Higher education institutions are redesigning their orientation programs to meet the unique needs of first-year students and address concerns about creating social connections, according to EdSurge. For many incoming students, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted their education during key stages of their social development. Experts tell EdSurge that new students may have a more difficult time saying goodbye to their families and feeling comfortable meeting new students. Some new students may have less experience holding leadership positions and speaking publicly in small groups. Students have a greater interest in feeling a sense of belonging and are seeking remote and on-campus opportunities to feel supported, Joe Thomas, president of the Association for Orientation, Transition and Retention in Higher Education, known as NODA, tells EdSurge.
“In 2019, I probably would have heard from parents and students, ‘It’s annoying,’ ‘It’s hard to get here,’ ‘How could you possibly require this in-person orientation?” he says. “Now they’re like, ‘Oh we get it, we would really love to be there and watch our student get to know other folks.’ There’s just more buy-in now.”
First-year orientation is also an important key to boosting student retention, especially among transfer and first-generation students.
“It is truly the kickoff to retention,” Katie Murray, director of new student and family programs at Towson University, tells EdSurge. “If a student has a bad experience that starts at orientation and it continues through their first semester, we are less likely to retain that student.”
Meeting students where they are
To assess what incoming first-year students need and help them learn about campus life before classes begin, some colleges are providing a variety of in-person and virtual options, which allow students to choose how much they want to engage in campus life before they start the semester. At the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU Boulder), students have three ways to participate in orientation: a virtual option involving Zoom breakout rooms; a daylong campus visit; and an immersive two-night stay on campus.
Ohio State University is offering small-group, low-stakes activities, such as pick-up volleyball and basketball games and board games, so students can connect closely with their peers without being overwhelmed by large-group events. At other schools, leaders are organizing groups for students based on their interests, commonalities, and areas of study. CU Boulder is also setting up 40 “Buff Meet Ups” for students with similar interests to take tours of local restaurants, go hiking, and meet in smaller settings.
Since the pandemic, “there was an indication that [students] wanted to be together, they wanted to do stuff in community, but didn’t know how to engage or interact with each other,” Thomas says. “Orientation programs are shifting more toward that—getting to know each other again, which is the classic thing that we try to do, but it can’t just be in solely one program type.”
Orientation leaders are also getting more support than they did before the pandemic. During an eight-week leadership course at CU Boulder, orientation leaders learn how to run events and connect with students who may be feeling anxious about socializing on a college campus away from their families. The ability for orientation programs to address students’ concerns and communicate a culture of belonging can make or break a students’ overall college experience, advocates say. Students who don’t feel supported may ultimately transfer to other schools.
“College campuses need to understand that it’s a competitive market,” Gregory Wolcott, the associate vice president for student success at San Jose State University, tells EdSurge. “If you’re not rolling out the red carpet, if everyone’s not on board with ‘this is orientation season and it’s everybody’s job,’ then campuses are really gonna struggle.”