Transitioning-in late enrolled students quickly and effectively

Transitioning-in late enrolled students quickly and effectively

With attrition in the first year representing approximately half of all attrition, an effective onboarding process in the early stages of a student’s study journey is essential for encouraging the engagement and belonging of commencing students (Kahu & Nelson, 2018). The transitioning-in process begins with a series of critical first encounters, which support students’ development of self-efficacy, belonging, wellbeing, and positive emotions relating to study (Kahu & Nelson, 2018). However, students who enrol late into their first study period are likely to miss out on this onboarding, which may negatively affect their success and retention (McIntosh & Brown, 2016). This was a concern at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) at the start of 2024 with the advent of a new academic calendar. While the new trimester calendar promised students more flexibility, it also meant the first study period had an earlier start date than many other universities. It was anticipated that this could result in a higher number of students than usual enrolling after the last date to enrol (Friday of week two). To mitigate this experience, the UniSQ Student Success Advising (SSA) team developed a strategy that focused on supporting late enrolled students to transition-in to study quickly and effectively.

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