THE IMPACT OF A CAREER PLANNING WORKSHOP ON FRESHMAN STUDENT PARTICIPANTS ON SHORT-TERM RETENTION, FIRST SEMESTER GRADE POINT AVERAGE AND QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES

The purpose of this follow-up study was to evaluate the impact of a pilot career planning workshop on freshman student participants by comparing their short-term retention, first semester grade point average, and questionnaire responses with those of nonparticipants. The questionnaire, developed by this researcher, was designed to assess factors related to career maturity, school adjustment, school completion goals, and faculty interaction.; Randomly selected subjects were Mississippi State University freshman students who participated in a freshman orientation program prior to their first semester of enrollment. Three groups were analyzed. The experimental group and control groups consisted of career ambivalent students, with the experimental group participating in a career planning workshop during orientation. The comparison group was nonambivalent and did not participate in a career planning workshop.; Statistical analysis of the first hypothesis stating that there will be no significant difference in short-term retention among the three groups indicated a significant difference; therefore, the hypothesis was rejected. The second hypothesis stating that there will be no significant difference in first semester grade point average among the three groups was not rejected when no significant difference was found. The third hypothesis stating that there will be no significant difference in the type of response given in each of 19 questionnaire items among the three groups was rejected on six of 19 items which proved to be significantly different. The remaining 13 parts of the hypothesis were not rejected.; Significant differences among the groups implied that the treatment in this study had an impact on the experimental group in terms of short-term retention, suggesting the possible value of career planning intervention programs. Students who have clear career goals tend to achieve higher grades than students who are ambivalent. However, the comparison group's achievement level was not significantly different, suggesting that some phenomenon occurred which impacted motivation and academic performance, especially for the experimental group.; Recommendations in the form of further research, student services and academic program implementation, and strategies designed to impact on retention and academic success among students were presented.