When door-to-door is not selling Avon
The faculty and staff of Coastal Carolina University will be knocking on the doors of first-year students on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. But no one is in trouble – in fact, just the opposite.
The House Calls Program is a new initiative aimed at helping students adapt to university life. Volunteers from CCU will team up with resident assistants and directors to make personal visits to freshman students residing in university housing.
The new program is meant to engage first-year students in a variety of conversations, with the primary focus being to get feedback about the students’ experience at CCU to that point in the semester.
“These house calls are intended to create foundations for resident safety and success,” says Richard Gamble, area director for university housing. “It’s also designed to bring academics into residence halls, establishing and fostering positive relationships between the students and the faculty and staff.”
It can’t be denied that many new students could benefit from some extra encouragement. U.S. News recently reported that an average of “one in three first-year students do not make it back for sophomore year.” Homesickness, academic struggles, problems with their housing or financial and family issues are just a few reasons schools lose students.
CCU isn’t immune. The current retention rate is 65.8 percent. And that’s up from 59.9 percent last year. But that’s still more than 34 percent of CCU’s freshmen not returning for a second year.
“National research shows that students who connect to faculty and staff outside of the classroom are more likely to persist,” says Debbie Conner, vice president of Student Affairs. “The House Calls Program is impactful because it lets students know we care. If it makes a difference to one student who’s feeling really homesick in September, it will be a success.”
It starts with that first visit. These introductions will help identify potential problems before they get out of control and overwhelm a student. “It allows us to see immediate needs or housing issues that we can come back and address right away,” says Gamble. “If it’s an academic issue, we can direct them to the right people to fix it. In best case scenarios, this gives students another friend to help them acclimate.”
The Academics Initiatives Committee chose the name House Calls to get volunteers into a certain mindset. “The name is a reference to a time when doctors would come by their patients’ house and check on them in their own environment,” Gamble says. “We advertise the program to incoming freshmen, so they won’t be taken aback or feel like we’re blitzing them with strangers at their doors.”
The visiting parties will be accompanied by the student workers in university housing. “Hopefully, this is just the start of an ongoing conversation that helps them adjust in an adequate way,” Gamble says.
This initiative is one of the scheduled programs in CCU’s First 54 Calendar and works in relation to this year’s CINO TIE Events, proceedings meant to orientate and welcome new students during move-in weekend.
Before the event starts at 7 p.m. on Sept. 4, there will be a volunteer orientation at 6 p.m., which includes a free meal. Any members of CCU’s faculty and staff interested in volunteering can sign up at Coastal Connections at www.coastal.collegiatelink.net/form/start/24371. For more information, contact Gamble at 843-349-5066 or rgamble@coastal.edu.
