1. ORIENTATION 2016: PARENT,
FAMILY, AND GUEST
SATISFACTION ASSESSMENT
OFFICE OF NEW STUDENT PROGRAMS
Jared Brown, Director
Jennie Yost, Assistant Director
Prepared by: Laura Kownacki, Graduate Assistant
August 2016
W E S T C H E S T E R U N I V E R S I T Y O F P E N N S Y L V A N I A
2 0 2 L A W R E N C E C E N T E R
W E S T C H E S T E R , P A 1 9 3 8 3
6 1 0 - 4 3 6 - 3 3 0 5

2. ASSESSMENT PROJECT OVERVIEW
Dates of Administration:
June 6, 2016 through July 22, 2016
Type of Assessment:
Summative
Audience/Group Assessed:
Parents, family members, and guests
of incoming first-year students who
attended First Year Orientation,
Part I
Procedure:
This survey was formatted through CampusLab’s Baseline online survey program. The link to this survey was distributed by
Assistant Directorof New Student Programs Jennie Yost to the parents, family members, and guests who attended First Year
Orientation Part 1 in June. Attendees must have provided a valid email address. The survey was to be completed by 4:00 pm
on July 22th, 2016. A total of 208 parents, family members, and guests completed the survey (“Respondents”), a decrease of
approximately 40% from 2015’s 518 participants. The survey was intended to evaluate if Orientation Part I was satisfactory
and met expectations as well as to gain perspective on possible areas of improvement.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS & KEY FINDINGS
 96.13% of survey respondents rated their West Chester University New Student Orientation experience as
“Excellent”or “Good,” an increase of 1.75% from 2015.
 96.64% of respondents feel more comfortable with their student attending WCU in the fall as a result of the New
Student Orientation Program, an increase of 4.57% from 2015.
 96.64% of respondents rated the “Overview of the Day” session as “Excellent” or “Good,” an increase of 1.39% from
2015.
 94.15% of respondents attended the Residence Life Session. Of those attendees, 96.97% rated the session as
“Excellent” or “Good,” an increase of .99% from 2015.
 5.85% of the respondents attended the Commuter Success Session. Of thoseattendees, 87.5% of those family
members rated the session as “Excellent” or “Good,” an increase of 3.12% from 2015.
14%
14%
6%
6%
15%
18%
14%
13%
Respondents' Dates Attended
June 9, 2016 June 10, 2016 June 15, 2016 June 16, 2016
June 17, 2016 June 22, 2016 June 23, 2016 June 24, 2016

3. BREAKOUT SESSION I
 Amongst survey respondents, the most popular sessions for Breakout Session I were “Resources for Student Success”
(30.58%), “Financial Aid & Bursar’s Office” (28.64%) , and “SSI Campus Store & Ram eCard Services” (19.90%).
 When asked to rate the “Financial Aid & Bursar’s Office” session, 93.22% of respondents expressed it was “Excellent” or
“Good,” an increase of 14.12% from 2015.
 The “SSI Campus Store & Ram eCard Services” session was rated as “Excellent” or “Good” by 95% of respondents, an
increase of .15% from 2015.
 The “Computer Services” session was rated as “Excellent” or “Good” by 63.64% of respondents, a decrease of 27.27%
from 2015.
The “Student Involvement at WCU” session was given the ratings of “Excellent” or “Good” by 90.47% of respondents,
an increase of 1.18% from 2015.
 93.65% of respondents rated the “Resources for Student Success” presentation as “Excellent” or “Good.”
BREAKOUT SESSION II
 Amongst survey respondents, the most popular sessions for Breakout Session II were “Resources for Student Success”
(24.88%), “Career Development Success” (20.98%), “Financial Aid & Bursar’s Office” (19.51%) , and “SSI Campus Store and
Ram eCard Services” (19.51%).
The “Financial Aid & Bursar’s Office” session was given “Excellent” or “Good” ratings by 79.48% of respondents. This
is a decrease of 3.85% from 2015.
 The “SSI Campus Store & Ram eCard Services” session was given “Excellent” or “Good” ratings by 92.5% of survey
takers, an increase of 4.78% from 2015.
 The “Campus Dining Services” session was rated “Excellent” or “Good” by 93.55% ofrespondents, an increase of
3.31% from 2015.
 The “Resources for Student Success” session was rated as “Excellent” or “Good” by 96.07% of respondents.
 The “Career Development Success” session was rated “Excellent” or “Good” by 95.25% of respondents, an increase of
10.24% from 2015.
FURTHER QUESTIONS
When asked what was most helpful in helping their student transition to West Chester, 49.24% of respondents said
“Attending orientation,” 11.17% said “Communication from the university,” and 10.15% said “Receiving answers to
questions.”
When asked what their top three greatest concerns were for the upcoming academic year, 27.23% of respondents indicated
that “Academic success” was a concern; 19.20% indicated that “Time management” was a concern; and 12.39% indicated that
“Finances” were a concern.
LESSONS LEARNED & ACTION STEPS
Survey takers were given the opportunity to express any questions they wish would have been answered or provide any
constructive feedbackto help improve our orientation days. 77.95% of survey takers said that they were satisfied and had
no additional feedback. 22.05% of those surveyed were able to provideus with some helpful feedback in regardsto our
orientation days.

