Acquaint yourself with MHCC

MHCC is constantly constructing new ideas and programs to aid students in any way it can. In 2011, a team of academic and financial advisers planned to install an Orientation Center to help new students succeed in their first term at Mt. Hood.

“We were discovering that there were a lot of common questions that came up – like how to register and fill out FAFSA (forms) – that a new center that could alleviate, and also (help) answer complex questions, addressed upstairs (Student Services),” said Christy Weigel, Orientation Center coordinator. “I was part of the team that came up with the idea.”

From its first day of service last Sept. 30 through March 12, the Orientation Center has recorded 2,132 students who have walked in to get help. According to Weigel, one-third of students request help for financial aid, such as filling out FAFSA forms, one-third of students request help with registering for the next term, and one-third need help with a mixture of things such as admissions, applying for graduation, navigating their DARS and the MHCC Bookstore.

On average, the Orientation Center assists at least 20 people a day, and as many as 100. It is most busy during the first few days of registration and the start of each new term. “We’d still love to see more,” said Weigel. Ninety-four percent of students register after they’ve visited the Center.

The service has made significant progress over the course of two terms, while leaders say there’s still more coming to help students get the help they need.

“We intend to make online orientation available. That, of course, depends on funding and the IT department,” said Weigel.

As of August 2013, the IT department provided the Orientation Center a chat program to allow off-campus users to connect with the Orientation Center online, according to Eric Leighton, client technologies technician.

The IT department has played a significant role in supplying technological services needed in the Orientation Center, since a computer is required for many of the tasks students come to complete there. Becky Gish, a technology labs assistant, helped organize and design the layout of the center. IT workers designed a space for OC staff to sit and determined how many spaces were needed to fit the amount of students in the room.

The room was designed in such a way that staff could easily move around and help students. This explains why there aren’t narrow rows of computers such as in a typical lab, but, instead, is a wide-open center.  The IT department also hooked up the Center with a multi-function printer and Mac computers.

As far as staging events, the Orientation Center hopes to host college information nights, where community members can come and learn the basics of becoming a student at MHCC. “There are no events going on now; we are just open and here for students scrambling to get things finished,” said Weigel.

The only event currently taking place is FAFSA Fridays, directed by the Financial Aid Department but hosted at the Center.

Overall, the Orientation Center has made a good impression on visiting students and also the students who assist the staff there, said Weigel.

“As a student I get to explore new things. I get to look into careers and different possibilities of what I can study,” said Miguel Zacarias, student assistant in the center.

“It’s good because a lot of people come in unsure of what to do,” said Risa Nguyen, another student assistant. “It’s a lot more comforting for students to have somebody near them when they need them. They feel more secure to do things when there’s someone there, and they’re not completely alone.”