner on Quad with First Year Seminars & Transfer groups
7:30 – 8:00 PM Family Goodbyes
7:30 – 9:30 PM Off Campus Student Meeting
8:00 – 9:30 PM Residence Hall Meeting
9:30 – 10:00 PM Och Tamale Yell and Class Photo
Thursday, August 30th
7 - 8:20 AM Breakfast in the Commons
8:30 – 9:15 AM Introduction to College Learning and Life
9: 30 – 11:00 AM First Year Seminar meeting
11 AM– 6:00 PM Redlands Round Robin
11:15 – 12:45 PM English Placement Test
11:30 AM-1 PM Lunch in the Commons
3:30 – 4:30 PM Department Open Houses – Asian Studies, Business, Music, Math and Science – mandatory if you plan on majoring in these subjects
4:30 – 5:30 PM Getting Started: ResNET
5 – 6:30 PM Dinner in the Commons
6:30 – 7:00 PM Orientation Mentor Meeting
7 – 8:30 PM For Men Only presented by Joel Goldman in Casa Loma Room
7 – 8:30 PM For Women Only presented by Elaine Pasqua in University hall
8:30 – 9:00 PM Ice Cream Social
9 – 10:30 PM Welcome To The Time Of Your Life - Will Keim
Friday, August 31st
7:30 – 9 AM Breakfast in Commons
8 AM – 6:00 PM Academic Advising for First Year Students and Transfers
9 AM – 12:00 PM Music Placement Test
10 – 11:00 AM Student Employment Workshop
10 – 11:00 AM Workshops (topics TBA)
11 AM – 12:00 AM Loan Entrance Workshop
11 AM – 12:00 AM Workshops (topics TBA)
11:30 – 1 PM Lunch in the Commons
1 – 2:00 PM Loan Entrance Workshop
1 – 2:00 PM Workshops (topics TBA)
1 – 2:00 PM Getting Started: ResNET
2 – 3:00 PM Student Employment Workshop
2 – 3:00 PM Workshops (topics TBA)
2 – 3:00 PM Getting Started: ResNET
3 – 4:00 PM Workshops (topics TBA)
4 – 5:00 PM Workshops (topics TBA)
4 – 5:00 PM Transfer Student Registration
5:30 – 7:00 PM 100th Annual Maroon and Grey Dinner in the Orton Center
7 – 7:30 PM Orientation Mentor Meeting
7:30 – 9:00 PM Programs in the Residence Halls
9 – 10:30 PM 22st Annual New Student Talent Show
10:30 – 11:30 PM U of R Ghost Stories at the Firepit
11:30 – 1:30 AM Pajammy Jammy Jam sponsored by the Frosh Quad
Saturday, September 1st
9AM - 1PM Brunch in the Commons
8 AM – 2:00 PM Academic Advising Continued
9:30 – 10:30 AM Department Open Houses (Environmental Studies, Education, Theatre)
11 – 12:00 PM Workshops (topics TBA)
11 – 12:00 PM Getting Started: ResNET
12 – 5:30 PM First Year Students Register for Classes
12 – 1 PM Getting Started: ResNET
1 – 2:00 PM Workshops (topics TBA)
2 – 3:00 PM Workshops (topics TBA)
3 – 4:00 PM Workshops (topics TBA)
3 – 4:00 PM Music Major Reception
4 – 5:00 PM Workshops (topics TBA)
5 - 7:00PM Dinner in the Commons
9 – 1:00 AM Wild Video Dance Party
Sunday, September 2nd
9AM - 1PM Brunch in the Commons
10 AM – 1:00 PM Sign up for Student Employment Interview
10:30 – 12:00 PM Religious Life Open House and Interfaith Service
12 – 1 PM Getting Started: ResNET
1 – 3:30 PM First Year Seminar Class Meeting
5 – 8:00 PM Dinner with First Year Seminar Professors
6 – 8:00 PM Dinner with Transfer Students at Char Burgess’s home
9 – 11:00 PM Movie on the Quad
Monday, September 3rd
7:30 – 9:00 AM Breakfast in the Commons
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM Sign up for Student Employment Interview
10:30 AM – 3:30 PM Returners Check-in
11 AM – 1:30 PM Lunch
1:30 – 4:00 PM Pool Party
5 – 6:30 PM Dinner in the Commons
7:30 – 9:00 PM Dessert with the President
9 – 11:00 PM Movie in the Hunsaker Center – Back to the Future
Tuesday, September 4th
8 – 4 PM Classes Begin
5 – 7 PM All University Picnic and Interactive Involvement Fair on the Quad
Mandatory “Hawaii Experience”
Placement exams should take place during mandatory orientation
WHO should run it: Student leaders selected for being outgoing, engaging, fun to be around, and exemplifying Aloha spirit; selected faculty, staff and deans. Must be mandatory for all students, both first year and transfer.
