Our school invites representatives from all departments to speak at orientation, including admissions, education, student services, career services, and financial aid. We are also considering starting an student ambassador program. This would allow us to invite current students to speak at orientation.
Stuart--
This is excellent and I think many just try and 'ignore' the brutal facts that completing their education will be a trial at times. That's great that you help to problem-solve that before it begins.
Susan
One of the biggest things we do is acknowledge that their fears are real. We let them know that school will be hard, and that it will make their lives more challenging in the short term. We discuss how they will need to access their solution networks and develop support system within their communities. By doing this, we diffuse the often overly emotional response that students have to returning to college and the inevitable drops that occur.
We have found this to a very effective technique.
David--
Great idea! We (academia) have our own language and we are so used to using it we forget that not everyone understands what we are talking about.
That might be a great icebreaker idea for orientations!
Susan
I try to explain some of the "new terms" used in the class so the new students (mine is the first college class for most) have an immediate vocabulary of short hand terms used throughout the school. This helps them avoid the "newbie" stigma.
Yes, the mentors are students that we select based on their attitude, attendance, grades, etc. We do not have a training program, but we do inform them of what to do, say, etc. in general.
We haven't fine tuned the process yet. So as of right now, we hand pick mentors and ask them individually.
Kim--
Excellent! I take it your mentors are students. This is an excellent way to acclimate your new students and also keep the returning students engaged and enthused.
As you point out, some 'screening' for this role is important. Do you have a training program and/or other types of support and recognition for the mentors?
Susan
Karen--
It sounds like you definitely put students first! Keep that same level of service and personalization and it will be a differentiator for the institution and your students.
Susan
Cecelia--
That is probably the biggest challenge as an institution grows--to keep that personal touch with students. It is absolutely critical that this be a top consideration. It's easy to focus resources (personnel and money) on other things when schools grow quickly. Keeping a high level of interaction with students will make a huge, positive difference.
Susan
Hello: At orientation we usually have all the staff ready to interact with the new students. Something that worked very good the last time was that every teacher was at her/his area of work and they had current students with them. When the new students came into every area, they explained what they do in class, they showed the assignments that students complete in every class...They also introduced themself. When classes began the new students knew they teachers as well as they knew the admission and students services staff.
I think that is a great idea. How do you choose your mentors? Is this something that the students apply for and then you give them training?
On the first day of the term, we have mentors take a group of students and show them around. We hand-pick the mentors and group them with new students sharing their major. They take them on a tour, show them where their classes are, answer questions, etc. It works really well.
Our school used to be small and I agree that the trust factor was much easier to build as we could focus on students with much more focus.
It has become a little more challenging as we grow and we need to adjust our delivery to support the changing student body so that they can receive the attention needed to be successful.
In our school we are just a few people, that's why the students are very close to us. We make them feel like we are a family and they can trust us. We also provide them with all the information about tutoring, and our office's hours are scheduled during classes time. That is very useful because if they have any problem we are there for fixing it.
In our orientations we make sure students have the opportunity to meet instructors as well as classmates that will be in their sessions.
We also assure the feelings that students are experiencing about the upcoming start are normal and expected.
Because there are so many different types of people with different backgrounds, all feelings from fear to excitement are expressed and the notion that one student is more confident or better prepared for success is disspelled.
All students are the same. That is so important so that the students can start on the same page accepting each other and to be ready to learn.
One of the first thing I do is provide a energy filled introduction, get them to relax and enjoy the class. After I attempt icebreaker, give my introductions with my passion for teaching and how I am there to help them succeed.
What to expect on first day of school
Hi Susan,
I don't know how much traffic the service gets from our students. Yes, we outsource it. Studentlifetools.com is a service our university pays for.
~Salena
Salena--
Thanks for sending the link to the studentlifetools...very interesting site. Does it get a lot of traffic? Is this something you outsource or ?
Susan
