Absentee Faculty
The presence of faculty during the initial orientation is of greta important to most students. A brief contact with faculty could go long ways with the future students. Actually, that can be the convincing factor in getting the individual to accept it's new reality as an "student".
Unfortunately, in our industry (for-profit) only a selected group of faculty is ever present during orientation. Mainly the administration and departments chairs are the main event performers at orientations. Various entities used different aprroaches to the handling of students and the information distributed during orientation. Is this type of operation help out students with acclimatization? Most certainly the answer is "NO". Sometimes a brief tour of the campus and departments does not arouse the curiousity of the future students.
But what about the interaction with instructors baking some cookies and letting the future student take there product home. Now, that is awakening to a major experience. In conclusion involvement needs to be at a deeper level than just tour the facilities.
I believe the faculty need to be represented at oritentation. Group bonding allows for them to want to return for the next class. I do however beleive it should be related to something that they will be learning. If you are teaching computer I don't see the connection to the cookie unless the shape is it. Build a paper computer by visual and then refer back to the model throughout the lecture periods when they cover those topics is more of the approach that I would take.
You have great ideas going here. I have been to many a bake sell and have also supported many other student functions to help get that "bond" going. This shows the student that we care about them.
