Recruitment
Recruitment really involves two steps: finding the students and
ensuring that an I-BEST program is the right choice for them.
Finding the students:
This step will most likely be handled by student services, but may
involve faculty as well. So here are some suggestions for finding
potential I-BEST students.
-
Go over
process with advising, registration, financial aid
-
Contact
community-based organizations and other referral agencies
-
Send letters/fliers
to industry
-
Post fliers
on campus
-
Visit ESL,
GED, and/or ABE classrooms
-
Hold informational
meetings on campus
Ensuring
I-BEST is the right fit:
Recruiting the right I-BEST student involves clear communication among
the recruiter, the I-BEST instructional team and the staff that support
the I-BEST initiative.
To keep the communication clear and ensure that the students have the
ability to be successful, here are some helpful hints:
Are the
students ready?
It's
important to tell
the students what we expect them to have prior to class entry:
§
Provide
a comprehensive orientation with clear student expectations
§
Use
screening questions to assess
students’ English ability, motivation and commitment to the program
§
Must
qualify into levels of basic skills education by taking the CASAS 20
appraisal or ECS 130. Students usually place in ESL 4 or ESL 5.
Each I-BEST program
has its own ESL level requirements.
§
A
desire and commitment to get into the I-BEST class to get a job
Do the students know
what they’re getting into?
Telling students what they are going to learn from class and what they
will be able to do after the program establishes realistic expectations:
§
Show
the student the class offerings for the particular I-BEST class and what
the time commitment is
§
Notify
the students about the prerequisites or extra materials to purchase
§
Tell
the student what they can get or be able to do after they finish the
class
§
Encourage students to build relationships with the content and basic
skills instructors.
Do the students know
where they’re going after the program?
There are many different directions that students can take, so provide
them with the different options for furthering their education and/or
career:
§
Find
out what are the students career goals
§
Locate
places on campus to find jobs or meet with a career counselor
§
Show
the students their career pathway and options to obtain skills for a
specific job. You can download an example
Pathway from Highline Community
College. (*This style of chart may be too
overwhelming for the students, so it would need to be explained and/or
modified)
§
Have a
list of other colleges available with other options or referrals for the
students particular career pathway.
§
See the
Career and
Academic advising pages for more information.
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