New Student Orientation: Dependence vs Independence

November 15th, 2011 | Posted by Tom Krieglstein in Education Theory | Orientation - (7 Comments)

Luggage Porter by ColbyBluth

The day before Hurricane Irene made landfall along the Eastern Seaboard, a friend asked my wife and I to help volunteer setting up an evacuation center in NYC. While helping out, I was trying to be as nice as possible to the people coming in seeking shelter. I’d stop my work to help people carry luggage up stairs, answer questions, and clean up water spills. All of which I thought was part of my job as a volunteer.

After helping a family carry their luggage up some stairs, a supervisor stopped me and said…

“You shouldn’t be helping the evacuees as much because we need to train them to know that this is a self-help facility. They need to do things on their own. Training them that we will help them with everything is just setting us up for failure because there will soon be a lot more of them then there are of us and we won’t be able to help everyone.”

As soon as she said that, I flashbacked to the day before when I was doing an orientation training at a school and the president spoke before me. In his closing remarks to the orientation leaders, he said…

“No matter what, make sure to never, ever, ever let a parent pick up any luggage.”

Then a couple days later on Twitter I saw this Tweet…

So my questions are, are we doing too much for our new students? Are we training them that no matter what they need, we are going to make it happen for them? Are we turning college into a daycare facility verses a place where you are expected to carry your own bag because after all, it’s your life?

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Starting Off on the Right Foot

July 25th, 2011 | Posted by Devon Purington in Freshman | Orientation | Resident Life | Work/Life Balance - (5 Comments)

I would imagine that most in the Student Affairs field look at the beginning of each academic year as the chance to start fresh.  There’s always a new group of fresh faces venturing onto campus, the grounds are well-tended and looking sharp, the bookstore is overflowing with supplies, and opening day ceremonies offer inspiration for a great new year.  For some, like myself, there may be other changes that make the beginning of this academic year particularly fresh and perhaps that much more important when it comes to making sure it starts off on the right foot, whether it be a new position, new institution, new focus, etc.

But what does starting off on the right foot mean? While there isn’t a solitary answer to this question, there are some key points to consider when you’re preparing to kick off another year in Student Affairs.

1.  Mental Preparation– It may not be on your to do list, but it’s important to be in the right frame of mind with the start of the school year.  For those employees who are on 10 or 11 month contracts, you’ve got to dust off the sand, shake the water out of your ears and get ready for business.  For those who’ve been working all summer, it’s time to slip out of the doldrums and back to the quick-paced world of the fall semester.  The specific means by which you prepare your mind for the change is a unique and individual experience, but for me it means easing my way back in with brainstorming and positive thinking about what is to come.  Sure, I know I’m going to be insanely busy through August, but if I look at it as an exciting time, it becomes a good stress rather than an overwhelming one.

2.  Organization of Physical Space– You may be moving offices or simply reorganizing the same desk, but either way, it’s important to refresh your work space.  Clear off old materials that you won’t need.  Make sure you have important materials in easy reach and conveniently located to achieve necessary tasks.  Setting aside a work space in the home is also a good idea, since we’re bound to bring work home every now and then.

3. Communication with Staff– Communicating clearly with supervisors, colleagues, and student staff members is an important part of starting off on the right foot.  Expectations should be clearly expressed. And perhaps more importantly, proper welcomes should be extended to begin (or maintain) good rapport and a comfortable working situation.  Which brings me to the last point.

4. Proper Welcomes to Staff and Students– Student staff members are about to go through an intense training and a busy academic year. Returning students need to readjust to campus life. New students need to feel that sense of belonging.  All of these things can be facilitated through a proper welcome.  A proper welcome may include emails or Facebook groups prior to arrival; newsletters and bulletin boards upon arrival, information, small tokens of appreciation, etc. The most important welcome is a smiling face and positive communication.

While those include some very general aspects of starting the year off right, everyone has their own unique methods.  I like to work in themes, creating my training sessions, welcome packets, etc. around it.  And I absolutely insist on a fresh, clean agenda planner to start of the year.

What’s your method for getting the year started off right?

 

Devon Purington is a Residence Life Coordinator at Penn State University-Hazleton.

