Creating a MAJOR Difference in your Orientation Advisement

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Creating a MAJOR Difference in your Orientation
Advisement

• Abby Thomas, SUNY Cortland
• Meg Nowak, Ithaca College

A compressive Orientation program is designed to
facilitate the smooth transition of students into
the academic atmosphere of the college or
university. Smith and Brackin, 2003
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Share a word that describes academic advising
during your Orientation program
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What do we mean by Orientation?

• CAS Standards
• The mission of Orientation Programs must include
  facilitating the transition of new students into
  the institution preparing students for the
  institutions educational opportunities and
  student responsibilities initiating the
  integration of new students into the
  intellectual, cultural, social climate of the
  institution and supporting the parents,
  partners, guardians, and children of the new
  student.
• Orientation Programs should assist students in
  the selection of appropriate courses and course
  levels
• National Orientation Directors Association (NODA)
  
• National Conference (October 28-31, Salt Lake
  City Utah)

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Facts about SUNY Cortland

• Approximately 5,500 undergraduates
• Rural setting in central New York state
• Part of the State University of New York System
• Approximately 1,100 first year students and 600
  transfer students each fall (an additional 200
  transfer students in the spring)

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About our Orientation program

• Occurs during the month of July
• We offer 5 two-day sessions for first year
  students and 4 one-day sessions for transfer
  students (and their families)
• Some pre-registration takes place prior to
  students arriving on campus
• Advisement and registration occurs during
  Orientation
• Students are advised by a faculty member from
  their chosen major

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more about our Orientation program

• Includes curricular and student life focus
  throughout the program
• No placement testing
• Orientation is coordinated through the Advisement
  and Transition office in the Enrollment
  Management Division which reports to the Provost
• Orientation advisory committee

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Academic components of our program

• The pre-registration process
• Small group meetings with peer orientation
  assistants
• Parent program on Academic Transitions
• Lecture Hall 101
• Academic department meeting with students and
  parents
• Group advising with faculty advisor
• Advisor pay and ratio
• First year session 110 average group size 8
  10 students
• Transfer session 160 average group size 5 7
  students
• Registration
• Fall advisor contact
• Parallel initiatives (COR 101, learning
  communities)

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What we mean by organizing Orientation by major

• Examples of 3 different majors
• See handouts for additional information

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Strategy for Creating a MAJOR difference in your
Orientation Program

• Developing a plan
• Approaching the institution/stakeholders
• Sharing information
• Implementation
• Administrative maintenance
• Development of materials (mailings, campus
  communication, website, etc.)
• Adjusting numbers
• Strong articulation between resources (Banner,
  Access, Excel)

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What we were concerned about

• Campus resistant to change
• Complaints about limited choice of sessions to
  attend for smaller majors
• Parents following students and faculty to
  advisement
• Our ability to track session enrollments
• Complexity of the mailing materials
• What would faculty talk about during academic
  department meetings

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Benefits

• Better use of advisor/department chair time
• Advising time cut down
• Advising in familiar disciplines
• Ability to focus academic discussions/materials
  for specific majors
• Stronger connections between student, advisor,
  and Orientation Assistant based on major
• Increased potential sense of belonging to
  academic department
• Positive parent/advisor dynamic
• Effective recruitment of advisors
• More consistent advisor student ratio
• Higher rate of returning advisors
• Good PR for other office initiatives
• Orientation assistants can focus on certain
  majors during an orientation program

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Challenges

• Student opportunity to speak with faculty outside
  their major
• Session selection
• Responding to special populations (athletes)
• Perceived benefit of session 1
• Friends wanting to attend session together
• Use of technology
• Work required to change materials, coordinate
  mailing, and maintain session enrollments

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Outcomes
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Outcomes
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Lets hear from you

• Questions
• Your best practices

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Resources

• Ward-Roof, J. A., Hatch, C. (Eds.) (2003).
  Designing Successful Transitions A Guide for
  Orienting Students to College (Monograph Series
  No. 13, 2nd ed.). Columbia, SC University of
  South Carolina, National Resource Center for the
  First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.
  
• Orientation Planning Manual (NODA) receive when
  join NODA membership
• The Journal of College Orientation and Transition
  receive as part of NODA membership
• Council for the Advancement of Standards in
  Higher Education. (2006). CAS professional
  standards for higher education (6th ed.).
  Washington, DC Author. www.cas.edu

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Contact us

• Meg Nowak, Ph. D.
• Assistant Dean
• School of Business
• Ithaca College
• 430 Smiddy Hall
• Ithaca, NY 14850
• mnowak_at_ithaca.edu

• Abby Thomas
• Assistant Director
• Advisement and Transition
• SUNY Cortland
• Memorial Library, A-111
• Cortland, NY 13045
• thomasa_at_cortland.edu
• www.cortland.edu/advisement