COUNSELING
CENTER
UNIVERSITY
OF MARYLAND
COLLEGE
PARK, MARYLAND
A
Comparison of the Characteristics and Attitudes of Freshman and Transfer
Students Attending Different Orientation Programs at the University of Maryland
Alyce C.
Martinez and William E. Sedlacek
The
computer time for this project was supported in full through the facilities of
the Computer Science Center, University of Maryland, College Park.
COUNSELING
CENTER
UNIVERSITY
OF MARYLAND
COLLEGE PARK,
MARYLAND
A COMPARISON
OF THE CHARACTERISTICS AND ATTITUDES OF FRESHMAN AND TRANSFER S'T'UDENTS
ATTENDING DIFFERENT ORIENTATION PROGRAMS AT THE
UNIVERSITY
OF MARYLAND
Alyce C.
Martinez and William E. Sedlacek
Research
Report # 11‑81
The characteristics and attitudes
of 981 incoming freshmen who attended two‑day orientation programs were
compared to those of 566 incoming freshmen and 378 transfer students who
attended one‑day orientation programs. Unlike those who attended tile two‑day
sessions, Students who attended the one‑day orientation programs tended
to come from slightly less affluent families, planned to live off-campus, and
planned to work at an off‑campus job during the school year.
Students also differed significantly
in their reasons for deciding to go to college, why they chose the University
of Maryland, College Park, in particular, and in the reasons they might forsee
for withdrawing from the University. Students who attended the one‑day
programs were also different in terms of the types of careers they chose, and
their plans after graduating from college.
The Orientation Office at the
University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) offers two basic programs for first
time entering freshmen, a one‑day and a two-day program. The one‑day
program emphasizes registration, with minimum attention to dealing with aspects
of the prospective student's non‑academic life, while the two‑day
program provides for a variety of experiences designed to help the students
adjust to their new situation. Entering students may choose either the one‑day
or the two‑day program. While the one‑day program has become
increasingly more popular with students, most of the information the University
of Maryland, College Park, gathers about freshmen comes from the two‑day
program, primarily because of time constraints in the one‑day program.
Thus the question is asked: Are
entering students who are able to attend the two‑day program similar to
or different from entering students who attend the one‑day program? Some
students may be unable to attend the two‑day program because of work
commitments or other financial reasons (e.g., the two‑‑day programs
are more expensive for students). These students, then, might differ from other
entering students can demographic variables such as employment status
and income, to name but a few. Thus data collected on the characteristics and
attitudes of freshman students based on two‑day orientation samples may
not reflect a potentially large constituency of students.
As a result, program planning for
campus activities and services may be ignoring the needs of large numbers of
students. Further, administrators may have an incomplete picture of why
students are choosing their particular institution, or why they may be
withdrawing from it.
The Orientation Office is also
concerned about differences in one‑day and two‑day participants,
since their programming needs should be based on something other than the time
they have available.
2.
The purpose of this study was to
compare incoming freshmen who attended a two‑day orientation program with
incoming freshmen and transfer students who attended a one-day orientation program
in 1980. Transfer students were included as one of the comparison groups
because they represent an expanding group in higher education, because they are
known to be at least demographically different from traditional entering
freshmen students; and to replicate a previous study (Feldman, Sedlacek &
Wright, 1977) that found transfer students to be similar attitudinally to other
entering students.
METHOD
Subjects. As part
of an ongoing program of research, the University of Maryland, College Park
(UMCP) collects data annually on the characteristics and attitudes of entering
freshmen during freshman orientation programs. The two‑day program sample
for this study consisted of 982 incoming freshmen, while the one-day sample
consisted of 566 incoming freshmen and 378 transfer students. Demographic data
on these subjects will be discussed in the Results section of this report.
Materials: The
University New Student Census (UNSC), a 78‑item questionnaire consisting
of demographic and attitudinal items, was administered during the two‑day
freshman orientations at UMCP. In order to accommodate the shorter length of
the one‑day orientation programs, a shorter version of the UNSC, a
"mini‑census" was developed. The mini‑census is a 20‑item
questionnaire consisting of 15 items taken directly from the UNSC and 5 items
geared specifically to gather information from transfer students (the latter
included questions such as the type of school previously attended and length of
interruption of study).
RESULTS
Corresponding items on the mini‑‑census
anti tire UNSC were compared across entering freshmen who attended the two‑dozy
and one‑clay orientation programs
and transfer students, who also attended the one‑day
programs. Freshmen attending the one‑day program were found to be
significantly different from those attending the two‑day orientation
sessions on fourteen of the fifteen items, using a chi‑square analysis
with a significance level of .05.
For descriptive purposes the differences will be reported
in terms of the percentage of students who chose a particular response on each
item; in some cases percentages may not equal 100° due to rounding or "other"
responses.
General Characteristics. In terms
of the sex composition of the sample, more male students attended the one‑day
programs: 51% of the entering freshmen and 55% of the transfer students were
male. During the two‑day program, however, the sample was only 45% male.
In terms of race, there were
more Asian entering freshmen attending the one‑day sessions than the two‑day
sessions, 7% vs. 3%, respectively. The percentage of students in each racial
group was as follows: the freshman two‑day sample was 82% white, 11%
black, 3% Asian, 3% Hispanic, and 2% other. The freshman one‑day sample
was 80% white, 10% black, 7% Asian, 2% Hispanic, and 1% other. American‑Indian
students made up less than one percent of each sample. There were fewer minorities
among the transfer student, with 87% of the transfer sample being white.
The annual income of the
families of one‑day students was significantly less than that of the two‑day
students. The median income of the one‑day freshman sample was $29,800,
while the median income of the two‑day sample was $32,475.
As had been expected, students
attending the one‑day orientation programs were more likely to work than
students attending the two‑day program. Only 38% of the freshman one‑day
students and 32% of the transfer students did not plan to work during their
first year at UMCP, compared to 51`0 of the two‑‑day students. And
4.
almost twice as many of the students attending the one‑day
or transfer student orientation indicated that they planned to work off‑campus,
43% of the freshman one‑day group and 48% of the transfer students compared
to 25% of the two‑day students.
When asked where they would be
living during their first semester at UMCP, respondents from the one‑day
programs were less likely to live on campus than their two‑day
counterparts (see Table l). Of the freshmen one‑day students, 48% planned
to live with parents or other relatives compared to only 26% of the two‑day
sample. Only 35% of the freshman one‑day sample and 11% of the transfer
students planned to live in University residence halls, compared to 60% of the
two‑day sample. Thirty‑six percent of the transfer students, 8% of
the one‑day freshmen and 5% of the two‑day group planned to share a
house or apartment, while 9% of the transfers, 3 % of the one‑day
freshmen, and 1% of the two‑day freshmen planned to live alone.
Compared to two‑day
respondents, one‑day and transfer students were more likely to see
academic involvement rather than social involvement as contributing most to their
development within the past year. One‑day students gave greater emphasis
to such academic activities as course work (20% of the transfer students vs. 12%
of the one‑day freshman group, vs. 7% of the two‑day freshman
group), independent study or research (10% of the one‑day group vs. 8% of
the two‑day group), and contact with teachers/counselors (9% of the one‑day
group vs. 7% of the two‑day group), but gave less emphasis to such social
activities as friend‑ made (24% of the one‑day group vs. 20% of the
two‑day group), and dating, parties, etc. (15% of the one‑day group
vs. 22% of the two‑day group). Only 6% of the transfer students cited
dating and parties its important in their development. Respondents in each of the
orientation programs, however, gave about equal import-
5.
ance to job experience (23%) and working with non‑political
groups ( 5%) or political groups (2%).
Views of College and UMCP
For all three groups, getting a
better job was the main reason for going to college (transfer students 40%, two‑day
freshmen 36%, and one‑day entering freshmen 34%). Gaining a general
education was the second most popular reason for all groups for going to
college, but significantly more one‑day students chose this option than
did two‑day students (23% of the one‑day freshmen and 24% of the
transfers vs. 18% of the two‑day freshmen).
In terms of why students chose
to attend UMCP in particular, significantly more of the one‑day freshmen
students chose UMCP because they wanted to live at home (14% vs. 8% of the two‑day
sample). The largest percentage of respondents, however, from both the ore‑day
arid two‑day orientation programs, cited UMCP's good academic reputation
(37% of the transfer students, 35% of the one-day freshmen, and 31% of the two‑day
freshmen). All samples also chose UMCP because of its low tuition (1.6%, 13%,
and 15%, respectively).
