四月初入学学生日之后, students who will soon call bet8体育娱乐入口 home began their journey of becoming Monarchs by beginning the University’s new orientation program.
名为“新到蓝:新学生体验”,” the program is designed to answer all student and parent questions, 向他们介绍所有可用的资源, 登记课程和住宿, 获得停车证, 最重要的是, 邀请他们去“探索”, 发现并控制他们向大学的过渡.
Pearson Pearson, Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Center for Orientation, Retention & 学生参与中的探索(CORE), 招生, 及服务(SEES), said her team was charged to dispense with the previous one-day-and-done approach to orientation and to create an entirely updated program.
Pearson knew just where the team needed to begin the process of creating an updated program.
“I know from experience that the first question an incoming student has is: 什么时候交押金? I could not find that information on the website and so I said to the staff, there’s free coffee for anyone who can tell me where the due date for the admissions deposit is. 这就是我们的出发点。.
So, 像新生一样思考, the CORE team revamped orientation by creating a transitional journey that starts when the prospective student decides that ODU is the right school for them. 该计划分为三个阶段, 结合在线和面对面的体验, and ensures students know what to expect because everything is laid out in the New Student Experience website, “a one-stop shop containing everything that new students need to know.”
这个过程从“探索你的王国”开始.” That introductory phase consists of submitting the admissions deposit, signing up for the Monarch Identification and Authorization System and obtaining University email.
Other tasks to be completed include taking placement exams, enrolling in the new student experience course “Explore Your Kingdom: Pre-Orientation Module.”也, 探索性学生, education and engineering majors can schedule an advising and course registration appointment, which is a pilot program that will ideally open to all in the future.
“对那些学生来说,一切都很顺利, making sure that they're meeting their requirements and getting in the right classes,皮尔逊谈到第一届夏季课程时说. “It gives the students more intentional time with their advisor and helps create more flexible schedules. 我们听到了非常积极的消息.”
The second phase, “Discover Your Pride,” is open to all students. The day before this begins, incoming students can register to spend the night in a residence hall. 6月, the overnight stay was held in the England House and participants visited the Student 娱乐 and Well-Being Center where they had dinner, 爬过岩壁, 游泳,结交新朋友.
“Discover Your Pride” is a one-day on campus orientation that starts with a morning information session followed by lunch at Chartway Arena. 然后, students visit important places on campus to learn about the services and resources that will be available to them.
“而不是举办传统的资源博览会, we bring the students to the resource so they can decide which resources are going to be most critical to their success,皮尔森说. “So, 而不是为每个资源创建表, 我们带他们去军事联络中心, to 教育的可访问性 in the 学生成功中心 and to the Student 娱乐 and 健康 Center,”她说。.
The final phase is called “Rule Your Dominion,” which is conducted both online and on campus. It introduces students to programs they can take part in before school starts to make friends and get more comfortable on campus. It begins at the end of the on-campus orientation and runs through the first day of classes. During this time student create a strategy for success and those who will live on campus prepare for move-in.
Some of the programs they learn about include First Year Summer Institute, 为期三天的领导力课程, and the Monarch Volunteer Program that offers incoming students the chance to meet fellow students while helping the local community. Monarch Meet-Ups are informal get-togethers where incoming students might do a photo tour and visit the lion statue on Kaufman Mall, the mermaid at Brock Commons and rub Big Blue’s belly in Webb Center.
6月, Jamila Balamani and her son Joshua Hunter from Brandywine, 马里兰, enjoyed the morning session before a lunch featuring pasta stations, 沙拉和油条, 还有南方的炸鸡野餐, 烧烤, 玉米棒和羽衣甘蓝.
While Hunter said that the orientation was “cool,” his mother was a bit more expansive.
“我真的很享受这种教育, 得到所有的电子邮件联系人和二维码, 尤其是财务信息,”她说。, explaining that she learned about a section of documentation that was missing from her son’s information.