BUILDING A BETTER STUDENT EXPERIENCE

In addition to the new student services HUB and the New Student Experience which have heavily discussed the past couple years as they’ve taken shape, John Hamblin has also helped to revolutionize tech software and apps available to Mt. Hood students for registration and advising.

Nearly any MHCC student will tell you they struggle to register for classes, or don’t know what classes they’re supposed to take next. But academic planning through the Navigate software – due to go “live” as of today – should change all that.

“Academic planning allows students to build a multi-year schedule of classes for their program. So, instead of filling out a maximum time frame appeal, now you get to start off on the right track,” said Hamblin, executive dean of student development for Mt. Hood.

It also allows students to more easily communicate with advisers and plan their schedules, perhaps eliminating the need for an in-person meeting, because students can receive feedback directly through Navigate.

In addition, it creates a better tracking system. Advisers can see how a student did in their classes, to be able to reach out if they don’t pass a course, to help get them back on track. They can also put a referral in to another department and keep track whenever a students goes and meets with someone they were referred to in order to solve a problem, and then close that case.

“Within a couple years of students using this, we’ll see fewer and fewer maximum time frame appeals, we’ll see more students completing their degrees on time with fewer excess credits and fewer unused credits, because they were on a better path,” said Hamblin.

He said that Christi Hart, director of student development technology, has been working on this major improvement for about three years. Navigate was first “demo-ed” three years ago and it’s been an ongoing process since then.

Navigate was due to launch today (Friday, May 17). It should be found in the links on the right side of the MyMHCC portal. June 10 will bring launch of a single-click registration feature, based on each student’s multi-year schedule plan.

Hamblin said another great thing about this system is that because students will be planning out all their time at MHCC in advance, it will be easier to know how many are set to take particular courses, and so managers can better see how many class sections will be needed and during which terms.

“We better pay attention to who we’re here to serve and what we’re here to do, and make it the best experience ever,” said Hamblin.