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Optimizing Extended Orientation Scheduling and Attendance Tracking for CNU

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Industry

Education

Challenge

CNU was looking to revamp their traditional Welcome Week, which had consisted of large group sessions that struggled to engage students. Instead, they wanted to create a more personalized experience, where incoming students would attend smaller, interactive sessions throughout the week based on factors like their academic interests, residential hall, and orientation group. This required developing an individualized schedule for each student, which presented a significant logistical challenge.

Results

By utilizing VZO's scheduling tools and filtering capabilities, CNU was able to efficiently build out these customized schedules for their entire incoming class. This not only improved the student experience by providing clear, easy-to-follow schedules, but also enabled CNU staff to track attendance in real-time and intervene early with any students who were missing sessions. Overall, the scheduling feature proved to be a valuable asset in CNU's efforts to reimagine their orientation programming.

Key Product

govzo.com

"VZO really allowed us to track attendance in real time throughout the week. If you can imagine, last year, I was collecting hand check-in sheets from all of our facilitators, for all of our small group sessions, for all of our students. So I was manually entering whether students attended things by hand into spreadsheets for several hours during welcome week, and we didn't have the data until weeks later about who attended and who didn't."

Katie Johnston

Director, Orientation and Student Involvement

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About CNU

Christopher Newport University (CNU) is a distinguished public liberal arts and sciences university located in Newport News, Virginia. Known for its commitment to academic excellence and leadership, CNU offers a personalized educational experience that fosters intellectual growth, civic responsibility, and a strong sense of community. With a focus on interdisciplinary learning, small class sizes, and student engagement, CNU equips its graduates with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in a dynamic world.

The Challenge

Katie Johnston and her team at Christopher Newport University (CNU) faced the challenge of reimagining their Welcome Week programming. The traditional large group sessions failed to engage students, highlighting the need for smaller, interactive sessions based on academic interests, residence halls, and orientation groups.

Creating individualized schedules for each student was a logistical nightmare due to the complexity of coordinating unique schedules for hundreds of students. Manual processes for tracking attendance were error-prone and time-consuming, making it hard to monitor participation and intervene when necessary.

CNU needed a technological partner to provide tools for a more engaging and personalized Welcome Week experience.

The Solution

To address the complex scheduling and attendance tracking challenges they faced, CNU turned to the VZO platform. VZO's robust scheduling and filtering capabilities empowered CNU to build out customized schedules for each incoming student, ensuring they could attend the small group sessions tailored to their specific interests and demographics.

In addition to the scheduling functionality, VZO's integrated check-in and attendance tracking features enabled CNU to monitor student participation in real-time. By leveraging QR code scanning and mobile-friendly check-in options, CNU was able to streamline the attendance process and gather valuable data to support early intervention efforts for students who were missing key Welcome Week events.

The seamless integration of scheduling, filtering, and attendance tracking within the VZO platform provided CNU with a comprehensive solution to reimagine their orientation programming and deliver a more engaging, personalized experience for their incoming students.

"The ability to filter by different criteria and automate the scheduling accordingly was a key benefit," said Katie Johnston, Director of Orientation and Student Involvement at CNU. "Whether it was grouping students by their orientation cohorts or academic areas of interest, the adaptability of the VZO system allowed us to tailor the experience for our students in a way that was simply not possible with our previous manual processes."

The Results

A significant metric was the reduction in manual data entry and errors. Previously, CNU staff manually collected and inputted attendance sheets, a process both time-consuming and error-prone. VZO's automated check-in system eliminated these tasks, saving staff time and improving data accuracy.

VZO's real-time attendance tracking allowed CNU to proactively identify and assist students missing key events. Unlike the past, where weeks were needed to analyze attendance, VZO enabled immediate monitoring and intervention.

Most importantly, VZO's individualized schedules enhanced the student experience. Clear, personalized schedules reduced confusion and boosted satisfaction with Welcome Week programming.

Implementing VZO's features led to measurable improvements in operational efficiency, data accuracy, and the overall student experience, ensuring the success of CNU's reimagined Welcome Week.

 

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