4. Many respondents voiced frustration that there were many breakout sessions available, but not adequate opportunities to
attend all of the sessions they were interested in. Since attendees were forced to pick sessions, perhaps it would be helpful for
each session to have a handout outlining what was covered as well as whom to contact with further questions. This way, those
who were unable to attend the session would still leave with a general idea of what was covered. Additionally, one respondent
recommended making the PowerPoint presentations available via email or the website.
A few respondents expressed their desire for a “checklist” or “timeline” of sorts so they know when certain things are due
(e.g., housing contracts, parking applications, etc.). It might be beneficial for each presenter to put these dates on the handouts
recommended in the above paragraph. Since each department handles things differently, it likely wouldn’t be possible to
provide a master timeline for parents, but if each office could publish their dates in a handout, it would provide a tertiary
reminder (in addition to their emails and website).
NOTABLE RES PO N S E S
“Very well-organized. Everyone was so upbeat, friendly and helpful. It was appreciated!!”
“This was an excellent day, very organized and informative. We were leery as our Accepted Student Day was very
disappointing. Today put our mind at ease that our student will have a wonderful experience at WCU.”
“Maybe provide a syllabus of key dates such as campus visits, when deposits are due, Orientation, when payments for school
are sent and when they must be paid by and how, the move-in process. I know some of these are on the WCU website, but
maybe a reminder to hang on the fridge would help.”
“We had a terrible ‘Accepted Student Day’ and almost did not send our student. Orientation Day was great and WCU lived up
to what others had told us.”
“It was helpful that I had my husband there so we were able to split the sessions and attend four sessions. There were things
he learned in his sessions I wouldn’t have learned because I chose other sessions. At the end of the day, it might be nice to
have a cheater sheet with bullet points of things to know or do. Ex., sign up for newsletter, sign up for text alerts, have you[r]
child put direct deposit in your account so you can get the refund to pay housing, […etc.]. Overall it was a wonderful day!”
“I was extremely pleased with how well the day was run. It was extremely helpful and everyone was above and beyond
wonderful!! Very friendly and helpful and as a first time parent of a college student, I was very grateful!”

5. APPENDIX A
PARENT, FAMILY, AND GUEST SURVEY
1. Please select the day you attended Orientation Part I:
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Friday, June 10, 2016
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Friday, June 17, 2016
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Friday, June 24, 2016
2. Please rate your overall West Chester University New Student Orientation experience:
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
3. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: As a result of attending New
Student Orientation, I am more comfortable with my student attending WCU in the Fall.
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree/Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
4. Please rate the following session: Overview of the day
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
5. Which morning session did you attend?
Residence Life Session
Commuter Session
6. Please rate the following session: Residence Life Session
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
7. Please rate the following session: Commuter Session
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
8. Which breakout session did you attend in Session 1?
Financial Aid & Bursar’s Office
SSI Campus Store & Ram E Card Services
Resources for Student Success
Computer Services
Student Involvement at WCU
9. Please rate the following session: Financial Aid & Bursar’s Office
Excellent Good AverageBelow Average Poor
10. Please rate the following session: SSI Campus Store & Ram E Card Services
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
11. Please rate the following session: Computer Services
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
12. Please rate the following session: Computer Services
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
13. Please rate the following session: Student Involvement at WCU
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor

6. 14. Which breakout session did you attend in Session 2?
Financial Aid & Bursars Office
SSI Campus Store & RamECard Services
Resources for Student Success
Campus Dining Services
Career Development Success
15. Please rate the following session: Financial Aid & Bursars Office
Excellent Good AverageBelow Average Poor
16. Please rate the following session: SSI Campus Store & RamECard Services
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
17. Please rate the following session: Resources for Student Success
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
18. Please rate the following session: Campus Dining Services
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
19. Please rate the following session: Career Development Success
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
20. Please rate the following session: - Sexual Misconduct: Supporting Your Student
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
21. Please rate the following session: Parent, Family & Guest Reception
Excellent Good Average Below Average Poor
22. Are there questions you wish had been answered or any other constructive feedback you would like to share to improve
our Orientation day?
Yes (please Explain) No
23. As a parent, what has been the most challenging process for you thus far?
Admissions process
Housing
Attending orientation
Unanswered questions
Understanding the meal plan
Communication from the university
Financial aid
Understanding your academic program
Navigating the campus
Other (please specify)
24. What are your top 3 greatest concerns regarding your student in the upcoming academic year? (check your top three)
Academic success
Campus or community involvement
Career planning/Job search
Time management
Health Safety Alcohol/Drug use Finances
Personal relationships Other (please specify) None
25. Please provide any additional comments or suggestions in the space below: