The Orientation Advantage
THE ORIENTATION ADVANTAGE™
Mandatory is not really mandatory anymore...and it never really was.
Your students and families are the checkwriters and they have more influence and accountability (or lack of) regarding their college experience. They know they're paying for it, so the meaning of mandatory is very different for them. It's mandatory that you/we/Higher Ed needs to do this programming, but students do not have to attend—and there's no immediate consequences for them because their attendance has no impact on their grades or graduation.
New Student Orientation (NSO) after the pandemic requires a paradigm shift in how we think about orientation.
Students were born in front of a phone, given a phone to distract them when they were babies, and grew up in front of a device that could give them access to anything they wanted whenever and wherever they wanted it.
Then came Google and YouTube and TikTok and now AI. Answers are coming faster...in way less than a one-hour program can deliver (and with fancy graphics and animations and transitions and music...possibly all done by AI as well).
Students consume information differently than ever before, so we must match the design and delivery mechanisms with their consumption habits.
12 one-hour programs over three days is not the way to transform the hearts and minds of new students.
This is their FIRST DAY! What is the right thing to do to welcome your students to the next several years of their lives? Surely it can’t be a schedule that starts at 8am, a hot and sweaty move-in, rushing from one lecture to another, and just listening to people talk at them over and over again. 50% of information is forgotten by the end of the first day and 80-90% of it is forgotten within a week. The Forgetting Curve is very real. So if that’s the case, wouldn’t you program differently to increase engagement, retention, and “customer satisfaction?”
Stop checking the box and start being more intentional.
Higher Ed Pros keep talking about transforming the lives of college students; it starts with their First Day Experience.
We're here to help you help your students acclimate, assimilate, and accelerate in their college experience. We've got great programming for NSO, Orientation Leaders, College Parents & Families, and Student Success Professionals like yourselves. And it all begins with expert guidance so that you reach your strategic objectives with half the programming and half the cost!
You have a few excellent packages to choose from and we have something for everyone when it comes to new student orientation, co-curricular programming, management consulting to transform your orientation experience, and even community builders and comedy events to liven things up.
We call it The Orientation Advantage. You'll call it your saving grace.