Orientation Program Length
How long do orientations like these (breaking into departmental meetings, meeting faculty and other students, getting registered for class, etc., and then reconvening in the large group) take?
Megan ,
I love the idea of the class. Is this something that could be extended in to their curriculum?
Susan Backofen
Our orientation used to be a whole day! We wanted to make sure that those students who have not done well in other academic environments know that they can be successful here. So in addition to stations where they get to know staff and get information/books/uniforms etc. we also had a 'class' on how to be succesful here. We are shifting our term schedule and now no longer have this luxury - I have read through some of the ideas of how to consolidate Orientation while still making it effective, does anyone have any other ideas?
Our orientation takes about 2 hours. We have time for them to meet in their individual programs with their program directors (for about thirty minutes). Here, they go over program specifics. They then meet for about an hour with our career services team. During this time, they introduce themselves to each other, get more information about the school, faculty, staff, and accreditaion information. Then, they get thier schedules, ID badges, scrubs and books.
Because of our start numbers we have rotating orientation. We begin a group at 7 am and are complete with the entire orientation at around 1-2pm. However, each group (there are about 6-8 groups) spends about 2+ hours beginning with checking in, greeting by VP of Academics, our class breakouts, student Q&A we call 3rd floor activities (Career Services, Student Accounts, Student Finance, Resource Center), ID photos, picking up uniforms, tools, and books.
students should have a hassel free orientation. such as not having to wait for any procesing of paper work to get to the next step. all checking or procesing of paper work should be done later.
Salena--
This sounds like an excellent format. I especially like the opportunity students have to interact with factuly.
You are correct that you don't want to make to too long. It is a balancing act to have enough time to give them all the important information but short enough to keep their attention. The fact that you have the interaction with the faculty as the 'wrap up' portion is great--they leave excited about starting classes and much more comfortable with the academic portion.
Susan
The general orientation which covers student services like academic advising, financial aid, career services and the library is about 9:15 am till 10:30 am (75 minutes) and then the break out session where students get to talk with the faculty in their major subject areas is about 30 to 60 minutes depending upon each academic department’s discretion. I think this is a good amount of time. We talked about having longer orientations, but we didn’t want the students to get tired. We try to give them a brief overview and make sure they know what departments to contact if they have any challenges.
Our orientation session is about two hours long. We do give students the opportunity to meet program director's but not other faculty. We will now begin insisting that they meet all faculty and other personnel within the College as well. We will also provide orientations of the various campus activities. It's also a great idea to break the programs down for further insight.
We had orientation Saturday and had over 70 students and 40 guests. Orienation started at 10:00 and was done by 12:30. Students started arriving at 9:00 (especially those who knew they needed to get stuff done with financial aid or the registrar).
I love the idea of breaking the orientation into three shifts. We currently do a single for orientation, and there are always some students are unable to attend. Plus the student would have a more intimate environment and get the chance to relate to students in their own shift.
Marie--
Yes, I think that is probably really an issue. That is why it's not unusual to do part of the orientation together and then seperate the students from the parents. Parents should have a different orientation anyway. They are the retention helpers. They need to know that their child is likely to call and tell them they want to drop out about week two or three. The best thing parents can do is listen and then tell them to stick out the session. Typically, by the time the first term is over they are acclimated and things are fine.
Susan
When involving the parents in the orientation session do u think the students are more reseved because the parents are there or are they more involved
Excellent model. Faculty are critical and if you can get them in an 'advising' mode as well, all the better for student retention purposes.
Susan
The advisors are faculty members. They are the students' academic advisors. Our program directors and academic advisors are one and the same person. For communication purposes they are referred to as academic advisors to the students and as program directors to the departmental faculty.
James--
Four hours is quite an orientation! I think you previously mentioned having them move around campus, which is always a good idea. Having them leave with the textbooks and schedule is great...helps to eliminate some of the fear about the first day of classes.
Are your advisors faculty or staff members? If staff, do they get to meet with their program coordinator during orientation?
Susan
Our orientation program takes roughly 4 hours. The last 30-40 minutes are devoted to the students meeting with their departmental advisor. At this time the advisor can answer any specific questions the students may have. The students also receive their class schedule and are allowed to make any necessary changes. With their class schedules they also get the textbooks for their classes.
All--
Does anyone have some practical advice for Kathleen? She's looking for some timing assistance.
My 2 cents--you need to make it adequate to accomplish your goals, but not too long. Some of the time issues are as much related to the 'value' students get from attending as the actual duration. Good feedback from students regarding your orientation can help you refine particular aspects.
Susan
Could you explain this in more detail?
We hold three sessions that each last about 2hours.
