Input sought on new student onboarding

Open forums

  • Oct. 16 (1-2 p.m., MU Gold Room)
  • Oct. 17 (11 a.m.-noon, MU Cardinal Room)

A committee examining new student onboarding procedures at Iowa State is seeking feedback from faculty and staff during a pair of open forums next week.

"The intent is to better help all new students -- more than 8,000 undergraduates, in addition to 1,300 graduate and 150 professional students -- make a successful transition into our community each year," said Keith Robinder, committee co-chair and associate dean of students.

The committee, a collaboration of the student affairs and academic affairs divisions, will share its findings since beginning work in March and welcomes feedback and discussion. Open forums will be held Oct. 16 (1-2 p.m., Memorial Union Gold Room) and Oct. 17 (11 a.m.-noon, MU Cardinal Room).

In its first six months, the committee reviewed current practices at Iowa State and mapped onboarding processes during workshops co-facilitated by experts from Boeing. Last month, project teams were established to examine specific areas of the new student onboarding process.

The project teams will study and develop:

  • Unified collaborative communications
  • New student onboarding core curriculum
  • A digital onboarding portal/repository of resources
  • Effective onboarding for graduate and professional students

Recommendations from the committee will be submitted next spring to senior vice president and provost Jonathan Wickert and senior vice president Martino Harmon.

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