NODA Journal 20_2.indd 100 THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE ORIENTATION AND TRANSITION Emerging Campus Issues: The Case of Dalton State College Donna Lee Sullins and Marilyn M. Helms This article describes the challenges faced by marketing and orientation on an emerging campus, Dalton State College in Northwest Georgia. Based on the limited literature on emerging campuses, this paper highlights the issues involved in providing a realistic preview to current students, both in person and in marketing and orientation materials, while simultaneously considering the future size and scope of the campus. Introduction Defining an Emerging Campus An emerging campus is often a challenge to define but is typically viewed as a campus with fewer than 5,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) student enrollment and growing in number or changing institutional status. Examples include transitioning from a college to a university status, adding new course offerings or new degree programs at the same level, adding graduate programs to a formerly undergraduate-only campus, transitioning from a commuter to a residential campus, moving from intramural to intercollegiate athletics, or adding Greek life opportunities. Regardless of the stimulus for the transition, emerging campuses share many commonalities. Emergence and Change Literature Although the literature on emerging campuses is limited, there is an abundance of information on change and change management. In his seminal article on growth and change, Greiner (1998) stated that all organizations or institutions experience both evolution and revolution as they pass through growth stages. The past crises or stages are even critical to future success. Greiner (1998) mentions that, in a haste to grow, one can overlook critical developmental questions as to where we have been, where we are now, and what the answers to these questions mean for the future. In early life cycle stages, communication CAMPUS NOTES Donna Lee Sullins (dlsullins@daltonstate.edu) is the Associate Director in the Office of Student Life at Dalton State College. Marilyn M. Helms (mhelms@daltonstate.edu) is the Sesquicentennial Chair and Professor of Management in the School of Business at Dalton State College. SPRING 2013 • VOLUME 20, NUMBER 2 101 is often informal, but as an organization or institution grows, procedures and policies may be needed to reduce conflicts. With more procedures come additional centralized planning and messages, which may result in a crisis of too little autonomy and the need for more delegation. These organizational stages are not unlike that of a college or university as it changes focus and mission. While the idea of growth is positive, the perceptions of the changes that accompany growth are often seen as scary at best and negative at worst. The change literature stresses communicating a strong mission to all within the organization (Kenney, Dumont, & Kenney, 2005), but those marketing a college or university in such a transition struggle with which vision to present. The past mission is not quite correct, the current mission is in the midst of change, and the future state is not yet “frozen,” or in-place for all to see. Change, too, may be episodic and not smooth and continuous (Weick & Quinn, 1999). As colleges change, the question becomes one of developing a consistent message to current and potential students without alienating alumni. Messages, too, are hard to develop in a cohesive fashion when so many ideas may be present. The speed of change is often a challenge to communicate. For example, a college strives to add new programs or even move to university status. The trend of colleges taking advantage of the prestige and recognition that many think come with being a university has been going on for years, according to Rector (2008); however, the multiple levels of implementation of such a change can take many years. External stakeholders, namely the community, often want a quicker transition and do not always understand that higher education may move slower than business decisions and must go through a variety of curriculum and program committees, both locally and at higher governing levels, such as a board of trustees or board of regents. Building school spirit is challenging as well when the rallying point is not the same among the various groups. Managing the transition becomes key to operations and success. The strengths of transitions are many. At a time of growth, when new programs are being created on campus to fit current needs, many new ideas are accepted and little is sacred. Students, faculty, and staff can be involved in shaping and building the experience and the legacy, yet challenges include managing the marketing message throughout the transition, which may be prolonged. Also, reaching all audiences with the message is important, yet often changes are made with limited budgets and scarce resources. For marketing and orientation in particular, the message matters, and even without a verbal message, non-verbal messages are in place as the campus transitions. In fact, Mahrebian (1971) found that non-verbal messages are seen as more important than verbal messages, and when a person on campus perceives an inconsistency between verbal and nonverbal communication, or between the language and the non-language message, the non-verbal message often becomes the most believable (Eckman, 1985). The marketing and orientation message to incoming students may differ from that of faculty. Faculty may have concerns that adding student life opportunities, such as athletics, may damage the academic reputation of an institution (Sander, 2011). 102 THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE ORIENTATION AND TRANSITION As adults on a college campus are often going through many anticipated and unanticipated changes, student affairs professionals are trained to aid these students in positive coping mechanisms to make transitions successful. Schlossberg, Waters, and Goodman’s (1995) transition theory supports that the “self,” or the life experiences and natural ways of coping that someone brings to a situation, will determine how an event alters someone’s life trajectory. Having multiple solutions to reach desired outcomes or strategies can assist with the changes taking place. People, including friends, family, mentors, resident assistants, or other faculty and staff members, can serve as positive or negative support for students going through changes and may either assist or hinder the progress. For example, as campus admissions standards change, students may face uncertainty as to their future career paths when they are suddenly unable to enter their desired program of study. The situation may be viewed as positive or negative, whether expected or unexpected. This type of situation will ultimately affect the way a student reacts. Having faculty and staff who are knowledgeable of changes can bring reassurance. Marketing positive attitudes regarding a change can also impact students for the better as they go through such transitions. Norris and Mounts (2010) explored new student transition as a function of parental relationships, peer support, and campus involvement. Rather than focusing on grade point average and retention, their study considered levels of loneliness, school belonging, and alcohol and drug use to gauge successful college transitions. While several of their hypotheses about the correlations of student transition were not supported, they suggest orientation professionals explicitly address the benefits of participating in college activities so that anxiety about students’ new surroundings can be overcome (Norris & Mounts, 2010). Their study supports Schlossberg, Waters, and Goodman’s (1995) earlier work, which reports that factors in successful transitions include parental and peer support as well as the students’ situations. Transitions at Dalton State College (DSC) Dalton State College (DSC), the institution under study as an emerging campus, began as Dalton Junior College when it was chartered by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia in 1963. DSC’s doors opened in September, 1967 with 524 students. The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) has accredited Dalton State to award the associate degree since 1969, the year of its first graduating class. To aid local industry and prepare employees for new jobs, Dalton Junior College began offering technical certificates and mini-certificates in 1971. Much more change occurred for this small mountain school over the next five decades. In 1987, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the new name “Dalton College,” removing the “Junior” designation; however, even today, members of the local community often refer to the institution as the “Junior College.” In 1994, DSC had grown to more than 3,000 students. SPRING 2013 • VOLUME 20, NUMBER 2 103 Time Line of Change Bachelor’s degrees added. The mission and purpose of Dalton College changed significantly in fall 1998, to include focused baccalaureate offerings. The name of the College was changed to “Dalton State College” on November 11, 1998 at a meeting of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. This change in name and institutional status brought prestige to the campus, though the local area has taken many years to recognize the changes. In 2007, the campus was reorganized into seven distinct Schools that had formerly been divisions: the School of Business, School of Education, School of Liberal Arts, School of Nursing, School of Science and Mathematics, School of Social Work, and the School of Technology. These divisions caused much separation of the certificate and mini-certificate programs from the rest of the degree programs offered on campus, since they were largely housed in the School of Technology. By 2008, the fourth institutional president had been chosen. In 2009, the campus added residential housing for students and completed a bell tower and central quadrangle as a campus focal point as enrollment exceeded 5,000 students, with the highest enrollment of 5,988 in 2010-2011 (Dalton State College Office of Institutional Research & Planning, 2011). Today, DSC offers baccalaureate degrees in a number of key areas including Accounting, Biology, Chemistry, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, English, History, Management, Management Information Systems, Marketing Systems, Mathematics, Nursing, Operations Management, and Social Work. Plans are in place for new bachelor’s degree programs and perhaps the first master’s degree programs, along with fine arts, music, drama, and other performing arts programs. Campus housing and wider recruiting. Adding to the changes on campus, a local apartment complex was purchased by the DSC Foundation in 2005 to serve as land for future expansions. Instead, it was updated and turned into on- campus housing in the summer of 2009. This provided recruiters an opportunity to reach students outside DSC’s initial ten-county Northwest Georgia service area. Additionally, DSC staff is working in Atlanta, GA to recruit residential students. Students raised in the inner city of Atlanta are now roommates and classmates with rural Northwest Georgia students. DSC is still managing this change in campus culture and working to bridge gaps through student programming and First Year Experience (FYE) classes. With on-campus housing in place, the student body is increasingly more diverse. Opportunities for study abroad and international travel have also increased as a new Center for International Education was created. The addition of campus housing also allows DSC to recruit graduate students from across the country to intern on campus in various academic and student services offices. These students were able to bring fresh ideas and energy to DSC. Several interns found either on-campus or area employment, further adding to the economic vitality and diversity of the area. For campuses adding new housing, especially campuses without graduate level programs, having graduate interns work on a campus is valuable. 104 THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE ORIENTATION AND TRANSITION Technical program elimination. As DSC seeks to become a traditional four- year institution—allowing students to both start and end their collegiate career on campus—marketing programs to the correct student populations makes a big difference. In 2011, DSC officially ended its dual mission of offering technical degree programs. The severed ties with the Technical System of Georgia left the campus with a smaller student body as a shortfall of operation funds, causing the entire campus to rearrange funding. With the loss of many technical programs came decreased numbers of students able to receive HOPE Grant monies, a state- funded program for students in technical fields. The Office of Admission at DSC refocused from a technical program emphasis to recruiting high school students and military personnel seeking four-year degrees. Outsourcing auxiliary services and reorganization. In fall 2010, the formerly in-house bookstore was outsourced to a national company for greater access to materials and logo promotional items. In fall 2011, campus food services were outsourced, and in fall 2012, to meet the needs of campus residents, basic meal plans were offered. This allows students to use financial aid to pay for meals and have easy access to food throughout the week. With students living on campus seven days per week, every day of the year, the number of campus police officers were increased to meet safety demands. Students living on campus also led to health care needs. In spring 2010, the local health department opened a one day a week health clinic on campus; however, students did not use the clinic. Currently, DSC is assessing other options for health care. The ten-year, three-phase master plan calls for further campus expansion in traditional campus residence halls, an extended student center and fitness center, new campus classroom buildings, and a planned student body of 8,000. Letters of intent between a number of international colleges and universities are in place, and the first student and faculty exchanges have begun (Dalton State College, Office of Institutional Research and Planning, 2011). Additionally, Greek Life focus groups have organized, and DSC anticipates the first sororities and fraternities will begin in 2013. In summer 2012, the campus was consolidated from seven to five schools. Some former technical programs were absorbed by several of the other DSC schools and those not already at associate-level programs are being considered for transitioning into associate-level programs. Marketing and Managing DSC’s Transitions Signs and symbols. DSC’s growth resulted in changes of signs and symbols. One such change came with the building of a campus bell tower. Funded by donors during a capital campaign from the DSC Foundation, the bell tower has become a much-needed focal point of campus identity. DSC’s logo, formerly interlocking letters of “DSC,” was changed to an image of the bell tower, with the words “Dalton State” next to it. The designers of this logo did not include the word “College” in the graphic image, allowing future name changes. As DSC’s status changed, so have student attitudes toward campus. Students sought traditions and rallying points on campus—beyond the bell tower. Students SPRING 2013 • VOLUME 20, NUMBER 2 105 questioned what symbolized the campus (“Towering,” 2009). Traditions sprung up, such as “painting the rock,” consisting of spray painting a large boulder on campus with current messages. This tradition was started with some involved students and student life staff and was modeled after the University of Tennessee and Liberty University’s rock painting. Managing enrollment linked to the local economy. Dalton, Georgia’s demographic landscape changed drastically in the 1990s with the boom of the local carpet and floor covering industry, which is headquartered in the region (Baker & Harris, 2007). A large population of Latinos moved to Dalton to fill the vacant industry jobs. In the 1990s, the city of Dalton’s demographics changed drastically to what is now a city that is 40% Latino. With that change in the community came changes in the local school system and at DSC. Hispanics came to work in the ever-growing job market in local mills, and soon friends and family joined them. Local schools worked to have translators available to parents. Resources, including scholarships through foundations for Hispanic students, were sought for campus students, programs, and endowed Latino-focused professorships. Orientation professionals experiencing similar demographic changes needed to evaluate the verbal and nonverbal messages being sent by orientation, before and during sessions, to make sure they were accessible and appropriate for all new international audiences.“ Colleges and universities are competing for an increasingly diverse student body. Because of this competition, they must be sensitive to the needs of different groups to attract and retain the best students,” (Kenney, et al. 2005). Parent and Family weekend was also created by the then Office of Student Life to provide a message that parents and family are partners, and the campus wants family to be part of their students’ experiences at DSC. Orientation leaders who spoke Spanish would often get pulled aside by parents of students who were struggling to understand certain concepts about the college. More work, such as translating materials into Spanish, could be done to reach these family members who want to be involved in their students’ lives. While the U.S. recession officially ended in May, 2009, Dalton, GA metro area leads the U.S. in unemployment and the percentage of jobs loss (O’Neil, 2012). The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012) reported the unemployment rate in May 2012 as 12.1 percent (compared to 8.2% nationally and 8.9% for Georgia). The housing crises slowed construction, and with the industry clustered in carpet and floor covering, many manufacturers closed. A New York Times article even highlighted the problems in Dalton (Severson, 2012). As the local economy continued to struggle, DSC’s enrollment began falling in the 2011-12 academic year. The fall 2012 enrollment again fell, reaching 5,026. Many families, particularly Hispanic families, left Dalton to find work elsewhere. For others, unemployment and retraining benefits had ended, and some lacked funding for college coursework. Some decline in enrollment was the result of statewide changes to lottery-funded scholarships, as the lottery was bringing in less money than expected. Today, the City of Dalton is struggling to rebrand itself beyond carpet to attract more industries and jobs (Southerland, 106 THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE ORIENTATION AND TRANSITION 2012). Unfortunately, with the downturn in enrollment, faculty and staff positions created during the campus expansion could no longer be funded, causing fewer remaining staff to maintain the quality and level of student services. Rebirth of athletics. From 1968 to 1978, Dalton Junior College, the precursor to today’s DSC, had an extremely successful basketball team ranked in the top ten nationally for eight of the ten years of the program’s history. The growth of the college and the increased expense of athletics forced the college to disband the program after 1978 (Trevizo, 2012). As DSC transitioned to a more traditional four-year college, moving from a few targeted bachelor’s degree programs to a longer list of programs and majors, it was not long before serious talks about bringing back an athletic program were in discussion. In preparation, students used their vision projects at LeaderShape to create a campus mascot. Using student submissions and alumni buy-in as well as a student vs. alumni basketball game, a campus mascot was chosen. The symbol of “Rage the Roadrunner,” DSC’s mascot, can now be seen adorning t-shirts, backpacks, and bumper stickers. This new image and symbol created a unity in campus identity even before athletics arrived at DSC. Students hoping to start an athletic program had to first settle for club sports in 2009. This was DSC’s first taste of intercollegiate athletic competition in more than 30 years. Students, faculty, and staff were hooked. The student government approved funding for an outside company to evaluate DSC’s viability for hosting athletics. Upon approval from the experts, campus surveys about athletic fees were emailed to students and voted on by the student budget committee. While the fee was higher than initially thought, the students approved the additional funding. In 2012, an athletic director was hired to develop intercollegiate athletics programs. In fall 2012, a new men’s basketball coach was hired, with the first game to be played in fall 2013 at the NAIA level. This additional aspect of student life offerings gives students something to be excited about and will bring the community onto the DSC campus. While athletics is certainly not the central point of this exploratory case study, it can be seen that having athletics at an institution, regardless of division or association, can create greater bonds to an institution. Student-athletes themselves have higher rates of institutional attachment than their peers (Melendez, 2006). Having sports can create greater overall campus identity. Some schools claim that, based upon the success of their athletic teams, more students apply for admission, allowing them to select the very best of prospective applicants. Thus, successful sports teams also improve the academic level of the school (Woods, 2011). Changing the mission statement. The mission statement has undergone multiple iterations. The committee charged with crafting the statement struggled to identify the initial focus of the Northwest Georgia region, while leaving open the growth expected, given more recruiting, sports, and campus housing. While the bachelor’s degree offerings continue to grow, the college does not have university status. Given budgetary constraints too, the mission statement changed in 2011 to reflect the discontinuation of the externally-focused Continuing Education unit of the campus. Currently, the mission statement is as follows: Dalton State College is dedicated to providing broad access to quality higher SPRING 2013 • VOLUME 20, NUMBER 2 107 education for the population of Northwest Georgia, thereby enhancing the region’s economic vitality and quality of life. As an institution of the University System of Georgia, Dalton State College offers targeted bachelor’s degrees, a full range of associate’s degrees and career certificate programs, and a wide variety of public service and continuing education activities. The College’s work is strengthened by partnerships between the College and Northwest Georgia businesses and industries, governments, and schools. The mission of Dalton State College consists of the following core commitments: 1. selection, support, and development of a talented, caring faculty and staff dedicated to scholarship and creating an open, cooperative, technologically enhanced learning environment; 2. excellence in a learning environment dedicated to serving a diverse student body, promoting high levels of student achievement, and providing a range of educational and student life opportunities and appropriate academic support services; 3. public service through continuing education, economic development, and cultural activities that address the needs and improve the quality of life of the region; 4. continuous improvement in all aspects of its operations through the use of inclusive, participatory planning and meaningful assessment. In fulfilling its mission, Dalton State College seeks to prepare and inspire its students to be active members within their professions and communities. As Dalton State College looks to the future and its place in a competitive, global society, it seeks to build upon its strengths as one of the most academically respected, student-oriented, and community-centered institutions of its kind. (Dalton State College, Office of Institutional Research & Planning, 2011) Changes to the mission statement on emerging campuses will often be delayed, particularly if external higher educational committees or boards must approve them; however, a more forward-looking or aspirational vision statement may be created to show the likely future direction for an institution. This vision statement can guide short-term strategic planning as well. Marketing. Marketing targeted the new residents of the local community, trying to show students that a college education was accessible to them at DSC. A slogan to represent the great start a student could get with a two-year degree, “People who are going places start here,” was quickly replaced by “The Sky’s the limit” and later “Discover Dalton State.” The marketing was meant to change the culture of students’ already attending DSC and those who were being recruited. The literature on slogans, marketing, and branding suggests that brand identity 108 THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE ORIENTATION AND TRANSITION is important for positioning and repositioning any entity. When adapting to a new market, name changes often must occur to rejuvenate the brand or to inspire a turnaround. Brand names are established in customer’s minds by advertising. Also, experiences with a product, or institution in this case, constitute a major asset (Aaker & Keller, 1990; Kane, 1987; Tauber, 1981, 1988). Boush (1993) agrees the attempt to capitalize on such an asset can be done by extending the brand name to new products or situations and notes this is a popular growth strategy. In fact, when conditions within an institution change over time, there may be a conflict if the brands and slogans do not change as well. Research from the business marketing literature found that, for most organizations, name changes are associated with improved performance, particularly as the new name is usually chosen after carefully screening potential names to assure that the new chosen name is consistent with the intended image (Horsky & Swyngedouw, 1987). The very act of a name change can serve as a signal that other measures within the organization or institution will also be changed or undertaken for the better. Growing Footprint and Physical Facilities. In late July 2012, The DSC Foundation purchased a 15,000 square foot building and five acres near the college for expansion. The building, formerly the Carpet and Rug Institute, relocated, and the property is seen as a key acquisition for future growth (Means, 2012). While there are currently no plans for this building’s use, the location of such a space in direct proximity to the current campus blueprint allows DSC to be best placed for the future. Funding. Today’s struggles include starting and maintaining traditions as well as making and establishing the campus name, both regionally and nationally. The aftermath of the US recession and lack of funding has limited the many marketing ideas available, leading to the actual orientation day as one of the few places that such image creating could take place. The attempt to build school spirit is also challenging while in transition, as the overall campus was unable to find a rallying point without sports programs, performing arts programs, or other activities or gathering places on campus. Also difficult is coordinating messages from all sources offering advice to current and new students when many ideas are present among each group. In addition, the external community of stakeholders, such as alumni, parents, citizens, and community businesses, have their own ideas about what the college should be, and these are often at odds with or on a faster trajectory than the actual plans of the campus itself. Benefits of the emerging campus, though, are many. The situation offers a chance to create programs to fit current needs, and in a time of change and transition, new ideas are accepted and students too have input and have the opportunity to shape and build their own experience, which has often been referred to as “building the plane while you are flying it.” Many faculty, staff, and students find this growth stage of an institution’s life cycle a positive experience. With new transitions come new opportunities and campus activities to become involved in, as well as a chance for students at the beginning of the transition to build their own legacy for the future. Some ways to mitigate the struggles and growing pains on the DSC campus SPRING 2013 • VOLUME 20, NUMBER 2 109 have been to anticipate and start new activities as early as possible. One example was including a parent and family weekend—a new experience for a campus just adding student housing. Other new traditions include adding a more visible campus fitness center, bringing the campus mascot back, and introducing club sports in the interim while athletics are being planned. Changes Affect New Student Orientation With school reorganization, advising and registration had the most marked changes, particularly at orientation. Traditional majors were now changing. For example, students who were listed as RN majors faced confusion on two-year versus four-year programs and where they should start their collegiate careers. Orientation leaders should know this so that accurate information can be presented to new students, hopefully decreasing the chance of matriculating at another institution because of the school not meeting the academic program needs of the student. The Advising Center was decentralized during the transition to provide advising within each school. As this change is still new, several advisors are not yet experts in their new areas of advising, and this could cause their sessions to take longer and provide less confidence to students or their family members in attendance. With new campus residential offerings came new orientation needs of students and their parents. Out-of-town students requested weekend orientations so their families could attend with them without taking time off from work. Needs related to safety, dining services, meal plans, laundry, transportation, and the like needed to be addressed at orientation. Additionally, evening programs and staff to run them needed to be created for a student population on campus 24 hours a day; however, commuter students were still the majority and were frustrated by receiving orientation information that did not apply to them. For the last decade, DSC has planned to build a new classroom building on campus. Knowing this and communicating it to students and their families, who may never see the building, is challenging. It can be difficult to sustain excitement for upcoming projects not yet started or completed. Similarly, four-year programs awaiting state approval and also delayed due to budget cuts do not help students who attend DSC solely to earn such proposed degrees. Athletics and Greek Life are other areas that have been spoken about for years with great optimism and have only very recently seen progress in their creation. As any orientation team would, DSC Student Orientation Ambassadors and Recruitment (SOAR) Leaders learned of many of these changes during spring training; however, some ideas were still so much in flux that it was difficult to finalize a correct answer. Pre- and post-orientation staff meetings were used to communicate some changes being implemented over the summer. A major suggestion to improve orientation would be to have a deadline for all changes for the coming fiscal year and then work to educate the SOAR Leaders about those changes. Offering a consistent message in the face of all these changes, however, is 110 THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE ORIENTATION AND TRANSITION often quite difficult. Typically, only a few units and schools are “in the know” about changes. Lengthy delays of plans are typical, and institutions may not want to get students’ hopes up about a project. Confusion and frustration for students and their families continues as different academic departments, student service areas, and faculty or staff may offer conflicting futures for DSC. This is evidenced by many anecdotal stories from students and also from orientation evaluation comments. With many ideas of what is to come and what should or shouldn’t come to campus, there remains a real need for a comprehensive campus marketing plan with a central marketing message for all employees and offices on campus support. Orientation attempted to coordinate with Communications and Marketing to share ideas in a similar way, but they didn’t always agree on holding back key exciting information about the future. There was a lack of accountability in keeping messages consistent regarding ideas about DSC now and in the future. Most messages related to campus changes were sent as emails and e-newsletters, as they were the most cost-effective and time saving ways to communicate; however, as a one-sided message, it was difficult for the campus at large to ask questions and have them answered. Also, due to so many emails in one’s inbox, not everyone was reading these messages. Great time was taken by the President and the Vice President for Academic Affairs to attend beginning-of-the-year departmental meetings to discuss the academic changes and to answer questions. They even hosted staff sessions to make sure everyone was receiving all the changes; however, what they couldn’t influence were opinions about what those changes would mean for DSC and attitudes toward the changes. Dalton State College began using social media in full force as the campus, as a whole, and many offices and departments created Facebook accounts, Twitter pages, and YouTube channels to reach students with their messages. Other social media outlets as well as traditional media outlets, such as radio, billboards, or TV spots might have added to this student message, but in tight financial times, no financial resources were given to marketing needs. Instead, students looked for advertisements on the campus Stall Wall, a newsletter changed weekly inside restroom stalls across campus. These one-page full-color fliers contained a weekly event calendar and brief messages about new campus changes. In the recession, several projects were put on hold, though not cancelled. Trying to spin these disappointments in a positive way to students, faculty, and staff remains challenging. Additionally, maintaining excitement for the eventual progress of these projects on campus is difficult. Current furlough days for faculty and staff also affect morale. In times of economic uncertainty, funding for new programs, buildings, and events may be delayed or cut altogether. It can be difficult to sustain excitement about upcoming changes, especially when experienced staff know that the time lines are likely to grow and that there is a possibility of not having the change take place at all. This is why it is important that orientation staff members present new changes in a way to help the listener understand that not all plans on campus will come to fruition. SPRING 2013 • VOLUME 20, NUMBER 2 111 As DSC’s current student population has decreased in average age and increased in overall distance traveled to come to school, the student body is becoming more “traditional.” As such, it’s important that messages about the campus are presented in a way that recognizes that student demographics have changed. New campus personnel too can lead to greater difficulties for orientation staff to maintain the campus connections and serve as a catalyst for campus identity. Orientation leaders may be working with new or part-time faculty who are inexperienced in the campus advising procedures. It has been important to recruit new faculty at orientation events and to provide training for them as well as social opportunities to meet orientation staff to create a more cohesive program. An incentive program to encourage faculty to commit to summer assistance was also implemented, including a drawing for prizes at the end of the summer for faculty who were involved. In times of transition, the confusion and frustration felt by students can now lead them to look elsewhere to meet their higher education needs. A branch of a regional technical college opened in Dalton, providing more affordable entry- level course work for local students and in more targeted technical curricula that DSC once offered. Online and degree-completion programs with flexible hours for working students and parents also compete for the local student population. Conclusions and Benefits of an Emerging Campus While challenges are present, there are benefits of being an emerging campus. Students have energy and new ideas and want to be part of implementing new programs. This excitement, due in part to the acceptance of the changes around them, is hard to duplicate. As new marketing strategies are implemented, there are new opportunities to highlight innovative and diverse programs and branding. An extended campus life offers more school spirit, as students have new ways to understand their campus and their collegiate experience. Growth and change means action, and action is exciting. The positive growth and changes discussed at orientation generates excitement to incoming students. Students come to school expecting to be more engaged. This expectation sets a high standard for faculty and staff and can provide encouragement in the face of uncertain change. As DSC works through its changing campus climate, adjustments have been made. Transitions through the types of students served and in what capacity initially led DSC to change the mission statement from being a local community college with only two year degrees, to a state college with targeted bachelor’s degrees, residence halls, and reaching beyond Northwest Georgia. Knowing that an institution’s mission is the foundation to which that institution’s every decision and action should be held accountable, much of the rest of campus had to adjust to meet the new mission and goals. Reviewing the individual approach of DSC and other cases of transitioning and emerging campuses can contribute to a broader understanding of change management in complex educational environments. This case adds to the limited 112 THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE ORIENTATION AND TRANSITION literature on the topic. The DSC case, too, has experienced both changes from within the institution as well as environmentally-imposed change. 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