For new students and their parents, orientation “is almost like a passing of the baton,” said Darryl Holloman, the vice president for student affairs at Spelman College.
A strong orientation can be pivotal in building affinity for campus and, ultimately, persuading students to return next semester. But with Covid-19 prompting Spelman to move its operations online, its typical tried-and-true bonding activities are out of the question.
Instead, colleges like Spelman are creating virtual orientations using new and old technologies, relying heavily on the expertise of current students in creating a network of support for incoming freshmen. And with coronavirus cases climbing, this way could be safer.
Already, one institution’s summer orientation has become a cautionary tale: An incoming student who attended an event at Elmira College, a private liberal-arts college in New York, later tested positive for Covid-19. According to the college, the student had contracted the disease prior to coming to campus and had worn a mask, making the risk minimal to the community. Elmira has had no positive cases since, according to a spokesperson for the college.
Elmira has yet to finalize its orientation plans before classes start August 31, but the college is planning on holding as many events as possible outside or via livestream. Many other campuses are doing the same.
The Chronicle rounded up what virtual orientations look like at a variety of institutions across the country:
Indiana University at Bloomington
“You can never really replace in-person orientation,” said Melanie J. Payne, the director of the Office of First Year Experience Programs at Indiana University at Bloomington, where residence halls will be open to students but most courses will be online. When students attend orientation face to face, “we can talk to them. We walk them from session to session on campus.”
But for virtual orientation this year, she said, “We made good use of what we could.”
Indiana is using Canvas, an online-course-management system, to create a three-step module with quizzes and videos to get students the information they would typically learn in orientation. Students will have Zoom meetings with academic advisers instead of in-person sessions. Every incoming student will speak one on one with, and attend synchronous question-and-answer sessions with, current students. There will even be online karaoke and trivia games.
Payne said her team knows how well the campus can sell itself, so they’ve created audio files students can use to take themselves on self-guided tours.
The traditional “campus legends tour,” an evening event where students armed with glow sticks learn about Indiana history and traditions, has been adapted for social distancing; on key nights of the university’s welcoming week, staff will be posted at noteworthy spots on the tour.
As Payne points out, “the beauty of online orientation is that they can access all this stuff at any time.” This means that students can refresh their memories on policies and resources throughout the semester.
Still, Payne worries whether virtual orientation can create the sense of belonging that will make students want to stay for all four years.
“We’re going to find out in October, and we’re going to find out in November if students felt [that connection],” Payne said.
Marquette University
Orientation at Marquette University, a private Jesuit institution in Wisconsin, will be mainly virtual, with some small, socially distanced, in-person events. A portion of students will be living on campus for its hybrid semester.
Online activities will be conducted primarily in Microsoft Teams, the same platform students used for summer orientation in June and July, so they’ve already passed the learning curve. The Marquette IT department helped provide internet hot spots and computers to ensure every student had access.
From there, students were assigned virtual communities based on interests and living arrangements.
“For us, it’s really important our students adjust and build community in a social setting,” said Kelly Neumann, the assistant dean for new student and family programs at Marquette.
Neumann said students are being asked to select their top five interest areas (athletics, clubs, etc.) out of a provided list of 25. These interest groups will be led by a current student leader and meet virtually throughout the semester.
According to Neumann, Marquette is “providing online courses, orientation checklists, and hosting group meetings prior to [students’] return to campus, in the hopes of easing the transition prior to the start of class and allowing them to get some questions answered.”
Spelman College
At Spelman College, a historically Black women’s institution in Georgia that will operate online this fall, gone is the one-time, four-day orientation — the college will be conducting check-ins to continue support for new students throughout the semester.
All the typical information, such as locations and services of campus offices, policies, and procedures, will be provided virtually, through webinars, Zoom sessions, recorded videos, and livestreams. Because campus traditions are important to the HBCU, online orientation will include a component on history and traditions, plus its Granddaughters Club for legacies.
But Spelman won’t rely on a “cut-and-dry” virtual orientation to build campus connections and support networks for students.
Holloman, the vice president for student affairs, said that when he’s spoken with parents, they’ve expressed a “sense of grief” over their children missing so many life milestones: prom, graduation, the conclusion of their senior year of high school. Holloman wants new students to feel like they’re part of the Spelman community, not as though they’re in “an extension of high school.”
Holloman’s team will pay special attention to emotional wellness, working closely with mental-health counselors and the Student Access Center, which assists students with disabilities.
“You just got to work across the aisle,” Holloman said. “You can’t just go into your silo.”
Holloman said he is concerned about providing enough support for students with learning disabilities or who are under emotional stress that could be exacerbated by taking courses online during a pandemic.
“If we don’t get those pieces right, I think students will leave,” Holloman said.
In the past, Holloman said students could talk through anxieties with their roommates. An alumnae group is working to pull together a virtual-roommates program for the online semester.
With many students taking classes at home, parents will now have a front-row seat to their child’s education like never before.
“We’re just going to have to be more parent-centric,” Holloman said. He’s told his team they won’t be turning parents’ phone calls away and will respond to all calls within 36 hours. If parents aren’t happy with how they feel the semester pans out, they may choose to move their students out of the institution.
“One of the things that will be really important for campus communities is we’re just going to have to have a higher level of kindness and love and compassion, because this is such a new experience for these young people coming to college,” said Holloman.
He said they are hopeful about bringing some segment of the population back on campus in the spring and then — “fingers crossed” — doing some orientation activities in person.
Ohio Wesleyan University
At Ohio Wesleyan University, periodic virtual hangouts have been working to stave off the dreaded summer melt: when students commit to college but don’t show up for classes in the fall.
Ohio Wesleyan, a private liberal-arts university, held roughly a dozen virtual hangouts over the summer, staffed with current students and organized around identity-based groups, such as ethnic groups or LGBTQ students. The hangouts have even spurred group chats outside the structured orientation.
“One of my worries was student connection to the orientation,” said Brad Pulcini, the associate dean for student engagement at Ohio Wesleyan. “I wasn’t convinced they were going to connect with each other until we started doing the virtual hangouts and I saw it for myself.”
While the university is planning for an in-person fall, a small chunk of first-year students — about 40 to 50 — will be learning remotely.
“Some of the questions we would have gotten even if they were on campus we haven’t gotten this year,” Pulcini said. This is, in part, due to more frequent communication with students and families, keeping them up to date about changes for the coming fall.
“If anything, we’ve overcommunicated,” Pulcini said. Parents and students are appreciative of the transparency, he added.
In addition to the virtual hangouts this summer, Ohio Wesleyan had students take an online course to get the information they need to start their college career. Video messages from current students and professors were sprinkled throughout.
Pulcini said the accessibility of virtual orientations — the fact that students can retrieve the information anytime, from anywhere — is something Ohio Wesleyan wants to continue in the future: “I think it’s critical, especially for our marginalized populations, to be able to come together.”
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco’s orientation traditionally took place over a three-day weekend the weekend before classes start. Its neighbors, meanwhile, started this bonding process earlier in the summer. That put the private Jesuit institution at a disadvantage when it came to retention, said Lester Deanes, assistant vice provost for student engagement.
“What Covid forced us to do in an important way is get that on-boarding process started much, much sooner,” Deanes said. This year, San Francisco started orientation through an online module in early July. “I think it’s a model we are going to stick with,” he said.
This fall, nearly all of San Francisco’s courses will be offered online.
“I can’t tell you how many times a parent has said to me, ‘This is all great, but how are you going to get my student to feel connected?’” Deanes said. “That’s my No. 1 concern.”
The university will be hosting virtual parties, concerts, and speakers, but “those aren’t the same.”
Deanes said incoming students talking to current student orientation leaders has been the most helpful. The university doesn’t want to sell students on a semester that can’t be fulfilled, he said, and current students have been transparent about what the spring was like for them.
Deanes said the next step is figuring out how to make that informal bump-into-each-other connection for students. While the “technology is out there,” he said, it’s about “finding the right tool.”
