New Student Orientation

New Student Orientation takes place during the month of June prior to the first semester of enrollment.  An abbreviated orientation program occurs in January for any new or transfer students enrolling for the first time in the spring semester term.  The Orientation Committee has assessed effectiveness of the orientation program for 15+ years, with the June orientation program having the strongest record of assessment.  Following each orientation session, the Orientation Committee reviews the results of the completed evaluations and responsive changes to the program are made.  For example...

 Participants from June Orientation 2001 felt that the Day 1 program ran too long with an extended period of being seated, which lent itself toward boredom/distraction.  As a result, we changed the format of the Day 1 program to “break out” sessions, conference style, giving participants the option of selecting the sessions most relevant to their individual needs.  We also located the break out sessions in three different buildings, which gave participants a better look at various facilities on campus.  The response to the new format was overwhelmingly positive for June Orientation 2002. 

 In the June 2002 cycle, we received many complaints from participants that the timing of our sessions is not conducive to end-of-the-year activities planned at high schools (such as sporting tournaments, proms, and graduations).  While fairly limited in our ability to alter the dates, for a variety of reasons, we reviewed the participation numbers at each session and moved the dates of the most poorly attended session to later in June.  We are eager to assess the response we will get from the new schedule.

 June 2002 participants also gave feedback that the timing of the “meet the faculty” session should occur in sequence with the session that covers PSC’s general education requirements.  We have noted that request in our planning notes, and intend to schedule those sessions back-to-back for June 2003. 

In addition to participant assessment, orientation sessions are evaluated by the student orientation leaders, who have the most direct contact with the participants. As students, they are great resources of providing us with a student perspective on the effectiveness of different programs and our registration process, in particular.  They are the best source of person-to-person evaluation.  The orientation steering committee also evaluates the orientation sessions in a group meeting held within one week of the final session.  The administrators on this committee have had intimate involvement in the planning and implementation of the program, and they also provide critical feedback on issues such as appropriateness of timing, facility usage, and program content.