This article has been cross-posted at A Patchwork of Student Affairs, a blog of random thoughts on Student Affairs.

Run Your Own Race At Your Own Pace

June 28th, 2011 | Posted by Joe Ginese in #sachat | Orientation | Uncategorized - (4 Comments)

I ran a half-marathon recently and (as most things in my life) I found a way to relate it to my higher education career. Alison Black, Assistant Dean of Student Life at Olin College, is a marathon runner with the goal to run a marathon in every state. According to friends, she is currently at 13 states checked off the list. (Do they even run marathons in Alaska??) In any case, it was Alison’s advice that stuck with me post-race, “Run your own race at your own pace.” It’s Orientation season so let’s take it there.

During my graduate assistantship and first professional position, I was able to transform an orientation program with a very large budget and an amazing talent pool of legacy orientation leaders. I say “legacy” orientation leaders because this particular pool had four very strong candidates that all had something in common. They all referred to their orientation leader, who happened to be the same student for all four. I’ve never heard of such a thing. One, here or there, sure, but four students with the same orientation leader?! It was incredible.

During this time I was able to reallocate monies to new initiatives, cancel speakers whom have been attending the orientation for years, and also add new positions (logistics chair, parent orientation leader chair, parent orientation leaders). It was an incredible transition that was successful beyond my wildest expectations. It led to presenting at NASPA 2009 in Seattle and NODAC 2008 in Boston about how to take an orientation/first-year program to the next level.

Now as I dig into the orientation program at my current institution, I have another group of very talented, aspiring, and established student leaders but I do not have a very large budget. In fact, as a matter of comparison, the budget for student give-a-ways at my former institution is the same size as my entire training, program supplies, and miscellaneous-last-minute needs. Smaller school, different location, different philosophy. Now enter that quote I mentioned before, “Run your own race at your own pace.”

If I tried to run the half-marathon like those around me (some finishing in around 90 minutes) I would have passed out by 7-mile mark. Instead I ran “my race” at “my pace” and, in my assessment, my goals were met with great satisfaction. If I try to program and plan my current institution’s orientation like I did the orientation I planned in my first professional position, we wouldn’t have had a budget by the end of April.

My point is this, as professionals we work all over the country for all sorts of institutions and go to conferences attending sessions where institutions show off their proudest programs and best practices.  They are running their race at their pace. Whether that race is orientation, RA training, campus programming, community service programs, or whatever your area responsibility is. You need to remember one thing, “Run your own race at your own pace.”

A case for ending “affairs” and “engagement”

January 31st, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Tetzloff in Freshman | Marketing | Orientation - (30 Comments)

I’ve been thinking a lot about first-generation students, trying to imagine what college is like for them and to determine ways we can serve them better. I remember a conversation I had with a first-year, first-gen student last fall who told me that he declined his work-study allocation because he didn’t know what work-study was. He had since become a finalist for a great on-campus position—a job he sorely needed and could benefit from in many ways—but the employer wanted to hire someone with work-study. By the time the student got to this part of the story, he was nearly in tears.

We can certainly wonder why he didn’t just ask someone about work-study. The answer: He didn’t want to look stupid or stand out.

What other terms do we use in higher education that are uncommon outside our culture and that create barriers to those who want to experience our world?

Consider these:

Student Affairs/Academic Affairs: Affairs? Really?

Engagement: Our marketing department created a huge banner that simply says, “Engage.” A faculty member quipped: “When did we start promoting marriage?”

Bursar: Financial services?

Chancellor/Provost: Few students understand what they do. These titles don’t help.

Union: This word makes me think “labor union” or “credit union,” not a place where college students hang out. Many schools have already changed this to “center.”

Discipline: Student conduct? A field of study? Both?

What words can you add to this list? Perhaps your institution has already changed some of its language. If so, what words do you use? How many of us distribute a list of campus terms and their meanings during Orientation? What can we do to lessen or eliminate the need for these translations?

I’m told that changing the names of things is costly (signs, brochures, and all). Not changing them may cost even more. The student I spoke about at the beginning of this post got the job after all. Imagine if he also could have been spared those moments of frustration and humiliation. Words matter.

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Blog Reflections: Student Leader Development

September 20th, 2010 | Posted by Cindy Kane in Budgets | Campus Issues | Club/Org Recruitment | Collaborative Learning | Conferences | Creativity | Leadership Training | Low Cost Programming | Online Tools | Orientation | Professional Organizations | Technology and Programming | Uncategorized | University | Web/Tech - (0 Comments)

I always hope for that perfect storm of aligned experiences when sending a small group of organization representatives to a conference.  In my mind, the students will be empowered with questions and ideas to pursue upon the return home; their energy ignites a new sense of motivation in their group; and they begin to pursue their new definition of the future.

Sound great?

Hasn’t happened for me yet, either.

Sure, our students had some great presentations and excellent experiences but nearly always my student groups struggle to accurately communicate the true picture of what they experienced.  They struggle to not use too many “inside jokes” when describing their time at the conference and nearly always ended up engaged in a conversation about “why can’t we send more people next year?”  Given that our travel funds are not likely to increase anytime in the near future, we needed a new plan.

So, my insanely talented staff member (that’s you, Matt!) says, let’s try blogging.

Our office now requires any students traveling to conferences sponsored by our department to blog each day while they are there.  We create a blogging site for the group’s travels and make each of them the authors. I love the fact that those of us not attending the conference can keep track of their experiences and that we can comment and have dialogue while they are there. We also send the site around to our student affairs colleagues and division leadership so that they can get some insight into student experiences.

This has enabled us to document these travel experiences and now see, in writing, what we already knew about the impact of spending time with other students who are similarly committed to common goals.  As one of our student orientation coordinators posted, “I don’t think I ever got completely used to everyone actually understanding ‘Orientation Speak’ and being able to have in-depth conversations about different aspects of their programs.”

The use of blogs has enabled our students to do more active reflection on these conference experiences and has allowed us to use the sites to help other students understand what the experience might be like the next time around. We get pretty active commentary from participants about what they like and don’t like about the conferences and, when warranted, our structured reflection topics allow for some time for them to pause during a busy conference and make meaning of this experience that the university has offered to them.

For our department, we reported themes communicated in these blogs as part of our annual report in hope of illustrating the impact that off-campus professional travel has on our student leaders.  Themes of increased pride in our university, increased confidence in their own leadership efficacy, and enhanced sense of community with other student leaders certainly made this student affairs professional proud.

If you’d like to take a look at one of them, here’s a link to the blog from our delegates at the National Greek Leadership Association conference in Hartford, CT this year.

http://bscgreeksgotongla.blogspot.com/

And just for fun…check out the Wordle the blog for our Student Orientation Coordinators’ trip to the regional NODA Conference (at the top of this post) and the Wordle for our Program Committee’s travels to the NACA regional conference (2) pasted below.  Looks to me like they had a good experience…and had some fun along the way!

So, how do you facilitate reflection when your students travel? Any interested in blogging?  If you are, let’s correspond and if our students attend the same conferences we can cross-promote their sites!

The Grasshopper, Orientation, and Self-Sufficiency

August 26th, 2010 | Posted by Matt Pistilli in #sachat | Freshman | Orientation | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)

A few weeks ago I was driving home from staff training for our orientation leaders and I noticed that there was a grasshopper on my windshield.  A large grasshopper.  Clinging to the glass. for. dear. life.  As I drove to my house, this intrepid insect stayed with me – even as I exceeded 50 mph.

As I pulled into my driveway and shut off the ignition, I watched as the grasshopper leapt off my car into my wife’s flowers and went about his business – five miles from where he had started.  Now, five miles for me is no big deal – I could walk it if I had to.  But this grasshopper, while large, was still only two inches long and now was over 317,000 inches from where he had started.  He was, essentially, in a brand new environment, and was there because he hung on as I made my way to my house.  He appeared happy, jumping through the lilies and daisies, but he was in a brand new place, vaguely aware of where he was, with little knowledge of how to get back to where he started… much less where to go from there.

Jump back to new student orientation.

Last week we welcomed over 5,200 students to campus for orientation (our first-year class will be closer to 6,400 when all is said and done).  While our student leaders were exceptionally trained by my colleagues, I get the sense that many of the new students in their groups ended up being along for the ride, despite the best efforts of the leaders to teach students to fend for themselves.  The university where I work is a large, land grant institution that enrolls students from all 50 states and over 120 countries.  Many of our students are far more than 5 miles from home, and, as such, it is easy to get here and simply be along for the ride.

So it got me thinking.  How often do I work with students or colleagues and bring them along for a ride versus letting them get to the same destination on their own?

I get asked a lot of questions, and most of the time I answer them outright… essentially driving someone to their answer.  But could I have helped that student or colleague get to that answer on their own?  Guide them, rather than drive them?  Probably.  The end result being that if I can teach them to find the answers on their own I can be the consultant/guidance they need, not necessary the driver/provider that they currently see me as.

My goal this year is to help people get themselves to where they’re going, rather than just get them there with a simple answer.

It’s going to be an adjustment – for me because I’m used to providing answers, and for them because they’re used to me just giving them the answer. But lest they become like my grasshopper passenger and end up a long way from where they started with no map in hand, it’s an adjustment I have to make.

What adjustments do you have to make to ensure that folks just aren’t along for your ride?

Matt Pistilli coordinates evaluation and adminstration for Student Access, Transition and Success Programs at Purdue University.

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Laws of Physics and College Transition

August 23rd, 2010 | Posted by Debra Sanborn in #sachat | First-Year Experience | Orientation - (0 Comments)


There is an amusement park near my home that has one of those lose your lunch inducing rides that spin faster and faster until the floor drops out. It leaves you stuck to the wall until the ride slows and you gradually resume your footing on solid ground. The science of this phenomenon is centrifugal inertial force.


My university is welcoming 4,356 new students to campus as we begin the fall semester; colleges across the country are welcoming thousands more over the next few weeks. Imagine the inertial force as these students navigate classes, new roommates, and campus cultures that are frequently in contrast to their personal experiences.

Now, imagine your campus as a giant spinning disk with a student planted firmly in place by centripetal force, moving along the curved path of the disk, going with the flow. All is fine as the student survives residence move-in, deciphers a schedule, and maneuvers the dining center. But soon the campus disk is spinning faster and the centrifugal inertial force can become greater than the centripetal friction force holding the student in place. A failing quiz grade, roommate argument, financial difficulties or homesickness can all be triggers to send our students flying right off the college ride.

As we in student affairs greet our new students and those who are returning, it is important that we keep these laws of physics in mind. Know what resources you have available to address student concerns. Advocate for your students when university networks are difficult to follow. Listen carefully for clues that a student may be struggling.

Understanding F = mv2/r may just save a student.


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Reflect: Not something only a mirror can do.

August 19th, 2010 | Posted by Joe Ginese in #sachat | Orientation - (0 Comments)

Do you practice reflection? The art of stopping and smelling the roses? The action of not doing anything else in a moment but living in that moment?

When’s the last time you walked outside in the midst of Orientation/Welcome Week and just observed the madness behind the method of starting up the school year?

Watching that Mother try to sneak the tissue our of her purse to wipe away a tear before her student sees it.

The Dad eying the other males in the building up and down as he puts the massive pink hamper and pink comforter on his daughter’s bed.

The siblings holding a folder that announces who they belong to, shouting out, “Hurry up! This thing says you have to meet the President in 5 minutes at the Auditorium!”

The Orientation Leaders smiling and running around on minimal hours of sleep and not wanting it any other way.

The Residence Life staff handing out keys, answering questions, and responding to roommate conflicts exactly 40 minutes into the operation.

The campus custodial staff, quietly, and unnoticed, emptying trashes, and maintaining a bright and shiny veneer of campus on day 1. They go along with the campus grounds staff who sit in the shade and watch their perfectly manicured lawns, mulch, and walk ways get trampled by the egress of 400 anxious teenagers heading to their next session.

And then there is you. The master of your domain whether it be handing out keys, hot dogs, t-shirts, lanyards, folders, name tags, hugs, or handshakes. You own your responsibility, you watch others do take charge of theirs. Whether you are a cog in the machine, or the operator of the machine take a step back and watch the production that you get to play a part in.

Realize the act of the welcoming hundreds to thousands of new members of your community. Reflect on how you may become part of their story while they are learning at your institution.

Orientation/Welcome week is a busy time in student affairs. Don’t let it pass you by without having a moment in the middle of the madness to realize the value in what is it that you do, and are doing in that moment.

I ask again…

Do you practice reflection? The art of stopping and smelling the roses? The action of not doing anything else in a moment but living in that moment?

Try it right now. It doesn’t take long. In fact, it can be as short or as long as an experience that you want.

Take a deep breath. Shut your monitor off. Go outside. Walk outside and don’t look at your watch, phone, or the ground. Look up. Listen to the birds (or the stampede of new students heading your way). Feel the wind and the sun. Realize what it is you do that will make an impact on your campus community and those within it.

That’s my idea for the day – and I say it CAN happen.

Rock on,
Joe

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Tornado Watch: Assessments for Student Retention

July 15th, 2010 | Posted by Debra Sanborn in #sachat | First-Year Experience | Orientation - (0 Comments)


As a resident of tornado alley, there is a summer tradition of dusting off the Twister DVD while scanning the afternoon skies for possible wall clouds. The film takes place in Oklahoma, but was filmed near my current home in central Iowa. The story follows a team of meteorological students and scientists as they attempt to place weather sensors in the path of a tornado to measure readings inside of the storm. After many failed attempts, injuries, and even fatalities, our protagonists successfully launch the sensors and save humanity. Err, save their research. As the flick can also be caught at least three times a week on cable during the summer, I catch up on all of my favorite lines.

Jo: [cow flies by in the storm) Cow.
[cow flies by in the storm]
Jo: ‘Nother cow.
Bill: Actually, I think it was the same one.
Watching the segment as the sensors rise into the F-5 tornado and begin generating data, I am reminded of our students, particularly those in the first-year. If we could read their minds and extrapolate the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, surely we could develop better methods for student success and retention. Fortunately, there are a variety of assessments to assist in this process.

The College Student Inventory™ (CSI) from Noel-Levitz allows students to answer questions regarding their strengths and challenges before they even arrive on campus. I ask my incoming students to complete this assessment after summer orientation and use the information to frame our beginning of the year 1:1 appointments. The student and advisor reports are handy for discussion and the group summary reports provide great information for planning our first-year seminar course and programming topics.

MAP-Works® offers a similar tool to discover student transition issues early in the semester. Students develop a personal profile based on their initial campus experience that is measured for potential barriers to success. A web-based report is generated immediately for students and faculty or staff advisors that compares with all first-year students on our campus. Campus resource services are suggested where needed.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) helps demonstrate theory that there are distinct patterns to individual psychological types even though persons exhibit these patterns in different ways. Helping students to understand their type preferences and how they affect personal learning styles provides a common ground for understanding differences and the transition to college. I provide an MBTI learning styles assessment for each student in our first-year seminar each fall. Students do not always grasp the type concept, but do find meaning from discussion of the transition to university style learning.

It is common knowledge among student affairs practitioners that students enter the college or university with varying degrees of emotional intelligence. Additionally, those familiar with retention issues will cite non-academic challenges as the frequent impetus for student attrition. Assessing emotional intelligence using the EQ-i® allows students to see potential areas for growth that may enhance adaptation and coping skills leading to academic achievement. I find the EQ-i particularly helpful for students seeking direction in their academic or life plan.

While no assessment tool can foresee every difficulty faced by our students on the path to graduation, I have found these tools to be helpful for communication, planning, and advising. Not a certified MBTI or EQ-i user? Check with your human resources office for recommendations.

Have you tried these assessments? Other tools you suggest?

Enjoyed Twister and need a good summer read? Check out The Stormchasers.

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Orientation: Not Your Average Life

June 30th, 2010 | Posted by Cindy Kane in Orientation - (0 Comments)

I remember being a grad student and thinking about areas I wanted to pursue in student affairs. I thought “wow, being an OL was a great in college. Being in charge of the program would be really amazing.” That was back when my view of Orientation was like a pause in the great time/space continuum. Everything just switched on in June when my fellow OL’s and I moved on campus and everything switched off when we left. It was all matching shirts and name games in my head and all the life-changing opportunities came with it just arrived on campus like turning on a faucet.  I also remember thinking I “knew Orientation” when I was just a supporting staff member who was on the committee.

Over the years, my roles with orientation have progressed from OL to graduate assistant to the “person who presents the getting involved session and helps with training” to the person in charge of it to today. Now I am the person who supervises the person in charge of it, so I have a little more of an objective eye on this phenomenon we see every summer than I used to. I’m writing today to tell you that even after 15 years in the field there is still no experience quite like directing Orientation. What’s so unique about it? Here’s my two cents:

• If you really want someone with broad campus knowledge and perspective, ask someone who coordinates Orientation.
 There’s a reason why my Assistant Director for New Student Programs can quote what placement scores will get a student into Writing II and what types of health forms are required for immunizations. It’s because she is responsible for an important conduit of communication for the new students to get this information. Every orientation professional I’ve ever worked with has a great knack for taking a wide view of the incoming student experience. How can we get the rest of campus to see even parts of that wide view to understand the college transition from outside their own areas? It’s such a great skill.

• “Other duties as assigned” is the rule, not the exception!
 My staff members have filled roles in place of colleagues from areas like Counseling Services, Information Technology, Transit… you name it. We’ve set up rooms, consulted on dining support for those with severe food allergies and had to deliver news of family tragedy to a student who was with us at orientation.  Most duties that we would never be expected to handle during the year.  When the campus is on “skeleton staff” in the summer you find yourself in an array of situations needing your quick attention when your colleagues might be on other projects or on vacation. You have a choice. You can lament this situation, or you can use it to let the campus see you and your team shine.

• If you want some experience in navigating campus politics, direct Orientation.
 Part of coordinating orientation means taking a lot of moving parts and trying to get them to move without hurting each other in the process. We struggle to get these parts to collaborate all year long, but somehow they have to make it work during Orientation. If you’re running Orientation you likely don’t supervise all of these parts all year long, but suddenly you’re in a position to dictate where and how these areas will contribute to the new student experience. So, when one of these parts messes up royally…how do you address it? The political savvy needed in these situations is not for the faint of heart.

• Most of your campus believes “if I had five minutes at Orientation” that they would get automatic success in their major, program or organization. They may not say it out loud, but the number of people who agree that just five minutes of talking head stardom with the incoming students would change everything is staggering. It’s a compliment to what they believe is the impact of Orientation, but also can be difficult. What we can do is to help them understand that there’s some important time to be engaging students between the time they get their acceptance letter and their first day of classes. As we who preach social media opportunity know, there’s ways to engage people that don’t require sitting in a room together!

• Orientation is a process, not an event.
This is my mantra to every colleague who campaigns for “just five minutes.” Students begin their transition to college from the first moment they consider what college might be like through their entire early time period on campus. As institutions, we miss out on so many opportunities with new students by not being intentional about how our messages are communicated. As an example, even my own department promotes a “Get Involved” message at Orientation without recruiting students for the SGA or program board. We show them how to find this information, but if we get them thinking about specific organizations too early they will miss the point of emphasis on the impact of involvement on campus.

• Group development – on fast forward!
I’ve been advising student leaders for my whole career, but group development in an Orientation setting is just not the same. It’s a great study in group development because they are with each other 24/7 and their sole focus on campus is this program. During the year, they have a billion other things going on, but we ask them to work together on one giant project all month long.

I always enjoy watching groups progress through stages of group development, but as my Orientation colleagues know, the intensity of this group experience makes each stage come and go quickly! When you don’t have a whole year together to patiently await self-actualization, the urgency factor makes things much more dramatic. Small problems can’t just be brushed aside in hope of them “working out eventually.” There’s just no time. On the bright side, the great moments are magnified too. That’s just incredible to watch.

Oh, but what do I know. We’re just the people who play name games, right?

I’m going to go write my staff member a card now that it’s finally over. I know what she’s been through!

What do you think? I know that every campus has its own unique dynamics around their program format, timing, structure and responsibilities, but is your experience anything like mine?