faces of Foothill College graduating students

Strategic Vision for Equity 2021-2025

Issue One: Onboarding

The onboarding process disproportionately impacts African American students

Students and Foothill employees have described the experience of a student looking to attend Foothill College as difficult and complicated.

From first interest to enrollment, a student could potentially interact with one or more of the following services at different points in the enrollment process: Outreach, Admissions, Financial Aid, Orientation, Counseling, and Assessment. Within this process, students report encountering barriers and inconsistencies that are described as complex and tedious that could discourage them from enrolling. In addition, there are lapses in time between onboarding steps where students are in a holding pattern waiting for the next steps in the enrollment process. This happens at points between priority registration, orientation, counseling, and when classes begin, leaving students with gaps in time where their circumstances may change. In assessing what happens from the moment of interest and awareness, all the way to application and enrollment, it is clear the onboarding process is not a simple one and can be lengthy and onerous for students. As previously mentioned, African Americans are not enrolling in our courses after applying to our college at a disproportionate rate. This observation is echoed in the Student Success Metrics[2], a public data dashboard provided by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office. In 2018-19, 56% of applicants who applied to Foothill College enrolled in our courses, whereas the enrollment rate was 50% for African American applicants. An overall evaluation of the application to course registration pipeline, as well as support services and their relevance to communities of color, is important to shed light on where challenges are prominent for students and where improvements can be made. Thus, the Office of Equity proposes the following goals as a guide to the actions that will need to take place.

While it can be hypothesized that the lower application-to-enrollment rate observed for African American students is related to the complex, tedious onboarding process that the campus has cited, we do not know whether it is the only reason why students do not enroll after applying. Consequently, all individual departments and divisions are encouraged to examine this issue within the context of their areas to surface the reasons that may be contributing to the problem. As the first line of contact with the college, the onboarding and enrollment process is critical to the student experience and one that should be evaluated on a consistent basis in order to adjust to contemporary issues and unexpected challenges.

[1] Source: FH IRP. 2017-18 to 2019-20 all applicants tracked to each term in which they applied to, excluding summer term. Enrollments are end of term and include credit and non-credit. Percentage point gap with margin of error was used to determine disproportionate impact. Three-year applicant counts and enrollment rates: African American = 5,438 (47%); Filipinx = 5,237 (50%); Native American = 550 (49%); Pacific Islander = 1,218 (48%); All Students = 101,851 (52%).

[2] https://www.calpassplus.org/LaunchBoard/Student-Success-Metrics.aspx

[3] Metropolitan Transportation Commission: Vital Signs. “Home Prices”. https://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/home-prices. Accessed November 13, 2020.

[4] Foothill IRP. “FH College Promise; Virtual Hub; Psychological Services; Learning Communities (Cabinet),” August 24, 2020, https://foothill.edu/irp/2021/FH-2021-Q1-Presentation-CPHubPsychServLCCabinet.pdf. PowerPoint Presentation.

[5] Foothill-De Anza Community College District IRP. “Fall End-of-Term Headcount by Ethnicity.” http://research.fhda.edu/_downloads/Ethnicity_FH.pdf.

[6] Draft Memo from E&E to President re: Dual Enrollment. https://foothill.edu/gov/equity-and-education/2019-20/jun12/DualEnrollment%20Recommendation.pdf

[7] https://www.cccco.edu/About-Us/Chancellors-Office/Divisions/General-Counsel/-/media/CCCCO-Website/Files/General-Counsel/x_legal-opinion-1602-dual-enrollment-and-ab-288-ccapada.ashx

Onboarding Goals

Goal 1

The application to registration pipeline is transparent and intuitive to students. Foothill retains students through the onboarding process, particularly those disproportionately impacted in the process (African American students).

Goal 2

Explore further districtwide FHDA collaboration and the potential for a shared application.

Goal 3

The onboarding process will be inclusive and take into account new students who seek to enroll in hybrid and exclusively online courses; and therefore, may not yet have an inherent need to physically be on campus.

Goal 4

Orientation is accessible to all new students prior to their first day of instruction. Orientation content is specific to Foothill’s onboarding process, providing guidance on how to navigate instructional and student support services to help students become familiar with the campus and its offerings.

Goal 5

African American students are consistently supported throughout the Connection phase, perhaps via a case management model shown to be successful at the college.

Goal 6

There are no barriers in our enrollment and registration processes, regardless of desired modality of class registration, on campus or online.

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