El Camino College:
First-Generation Onboarding
The Beginning
ECC first-year experience is among the state’s largest (and oldest, at 19 years). After seeing Dream Act applications drop in 2016, the college launched an effort to support the onboarding of first-generation college students, who made up 85% of first-year experience students (about 1,100 in all). ECC developed an undocumented student taskforce, which led trainings for counselors and staff on working with undocumented students, and it launched a dedicated outreach team that goes into high schools to work with students on their college and Dream Act applications. After learning that many high school counselors did not have training to support undocumented students, ECC offered it to them.
Implementation
ECC has aligned its application timeline with UC’s and CSU’s, opening registration on Nov. 1 for the following year, and ensuring that wraparound services and the Promise program are available at the same time. ECC then engages high school students who complete the ECC application in a year of activities:
Family Night: Introduces students and families to financial aid, educational planning, and services for students with disabilities to provide a basic understanding of the support available at ECC.
Spring educational planning sessions: Students can work in Starfish Degree Planner to explore the degrees and draft an ed plan. This prepares them to meet with a counselor to discuss their goals and create a comprehensive ed plan.
Matriculation and registration support: ECC’s outreach team works with students who have completed the application, but not the matriculation process. And it offers registration support for students who have completed the matriculation process, helping them enroll in the classes they need their first semester.
Orientation to college: Before the fall semester, first-year experience students participate in a full-day orientation, where they meet the student ambassadors who will help guide them through the onboarding process.
“Having a whole team focusing on you and your success and making sure that you have wraparound services, not just in the classroom, but also outside of the classroom is really beneficial.”
Student Experience
“(We) make sure that we're closing the gaps for those students,” says Dr. Cynthia Mosqueda, faculty coordinator for the first-year experience, “and that they're getting the services they need in a very hands-on way; we’re always being proactive as opposed to waiting for students to come to us.”
Early Outcomes
86% retention rate after the fall 2018 semester
95% of first-year experience students finish fall semester with an ed plan on file.