A WINning program Jin Abe & Sheryl Nickel Western Michigan University July 14, 1998 Association of College and University Housing Officers-International

A WINning programA WINning programA WINning program

Jin Abe & Sheryl Nickel

Western Michigan University

July 14, 1998Association of College and University Housing Officers-International

50th Annual Conference

Charlotte, NC

Easing the transition of internationalstudents into the residence halls

Western International Network

Western International Network Background Implementation Assessment Resources

Overview

• About WMU• Building WIN-WIN collaboration• Implementation• Research and experiences• Discussions


About WMU

Background

Group Number %

Total students 26,575 100%

Female 14,717 55%Male 11,858 45%

Undergraduate 20,646 78%Graduate 5,929 22%

Michigan (in-state) 23,354 88%Other States 1,577 6%

International 1,644 6%

Student Population

Country Total

1 Malaysia 4462 India 1863 Japan 1244 Thailand 855 China 686 Hong Kong 577 South Korea 498 United Kingdom 489 Pakistan 42

10 Canada 40

Home countries for WMU international students

(As of September 1998)

Student demographics and organization


Organization

H all D irec to rsG rad u a te A ss is tan t

D irec to r

O ffice o f R es id en ce L ife

V ice P res id en tS tu d en t A ffa irs

F acu lty

C ou n se lo r E d . C h a ir

C o lleg e o f E d u ca tion

P rovos t an d V PA cad em ic A ffa irs

A d m iss ion s /P rog ramS p ec ia lis t

D irec to r

In t 'l S tu d en t S ervices

E xecu tive D irec to rIn te rn a tion a l A ffa irs

U n ivers ity P res id en t

B oard o f Tru s tees

Background

Western International Network Background Implementation Assessment ResourcesBackground


Building WIN-WIN departmental collaboration

• As a recruiting aid• International students as WMU advocate • 50 - 60 “student helpers”

• International student retention• Action-oriented multicultural programming• Addressing existing concerns

Benefits for International Student Services

Benefits for Residence Life

Background


Implementation

Implementation

• Avoiding that awkward first encounter– Correspondence begins before partners actually meet

• Technology• Emphasis on give-and-take• Limiting the size of the program

– Targeting newly admitted international students and (preferably) residence hall students

New twists on the traditional “buddy program”

Western International Network Background Implementation Assessment ResourcesImplementation

Recruiting WMU (host) students

W.I.N. training

Send partner info.Correspondence

3 monthly activities

Dinner & Awards

W.I.N. Kickoff - Partners meet

Recruiting newlyadmitted

int’l students

Send programconfirmation

Residence Life International Student Services

J F M A M J J A S O N D

Fall

Winter

Recruit

Matching

Activities

Recruit

Matching

Activities

Training

Training

Kickoff

Kickoff

Dinner

Dinner

Program flow and calendar



W.I.N. training



Dinner & Awards



int’l students



• Starts in the preceding semester

• Marketing through flyers, ADs/RAs, and hall council meetings




W.I.N. training



Dinner & Awards



int’l students


W.I.N. Home

Recruiting newly admitted international students

• W.I.N. application sent out with I-20 (admission letter)

• On-line application encouraged




W.I.N. training



Dinner & Awards



int’l students


W.I.N. Training (for host students)

• Panel of current W.I.N. students - nothing is more effective than students talking to students




W.I.N. training



Dinner & Awards



int’l students


Correspondence

• Host and international students are matched and mutually introduced via e-mail

• Host students to initiate the dialog




W.I.N. training



Dinner & Awards



int’l students


Program confirmation

• Keeping incoming students informed

• Local contact information requested upon arrival




W.I.N. training



Dinner & Awards



int’l students


Kickoff, monthly activities and Dinner

• Monthly activities (required): bowling, cultural show, Homecoming events..

• Recruit W.I.N. student coordinators


Western International Network Background Implementation Assessment ResourcesAssessment

What we found out

• Does WIN increase international students’ awareness and knowledge of campus resources?

• Does WIN help international student adjustment to campus?

• Do students from Asian nations have more difficulties adjusting?

• Conducted campus resource usage survey and adjustment survey at the end of WIN program (Dec. 1997)

• Collected data from W.I.N. international students and...

• …control group of non-W.I.N. international students

Assessment questions

Method

Research & Experiences


n Return% Male Female Livedin US

Did notlive

WIN 28 75.0% 11 17 7 21Control 32 41.6% 20 12 14 18Total 60* 51.7% 31 29 21 39* For 50% of the sample, WMU was their first choice of institutions to attend.

Asia 37 (61.7%)Europe 11 (18.4%)S. America 6 (10.0%)Africa 4 ( 6.7%)Middle East 2 ( 3.3%)

Undergraduate 28 (46.7%)Graduate 32 (53.3%)

On-campus 49 (81.7%)Off-campus 11 (18.4%)

Demographics of survey participants


Campus Resource UsageCampus Resource

Questionnaire

Assessment

Student volunteer programs 83.3%Counseling center 78.3%Student employment office 71.7%Career services 71.7%Student health center 45.0%

Computer labs 86.7%University library 85.0%Student sports complex 50.0%

Never used during the semester

Used “at least six times” during the semester

Statistically significant differences were found between WIN and control group (p<.001)


Academic Social Pers.- Emo. Institutional

SA

CQ

adju

stm

ent

scor

es

WIN

Non

WIN

Social

152.7 151.75

123.27

107.59

90.0785.06

97.33

88.94

Assessment

• W.I.N. students yielded significantly HIGHER social adjustment scores (p<.05)

Student adjustment


Academic Social Pers.- Emo. Institutional

SA

CQ

adju

stm

ent

scor

es

Asian

Social

107.42

126.22

84.3992.00 86.33

102.87

Assessment

InstitutionalAcademic

Non

Asian

166.48

142.58

Asian vs. Non-Asian• Asian international students yielded significantly LOWER

adjustment scores on 3 out of 4 subscales (p<.05)


Program changes

• Matching by academic interests

• Emphasis on academic resources in host student training

• Set up W.I.N.-exclusive activities early to develop group dynamics

• Two-on-one (triad) matching


• Academic Adjustment: How can a peer program be modified to address academic adjustment of incoming international students? What kind of activities would you recommend?

• Training: Can you think of effective exercises which would allow the host students to be in touch with the feeling of "being away from the home turf"?

• Partner Matching: On what basis would you match the host and international students, and why? (by grad/undergraduate, by major...)

• New Twists: WMU incorporated the use of technology and correspondence prior to new student arrival as "new twists" on the traditional buddy program. Can you think of additional "new twists" which would enhance such a peer support program?

Suggestions for program improvement


Congratulations!

...and thank you for your participation.

Documents

A WINning program Jin Abe & Sheryl Nickel Western Michigan University July 14, 1998 Association of College and University Housing Officers-International