Karen--
It certainly sounds like it is an 'all hands on deck' environment, which I am certain the students appreciate.
Susan
I really like this idea of getting prior students on board with orientation. It also lends to credibility of the school when students coming in can see some of the success first hand. This will be an idea that I will pass along to my school.
Finacila Aid has a lot of interaction with the students.Finacial Aid plays a big part.
We are 'all hands on deck' for orientation. The Directors for each department, including Fin Aid, & Placement, along with the School & Program Directors all participate. Admissions is present to greet and escort students and also to assist at the end of orientation with any outstanding issues. We are a small school, and so with all staff present, the incoming class will meet and at least be familiar with, all the persons who will be highly involved with their success.
Faculty and advising have a huge impact on students during orientation and in the daily classroom. As faculty, I have an orientation to each course that I teach. During this time, I actually discuss the advisors and when students should contact them.
But after this question, I'll likely ask an advisor to actually attend a Live Chat and discuss what they do.
Excellent. You are so correct, financial aid is a group that hears a lot of not-so-pleasant feedback. Lots of rules and regulations which they can do nothing to change, but have to enforce.
Susan
Faculty members provide information regarding qualifications, professional experience, personnal information, which will assist to prepare students to perform well in the competitve job market.
I believe the instructors spend a great deal of time with the students and therefore including them in orientation is vital. One way would be to do a meet and greet with instructors so that students know what to expect from them.
Financial Aid is the key, in my opinion. They will get the "negative" feedback as much as the Admissions rep will. Financial Aid is introduced to all new starts and each representative gives out their name and office location and offers assistance to all new starts no matter what the need is.
The departments that interact the most with students would be faculty, academic affairs, and financial aid. I am not sure how my school incorporates these departments in the online orientation, but I thin that they should be incorporated to help with student retention. For example, there should be one person from each department that calls and/or emails the student to school. Also, explain what their job duty is and how they can assist the student. By doing this, it provides the student a point of contact that they are comfortable in contacting.
Again I am an instructor and I feel all departments should be involved with orientation so the students do not feel isolated. You want students to feel welcome and apart of the community from the start.
We have a team who's specific job is to provide orientation to new students. It's a very high energy, dynamic process using motivational talks, team building excercises and individual speeches from the new students themselves.
admissions usually introduces students to be to the intructors and a positive greeting is always availible
Kim--
I like what you've explained here...and it does break up the orientation some. The upside of attending orientation would be to introduce yourself prior so they aren't thinking about that before the first day. Finding out what their faculty will be like is a key source of stress.
Susan
Baron--
This is really excellent to use your alumni. It is a huge benefits to your new students and also keeps your alumni engaged...and likely to continue to make referrals.
Do you have a specific program for working with them?
Susan
We have a mentor program consisting of former grads to help new students. The registrar department and Campus Director also has a close relationship with the students. Everyone in our staff are focused in providing an environment to become the best they can be as professionals.
Faculty would be most involved with students. The faculty does not attend orientation; maybe we should rethink this. However, on the first day of the term, we introduce ourselves individually to them in the morning. They are all together before 1st period, and we go in as a group, explain who we are, what we do, etc. We also all wear name tags for the first week, so that they can learn who we are more easily.
Staff from the Education department also spend a significant amount of time in orientation. They restate some of the things said by Admissions but also go over rules and expectations.
At my university’s orientations staff members from the admissions department, the academic advising department, the faculty/ academic department, the IT department, the finical assistance department, the library, the Career Services department, the tutoring department and student affairs department (student activities) attend the orientations as speakers or as ambassadors (that mingle with the students before, during and after the orientation). Not every department speaks at the orientation, but a few representatives are selected to talk about multiple departments. We try to keep the general session of the orientation about 60-90 minutes long, so that the new students can spend the second part of their orientation (about 60 minutes) with their instructors and classmates in their area of study such as business, criminal justice, fashion design, interior design, and etc.
Financial Aid and Bookkeeping have the most interaction and who some of the students are most interested in, but for the ones who do not have an interest in this area seem to get a little bored and tired of waiting. Although necessary, what would you suggest in speeding along some of this process?
