Orientation: “research
suggests that what matters most in new-student orientation is not information
dissemination or orientation to offices and buildings, but social integration
and interaction with people.” – Joe Cuseo
Advising: Social
constructivist advising: Educational planning and institutional services are
created by collaborative social interaction and knowledge creation among
adviser, student, and important others (O).
After a little further review of new student orientation,
I believe that perhaps many of us have not yet begun to think comprehensively
about the role of orientation. For those interested, compare how your college
thinks about (mission statements) and implements new student orientation with
examples below. What is your college’s orientation mission statement? Even when
we provide various opportunities, we often silo those opportunities and fail to
truly think holistically (relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete
systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into
parts).
“New-student orientation is a
proactive support program, which has its most salutary effects on student
retention when it effectively promotes students' social integration or
interaction with other members of the college community. In what may be the
most methodologically rigorous study of the impact of new-student orientation programs,
Pascarella, Terenzini, and Wolfle controlled for a host of factors, such as students'
college-entry test scores, secondary school grades, socioeconomic status,
pre-college educational aspirations, and commitment to the college they were attending. While controlling for these potentially
confounding variables, they found that orientation did not have a statistically
insignificant direct effect on student persistence. However, orientation
programs did have a statistically significant indirect effect on student
persistence when they promoted first-year students' social integration and
subsequent commitment to the institution, because the latter two variables did
have positive, statistically significant effects on student persistence. In
other words, orientation programs that had a positive effect on student
retention were those that promoted students' positive effect on student
retention were those that promoted students' social integration-through which
the orientation's positive effect on retention was mediated. This research
suggests that what matters most in new-student orientation is not information
dissemination or orientation to offices and buildings, but social integration
and interaction with people. As Tinto (1993) notes,
"Orientation programs frequently fail to provide information in a form
which leads new students to establish personal contacts. That is, they often
fail to recognize the fact that students' ability and willingness to obtain
much-needed information during the course of their academic careers depend upon
their having established personal, non-threatening contacts with the persons
who provide that information. The key to effective orientation programs, indeed
to effective retention programs generally [is] that they go beyond the provision
of information per se to the establishment of early contacts for new
students" –Joe Cuseo
From a First-Year Curriculum Task Force: “We must begin by
better connecting new student Orientation and First-Year programming and by
recognizing that the orientation process is not completed in a few days but
extends throughout the first year. As Smith and Bracken argue, “Orientation
programs must have a defined purpose and must be incorporated into the
institutional mission. Rather than a series of disjointed programs, orientation
must become a deliberate and coherent institutional process in which issues and
questions are addressed in a timely fashion.” A study of best practices
connected with Orientation shows that Orientation programs should include 1)
opportunities to adjust to the academic environment by learning academic
policies, procedures, requirements and programs; 2) opportunities to adjust to
the social environment by facilitating student-to-student connectedness and a
sense of campus community; 3) dissemination of facts and information to family
members about programs and services the college offers to students; and 4)
institutional attention to the students’ perceived needs as incoming students.”
http://www4.cord.edu/acadAffairs/reports/FYETF20040828.pdf
The
mission of the New Student Orientation program is to welcome and to
include new students into all aspects of the
We carry
out this mission in the following ways:
1.
Provide institutional
leadership in creating collaborative programs to create a seamless transition
for
2.
Create opportunities
for students to learn about the history and vision of
3.
Assist students in
becoming an active part of the in class and out of class University community.
4.
Prepare students for
their academic journey at
5.
Establish unity among
the incoming class and celebrate the uniqueness that each individual brings to
the community.
The
Michigan Technological University New Student Orientation Program supports new
students in their transition to the Michigan Tech community. The primary goal
for Orientation is to provide various opportunities for new students to learn
about college. Some programs are academically focused, and many designed simply
to help new students connect with classmates and begin to make friends.
Orientation
Goals
·
Assist incoming
students with academic and social transitions into college life
·
Help incoming
students meet new people
·
Inform incoming
students about various resources and services
·
Have fun!
University of Texas
·
aid new students in
their transition to UTPB
·
expose new students
to the broader educational opportunities of UTPB
·
integrate new
students into the life of UTPB
North Carolina State University: New
Student Orientation Mission Statement: New Student Orientation (NSO) coordinates NC State
University's collective efforts to provide programs and services to newly
admitted first year and transfer undergraduate students that will facilitate
their transition into NC State, prepare them for the institution's educational
opportunities, and initiate their integration into the institution's intellectual,
cultural, and social climate.
Goals
·
To provide direct programs and services for incoming students and their
families that address the process of transition, introduce them to the broad
curricular and co-curricular opportunities available, and provide opportunities
for them to become active members of the Loyola community.
·
To assist in identifying freshman and transfer students who may be at risk
and in the design of interventions that seek to assist them in completing their
first year at the university.
·
To provide information, direction and support to all campus offices and
departments, including the academic colleges, in orienting new students. To
actively include current students in the process of incorporating new students
as members of the Loyola community.
·
To design programs which familiarize incoming students with the character,
values and traditions of Loyola University New Orleans.
Learning Objectives
The Office of New Student Orientation has identified the
following learning outcomes as an integral part of its programs and services.
The office will design, cosponsor and support departmental and campus programs
seek to address the following objectives.
1.
To assist students to become actively engaged in their education
2.
To assist students to become effective decision-makers
3.
To assist students to understand their role as a community member