Innovations

Outreach Reaches…out of State
by Kyra Worrell

This summer, SFS Outreach had a great opportunity to join the Office of Undergraduate Education’s First Year Programs at their off-site orientations in San Diego and San Francisco, California and Honolulu, Hawaii. Outreach and First Year Programs (FYP) also presented the first ever other-side-of-the-mountains orientation in Spokane, Washington.

FYP’s innovative off-site “Advising and Registration” program assists new students and parents in many ways. One way is to defray costs for parents and students. Most new University of Washington students (both freshman and transfers) come to the UW campus during the summer to register for classes. At the same time they can learn about on-campus resources – including Student Fiscal Services – from a variety of information sessions offered during the program. Students coming from Hawaii or California or even from Eastern Washington would have to pay for two trips to campus – one in the summer and one when they move to campus in the Fall. This could end up being very costly, particularly for students from Hawaii. The off-site programs also give students from other areas a chance to meet and possibly bond with other students before making the move to the UW. This may aid in the retention of out-of-state students.

After last summer’s successful partnering with First Year Programs for both the on-site programs and for “Welcome Week”, SFS contacted Terry Hill, the coordinator for the off-site programs, to propose further partnering between our two offices. Since the presentation “Managing the UW Maze” has been so well received by students on-site, we thought that it might be a good idea to take our show on the road. Terry Hill also thought that was a great idea. The parents and students at the off-site programs have concurred – everywhere we’ve gone parents and students have thanked us for coming and told us how happy they are to see us! Many of the parent and student evaluations listed the Student Fiscal Services programs as the “Most Useful” presentation. First Year Programs has asked us to come back next year.

Outreach was responsible for outlining and promoting SFS services through presentations to both students and parents. The parents and students from out of state (and the eastern side of Washington State) had their own special concerns, in addition to what Outreach staff members had heard in the on-site orientations. How will we pay for out-of-state tuition – and is there any way to make that in-state tuition? Can we use our ( California or Hawaii) state scholarships in Washington State? You’re telling us we should use that bus pass the University sends us – but is it really safe to ride the bus in Seattle? In the spirit of good customer service and continuous process improvement, Outreach unit members Kyra Worrell and Diane Cooley, strove to answer all these questions and more, soothing the fears of nervous parents – all while assisting in decorating meeting rooms, chatting with parents and students at meals and checking in new students.