Onboarding and advising:

A tale of 2 projects

Connecting faculty onboarding to student advising and communication best practice

Project Overview

This portfolio piece highlights two interconnected but distinct instructional design projects aimed at improving dual credit (DC) student success. Both projects required extensive cross-departmental collaboration and remote communication to bridge geographic distances between stakeholders. These projects were separate assignments, but when data collected from project 2 had interesting implications for project 1, I made the connections and facilitated cross-team communications.

Project 1: New faculty onboarding

Redesign and scale the dual credit instructor onboarding process from in-person sessions to an interactive, fully online course with a dynamic resource guide.

Project 2: Student advising strategies

Systems improvement around student communication to reduce enrollment appeals and improve student experience

Responsibilities

I was part of a rich cross-department team on these projects including our marketing and communications department, the early college department, instruction, the learning and teaching center, institutional research and administration. My responsibilities on each project varied.

Project 1: New instructor onboarding

My role in the onboarding project revolved around designing and organizing content from previous presentations, co-creating the resource guide and adding the "advising first aid" section to the training.

Project 2: Student advising strategies

My role was more prevalent in the student communication plan where I lead data collection, communications, strategy with the district leadership and designed the video, presentations, and handouts.

Instructional Design Process

1. Data Collection and Analysis (Project 1)

Quantitative Analysis:
1. Review and analysis of all enrolllment appeals submitted to the college in the last 3 months
2. Distributed surveys to all participating students across the district to identify advising and communication gaps.
Qualitative Analysis: Conducted focus groups for deeper insights, supplemented by AI-powered data analysis using GPT-4 to identify key themes.

Key Findings:

Students primarily sought advising help from their high school teachers, even when college advisors were readily available.
Communication gaps and inconsistent advising information were major contributors to enrollment appeals.

🎓 Dual Credit Student Experience Survey – Google Form Layout

2. Student Advising Strategies (Project 1)

Policy Recommendations: Proposed adding texting capabilities and optional personal email addresses to official communication lists to increase message visibility. ALT: include instructions in student materials for how to forward emails to personal accounts

Advising Tools:

- Short Video: Create a student advising video using Vyond for remote locations.

- Instructor or advisor-Led Presentation: Designed an in-person, facilitator-led advising session adopted by nine advisors statewide. Conversational presentation designed to augment video.

- Student Handout: Developed a "Survival Tips" one-page resource using Canva, highlighting key advising information and tips for success. Posted in DC classrooms.

3. Instructor Onboarding Program Redesign (Project 2)

Learning Objectives Definition: Based on survey feedback, collaborated to define clear, measurable learning objectives.

Content Segmentation: Analyzed existing onboarding content and separated it into two products:

- An interactive online course with embedded knowledge checks and active learning strategies for dual credit instructors that also helps distant faculty feel connected to the culture of the institution.

- A dynamic resource guide featuring step-by-step instructions, policies, advisor contact information, and an "Advising First Aid" section for DC instructors.

Pilot Testing:

- Organized a review panel of seasoned dual credit instructors prior to launch.

Incorporated instructor feedback to refine course activities, assessments, and visual design.

Before design- After design

Cross-Departmental Collaboration and Remote Communication

Both projects necessitated close collaboration between student services, academic advising, instructional design, and technology teams. Since stakeholders were located across multiple campuses and regions, all project planning, feedback loops, and development sessions were conducted remotely using tools such as video conferencing and collaborative document platforms.

Tools and Technologies Used

Survey Tools: Google Forms, focus groups
Data Analysis: GPT-4 powered mixed-methods analysis
Multimedia Creation: Vyond (animated videos)
Graphic Design: Canva (handouts and visual assets)
Learning Management System (LMS): Canvas
Collaboration Tools: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive

Impact and Next Steps

These projects established a multi-channel advising communication strategy and launched a scalable, interactive onboarding solution for dual credit instructors. The upcoming academic year will serve as a summative evaluation phase, monitoring enrollment data and student feedback to assess the effectiveness of these interventions. I continue to contribute to the maintenance and evolution of these resources to ensure they meet the dynamic needs of our dual credit students and partners.

Key Instructional Design Skills Demonstrated

Learner Needs Analysis
Data-Driven Decision Making
Multimedia Learning Development
Policy and Communication Strategy Design
LMS Course Development
Stakeholder Collaboration Across Departments
Remote Project Management
Continuous Improvement and Evaluation

Additional Skills

Change management and policy advocacy
user experience design for learning
content strategy and modularization
faculty development and support
Quality Assurance (QA) and Formative evaluation
Project ownership and long-term maintenance planning

Reflection

These projects reinforced the importance of aligning communication strategies with learner behaviors and demonstrated the power of combining instructional design theory with practical technology tools. They also highlighted the need for effective remote collaboration skills to ensure project success across dispersed teams.

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