Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Opening Act: The Academic Library's Role In Orientation Planning And Evaluation, Zachary Lewis, Katy Kelly

Roesch Library Faculty Publications

This article describes a private, mid-sized university library’s experience of hosting a music festival-themed event in the library building as part of new student orientation, with program evaluation and student learning assessment at the forefront of planning. The authors and co-planners will discuss four years of data to explore the connection between library outreach and students’ use of the library, their perceptions of the institution, and the role the event plays in shaping student success. It offers recommendations for collaborating with academic libraries and approaches in future cross-campus collaborations, including using a scaffolding approach to outline the goals and assessment …

Building Support For The Introductory Oral Communication Course: Strategies For Widespread And Enduring Support On Campus, Jon A. Hess

Communication Faculty Publications

A strong introductory course is important for many communication departments, for the discipline, and for meeting our obligation to society. This paper utilizes the example of a recent curricular reform that threatened to eliminate a required oral communication course to reflect on strategies departments can use to build widespread and lasting support for the course. The paper reviews the events that led to the challenge and details the department’s response, which offers lessons that may be useful for other institutions. Four lessons include:

* Tailoring the introductory course to the institution’s needs and mission

* Involvement in university work

* …