Students were not well‑informed
about the University of Maryland on the whole, however, particularly in regard
to the State of Maryland's ranking in per capita funding for higher education
compared to the rankings of other states. In both the one‑day and two‑day
orientation programs, fewer than 1% of the students correctly identified that
Maryland is among the 10 states least supporting higher education. Students
were typically quite idealistic. For example, 28% of the students in both
freshman samples and 31% of the transfer students believed that Maryland was
among the top 10 states supporting higher education.
On an item designed to gather
information on retention, students were confronted with the statistic that
nationally about 50% of all university students leave before receiving a degree
(see Table 2). When asked to speculate about
6.
possible reasons that they themselves might leave UMCP
students attending the one‑day orientation were more likely to say they
aright leave to accept a good job compared to students attending the two‑day
program. Freshman one‑day students were less likely to think they would
leave because of the cost of education (10% vs. 16% of the freshman two‑day
sample) or because of a lack of scholastic ability (6% vs. 10%). However, in both
samples the largest percentage of participants indicated that they were
absolutely certain that they would remain for their degrees, with transfer
students most likely to choose drat option.
When asked about their plans
after graduating from college, respondents in the one‑day sample were
more likely to cite beginning a career (56% of both freshmen and transfers vs.
47% of the participants in the two‑day orientation) and less likely to
cite getting married along with beginning a career (13% of the one‑day
freshmen and 12% of the transfers vs. 19% of the two‑day freshmen).
Career Choices and Goals
Students in both samples were
asked to specify occupations that reflected their current vocational goals (see
Table 3). These were subsequently coded according to Holland's typology (1979)
which reflects Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and
Conventional types of careers. Compared to the two‑day orientation
sample, Students from the one‑day programs were more likely to choose
Realistic and Social careers and less likely to choose careers ire the
Investigative area.
The only item that did not significantly distinguish respondents
from the one‑day and two‑flay orientation programs concerned
students' most important reasons for making a particular long‑‑term
career choice. In order of importance, students cited intrinsic interest in the
field, high anticipated earnings, and working with people.
Data on Transfer Students Only
Fifty percent of the transfer
students were coming front four‑year colleges other than the University
of Maryland, 45% were transferring from two‑year
7.
colleges, and 4% were transferring from other branches of
the University of Maryland. The majority (79%) of transfer students had
attended school one semester ago, 10% had attended within one year, 6°k
attended more than three years ago, 4% within the past two years, and 1%
attended 3 years ago. The majority (85%) had transferred only once, 11% had
transferred twice, 3% three times, and 1% more than three times. The mean
number of semester credits completed was 54 (standard deviation 22.73). The
average age of the transfer students who attended the one‑day orientation
was 22 (standard deviation 4.10).
DISCUSSION
The results indicate that
students who attended orientation programs of different durations were
different in characteristics and attitudes. Such differences may have
ramifications for program planning for student services and administration.
The students typically seen in
two‑day orientation programs at UMCP expected to live in University
residence halls, did not plan to work during the school year, and saw social
involvement contributing more to their overall development than academic
involvement. Programs and services designed for incoming students based on such
norms may be ignoring the needs and characteristics of a large segment of the
student population. The participants in one‑day orientation programs
seemed to reflect a different type of student: one who is somewhat less
affluent, may be a commuter, one who plans to be on campus less because of the
demands of a part‑time job or living off‑campus, one who sees
academics as being more important in his/her overall development, more
concerned with financial. matters, and more likely to consider withdrawing from
the University to accept a good job. Transfer students were particularly firm
in their resolve to remain at the University rind earn their degrees, and were
not significantly different in demographic or attitudinal variables from their
counterparts reported by Feldman et al. (197 7).
8.
The implications for those
planning orientation programs are considerable. A much different focus should
be made it) tine one and two‑day programs. Additionally, planners may
want to consider allocating some portion of their resources and services to the
needs of students who attend the one‑day programs, perhaps by giving more
attention to the needs, of students who do not live on campus, or by studying
the enrollment and retention trends of various student populations.