Students may use AP test scores to move out of lower ENG or math but all others must take core classes together within the first year.
HOUSING (Socialization / Culture)
Improve housing condition; should be repaired and up to code.
Mandatory on campus housing for freshmen.
Work study job for dorm advisor [?Not sure what this is about]
Improve security
Twice per semester mandatory dorm activities
Food options near housing until 2am
Kick HCC out because they have separate campus and we need to make room for [UHH] students
Dorm priority to off-island students
More housing units must be made available.
Housing must be reserved for UHH students, HCC students are taking dorm spaces (confirm this?). (Several groups expressed this)
Build more dorms to support enrollment increases
CURRICULUM (Socialization/Culture)
Learning community: A bloc of first-year classes required for all incoming freshmen. Counselors/advisors register incoming freshmen. Classes would include a University 101.
CAMPUS LIFE (Culture):
Drop-off child care.
Childcare workers can be students in the ed. Program.
Students should get a discounted rate.
Have work study students watch kids [?not sure if feasible?]
Part of early childhood program
24-hour study venue; something should be open at least until midnight daily, 1 on weekends. Library should be open
24 hours during finals
Half hour before first class (7:30am?)
At least until 11pm nightly
Student-run coffee shop, possibly in campus center after food service closes
Business students can run it as part of an internship / learning community as Boise State does.
School library and Lava Landing should be 24 hour
Late night / 24 hour on campus food for students studying
Food options
Healthful food
Other options besides Sodexho
Variety of options, keeping in mind that we’re a small school and there is a practical limit to this.
Student-friendly hours (24 hour or close to it)
Food needs to be affordable for students with and without meal plans
Parking: Both availability and permit process. Permit process is very inconvenient and unnecessary.
Bring back $1.00 daily parking.
Our group decided that the most important issue that UH-Hilo needs to address is helping to ease the transition to college life by improving Student Services. We also agreed that campus life needs to be improved and the university should also do a better job drawing on the special features of Hawaii Island and the community. But the absence of student services in the lives of most students was in our minds the most pressing issue concerning the transition to college life. Though we believe part of the responsibility for this falls on the faculty/professors, one department needs to spearhead the effort, and we believe the majority of the responsibility should fall on Student Services.
Some of our suggestions:
Promote their programs. Or maybe make some of them mandatory? The students who are at risk of not graduating and who were forced participate in their programs had an 80% graduation rate. Maybe they should be mandatory for all incoming students. All our group members said that they never utilized student services or their advisors until their junior or senior year, and by that time they didn’t really need them as much as when they were freshmen. It also seemed that no one knew exactly what Student Services is or what it does. At least no one in our group had a clear picture. Is this because they don’t have to actually provide the service if no one knows about them? They need to step up and make themselves known.
Learning Communities. These are good. We believe these should be mandatory for all incoming students, whether transfer, out of high school, exchange, or non-traditional. We didn’t settle on an exact format, but maybe 4-6 students, one mentor (senior or grad student) and one faculty/professor.
Non-traditional students. One of our group members expressed concern over the difficulty facing non-traditional students at UHH that try to make a class schedule work around their other life commitments. More classes being offered from mid-afternoon to early evening, as well as early in the morning, would help this group. Because UH-Hilo has a seemingly high percentage of non-traditional students compared to other universities, catering to them should be somewhat of a priority.
ADVISING AND SUPPORT (Culture)
Advisor meetings should be mandatory 2x / semester with faculty advisor, once/month with peer advisor. Peer advisor submits monthly report to faculty advisor.
Upper division peer mentors would work with professional advisors. Students’ progress tracked constantly and progress reports sent to the appropriate dean.
Faculty. Professors are not off the hook. Yes, UH-Hilo has small classes and it is easier to make close bonds with your professors here than at big universities. But still, many students don’t actively seek help and guidance, and our group believes that if they had help forced on them, they would be less likely to drop out. We believe that professors playing an active part in the learning communities could help close this gap in communication and guidance.
There should be a qualified faculty advisor who is
Trained and approved by the advising center
Their responsibility should not be an added task but part of a culture of care for students’ excellence
Focus advising needs and interventions, new students need more intensive advising
ROBBINS, S. P. (2003) Organizational Behavior, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall.