Our New Student Orientation (NSO) is the official handing of students from Admissions to Academics. At the NSO students are welcomed by Admission upon arrival and then spend the rest of the NSO with the student-facing departments with whom they will interact during the course of their studies--Student Accounts, IT, instructors, Student Finance, Student Services, Learning Resource Center, Career Services, students, Academic Leadership Team, and the student store.
Student services is a major part for our student's success.They do a meet and greet at orientation, along with follow up on any concerns a student may have had on accomodations for their learning styles.
This is a very good way of removing many student fears.greeting a student with faces instead of names tends to relax a person, especially if these new people tell who they are and what they do.
Financial Aid Dept., Housing Dept., and Education Dept. all departments contribute to a facilitation of a portion of the orientation.
At our school, each department ( financial aid, education, housing, & student services) is represented by a speaker that will highlight the areas that they are responsible for and who to see if they have any questions or concerns about the services within the department. Each department seems to have an equal and ample amount of time to get the message across.
Stephen--
Excellent! Do you do any interactive activities as well?
Susan
From a "providing comfort" standpoint, I think the most important participants in the orientation are the instructors. To a student, what could be better than actually seeing the face of the person you will soon be learning from?
All of our major departments have a role in orientation,from financial aid,student services,employment services, education. A few Instructors are present during orientation,not nearly the full staff.
The department that has the most interaction with students is education. All our students start out taking the same class. on the first day of class, the instructor will introduce themself to the class, take the class on a tour of the campus, discuss rules again, and have the class interact with each other. All to help the new students get comfortable in their new surroundings.
David--
This is excellent! It is so much easier to acclimate new students when they are all together and having an experienced, supportive instructor is key.
Susan
The department that has the most interaction with students is education. All our students start out taking the same class. on the first day of class, the instructor will introduce themself to the class, take the class on a tour of the campus, discuss rules again, and have the class interact with each other. All to help the new students get comfortable in their new surroundings.
All of our department are involved with orientation. We have stopping stations that lead to the orientation room which admissions do; administer math/english placement testing which academics does; career services is "master of ceremonies"; and financial aid reminds students they are always available, etc.; the campus director greets all students; the director of education conducts tours; and so on.
This works well for us and the students are so pleased with all the attention and comfort this brings them in preparing for their journey.
Rita--
I have always found the 'station' approach to be fun and effective. It gets students moving and engaged in interesting ways.
Susan
I agree, these are the people in the class that they will ultimately be dealing with the most, so it makes sense that they should be a big part of the orientation
I believe all departments play a key roll in orientation and the students stay in school, each department helps in their on way. for example the instructors need to build a strong relationship with each and every student since they interact with them on a daily basis once classes begin. the admissions Reps. are one of the first people they meet upon entering the campus therefor the students feel the most comfortable with them and need to maintain that level of comfort through the time they attend school. current students and graduates can offer their experience during and after their time at the school, such as success stories, experiences they have encountered with the time they have spent as a student at our Campus.
Stacey--
You are correct, everyone plays a key role. From the President to the night custodian, students will gravitate to different people at different times.
I really like your having students and graduates included!
Susan
Education Department.We have direct contact with the students.
During orientation we have every department in attendance to introduce themselves and talk briefly on how their jobs interact with the student. Academics plays the largest role which includes the learning resource center and the actual faculty. Financial aid reps, student accounts, career services, and student services are all there to help out and show support.
The faculty has daily interaction with the students. At our school the department directors and faculty meet and greet the students at orientation.
Clearly all departments are engaged in Orientation.
Staff and alumni engage in activities at various stations. Popcorn and candy stations are very popular. Live streamings of the graduation ceremonies play during orientation in the hall ways.
Tours are given of the building and various rooms.
Our orientations are very energetic!
