Student orientation seminars conducted throughout the summer on FAU’s Boca Raton campus, are led by a small army of students who say that while they earn a few extra dollars, they also gain valuable skills that help them plan for success in college.
Bernice Edward, a senior who works as one of the orientation leaders, says that she wishes she’d had such an opportunity when she began her college career at another university.
“When I first attended a university, I didn’t have the insight I needed to be successful,” she said. “I had heard about the student orientations and thought it would be a great way to learn for myself, to educate myself.”
Edwards has been working as a student orientation leader for two years and says she has tried to bring to the incoming students her own perspective on what coming to college means. She has also gained from the experience, she said.
“I have used it to enhance myself at FAU, and to enhance my leadership skills,” Edward says. “It has inspired me a lot. I have learned how to better interact with other people, to improve my interpersonal skills. It has also helped me learn how to manage my time.
“It’s a job, but it’s like a club, too,” she continued. “I don’t really think of it as a job, because you’re living with others, you get to stay on campus free for the whole summer.”
Orientation leaders are housed for free beginning in May, until the end of the Summer Session “C” in August. On orientation days, leaders also receive free meals on campus. There are about 20 orientation leaders conducting the seminars each summer.
Practical questions like how big classes will be and how the classes will be different from high school also concern the incoming students and their parents, who also often attend the sessions, according to sophomore student orientation leader, Kevin Loughran.
“A lot of people are interested in the residence halls,” Loughran said. “Other people are interested in the classes, what the professors will be doing. They are interested in class size because lots of classes are bigger than their high school classes.”
Edward said with so many new things to learn about, some stand out for her as being especially valuable.
“There are so many different services offered to students that I didn’t know about until I became a student orientation leader,” she said. “Free book loans, student tutoring. I was actually thinking about hiring a tutor when I found out there is a service here on campus for older students to tutor you.”
Edward said the sessions also cover subjects like what can cause one to fail, and what will help ensure success.
“On the first day, they meet with their student leaders and we try to divide them up by field,” she explained. “They get a tour of the campus, then go to sessions with the student leaders. We talk about things like what is academic probation, things that can cause you to fail, what not to do so they can be successful. But we also tell them what they can do to be successful and practical things like the Owl card, the parking decals, things like that.”
Online registration seems to be easily mastered by the majority of incoming students, according to Ronald Romances Johnson, coordinator in the Office of Student Orientation.
“With this generation, they’re okay with the computer, but with transfer students and some of the older students, they might have issues with it,” Johnson acknowledged. “But most of the younger students are okay with it.”
Johnson said the summer orientation seminars have been conducted for about the last five years in the current format. He said the program has been generally well received by the student body.
“A lot of students do find the program helpful,” Johnson said. “Some feel the program is not necessary, but there is no other way to get the information they need. It makes the transition smoother.”
