Summary
First2 Network PDSA Experience
First2 Institutional Team Liaison: Michael Norton
First2 Student Director/Co-Chair: Callia Yang
High Level Findings
Photo Highlights
Funding
Poster presented May 2023 at First2 Network Spring Conference, Stonewall Resort, Roanoke, WV 26447
We will be highlighting our Student-Faculty Networking Dinner PDSA. The goal of this PDSA idea was to facilitate a casual setting to promote conversation between students and faculty, such as deans, assistant deans, professors, advisors, and our institutional team, to bridge the communication gap and initiate meaningful connections in ways that promote belongingness, wellness, resilience, and financial stability. From this project, we wanted to learn how comfortable students were reaching out to faculty before the dinner and after the dinner, how the impact of the dinner would vary based on year/standing, and how much the experience encouraged students to make a follow up meeting with a faculty they spoke with at the dinner.
Next year, we look forward to rebirthing our institutional team with an Assistant to the Director of the Office of Student Success.
Data
Tips for Other Institutional Teams
Discussion and Conclusion
We found that the average rating of students on the question “on a scale 1-5, how comfortable are you with speaking to First2 Faculty and Institutional team members after attending the dinner? 5 being very comfortable and 1 being very uncomfortable” before the dinner was 3.63 but after the dinner it increased to 4.85 with nearly all 5 ratings and just one 4 rating.
Reflecting on our PDSAs this year, we could have taken advantage of more coaching sessions throughout the process as they are helpful for guidance about how to complete a PDSA template, what your learning questions should encompass, and how to analyze PDSA success through survey metrics. Coaching is not only open after completing the “Plan” section and after the “Do, Study, and Act” sections but can be helpful for anything/anytime in the process.
The PDSA template completion experience would be much simpler to understand if there was an example template and outline expectations for what should be done. Additionally, an agenda with notes on what was communicated during the meeting to reference and reflect on when further editing the PDSA template would be helpful. For our institution, there seemed to be a long turnaround time between contacting and scheduling a coaching session. It would be most convenient if there was a shared calendar to choose time slots for coaching sessions after the institutional team agrees on time availability.
Attendees
2022-23 PDSAs
2023-24 Planned PDSAs
PDSA Process
PDSA Coaching Experience
Campus Clubs (Alisha Joseph and Callia Yang)
Student-Faculty Networking Dinner (Alisha Joseph and Callia Yang).
Summer 2022 Immersion
(Michael Norton)
Math and Chemistry Intervention (Kateryna Schray, Jay Rader)
College Readiness High School Ambassadors
(All Scholars)
Campus Club
Student-Faculty Networking Dinner
Mentorship Across Campuses
Herd Hours
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Through the PDSA process, we have learned that all PDSAs require adequate planning ahead of time to smoothly execute the event(s) and complete the template. Specific to our Networking Dinner PDSA, planning for and confirming the number of attendees, making reservations for the space, and pre-ordering dinner was vital to allow students and faculty to focus on conversation rather than be distracted by the environment or ordering and waiting on food.
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All of our First2 scholars attended and engaged in group or individual conversations with faculty seated around them. The conversations students had included advice for their future careers, what classes they should take in the future, how to get involved in research, and internship opportunities for the future. “The First2 network and the immersion helped a lot by giving me confidence and people to go to when I needed help.” Nevaeh Ellington, biology student class of 2026.
blue = 5
Red = 4