Revamped Orientation programs shaped to ease transition, promote future success

Through an important administrative transition and incremental programmatic improvements, Skidmore continues to hone its fall Orientation programs to better suit the needs of incoming students and help assure their future academic success.

After formally introducing the First-Year Experience curriculum three years ago, Skidmore shifted responsibility for Orientation programming from the Office of Student Affairs to the academic FYE program on the academic side of the college. According to Beau Breslin, associate professor of government and director of FYE, there were two reasons for this change. "It made logical sense for orientation to fall under our purview because we were overseeing so much of the experience of new students." In addition, the change responded to a growing sense on campus that orientation should have a slightly greater academic focus.

Students take part in a group discussion during Orientation.

This year, the major programming for Orientation (Sept. 2-4, with individual events through Sept. 8) is centered on the following three areas:

• Academics
  
  • Conversations about the summer reading, Mountains Beyond Mountains, with Skidmore faculty
  • The first session of the Scribner Seminar (required first-semester course for all first-year students) happens during Orientation, where faculty cover some course content and begin the mentoring relationship they will have with their students over the coming academic year, and sometimes the next. Some advising/mentoring will happen during the first group session, and then faculty will meet with their students on an individual basis during the rest of the day.
    
    
• Diversity/College Transitions
  
  • Half of the class will participate in a large group session with faculty and student panelists that will speak about diversity at Skidmore, while the other half gathers to talk about transitioning to a college community and students' responsibility as Skidmore citizens both socially and academically. The focus of this session morphs into a discussion about the Skidmore Honor Code.
    
    
• Sexual Assault Programming
  
  • Jay Friedman, author of The J-Spot: A Sex Educator Tells All, will host two large group sessions dealing with sexual issues in society. This program is being sponsored by the College's Health Services office.

There also will be a parent/family Q&A orientation on the day of arrival, which provides time for families to ask questions, and also gives Student Affairs and Academic Affairs administrators an opportunity to talk to parents about the social and academic transitions that they and their children will face.
 
The Office of Residential Life carries out its own Orientation programming during the first few days and continues during the first few weeks of the fall semester.

Residential Life Office employs approximately 80 students as Head Residents (undergraduate hall directors who supervise a residence hall); Unit Assistants (student staff living in the Scribner Village apartments and the Northwoods Village apartments); Resident Assistants (student staff who supervise a floor and act as peer counselors, communicate information about campus events and notices, plan hall programs and events, and enforce college policy); and House Counselors (volunteer students staff who perform similar duties as the RA).

In addition to students, the department employs six full-time administrators who live on campus. Among them are Community Coordinators, one of whom lives in Scribner Village and the other in Northwoods Village. In addition to running the day-to-day operations of the apartments, the Coordinators oversee the North and South Quad residence halls. The other four positions are called Residence Hall Directors. RHDs live in the residence halls.

Residence Hall staff trains for two weeks prior to the start of the fall semester. The Head Residents, Residence Hall Directors, and Community Coordinators (known as the Central Staff) train for a week prior to the Residence Hall Staff training.

Residence Hall Staff Learning Outcomes

By the end of the two-week staff training, Unit Assistants, Resident Assistants and House Counselors will have achieved competency in the following areas:

• Communication (spoken and e-mail)
• Skidmore protocols
• Residential life paperwork
• The role of on- and off-campus resources
  
  • Referring students to these resources when appropriate
• Mediation
• Conflict resolution

In addition, Residential Life staff will have developed

• Awareness of differences among race, culture, class, sexual orientation, gender identification and gender identity
• General understanding of disorders such as OCD, Asperger's Syndrome, etc., and resources on campus
• Better understanding of the Skidmore Honor Code
• An ability to effectively build community on their floor and within their building
• Skills necessary to plan and implement a successful program
• Competence at working as part of a team with their co-staffer and the full staff

Staff also undertake a full day of diversity training (topics include traditional racial privilege, religion and spirituality, inclusive language, and classism).

A day for safety also is planned. This will include training on the use of fire extinguishers, evacuations, and other emergency planning information. Campus Safety will lead these events. In addition, the Residence Hall staff will have a session with the Saratoga Springs Fire Marshall.

The Office of Campus Safety is another important partner in the Orientation program. This year, the office will be providing students with information about new aspects of the college's communications system.

One innovation is a text-messaging alert system called the Skidmore Urgent Notification (SUN) system. Students and employees can register their cell phone numbers to participate in the system, and will receive text messages regarding emergencies and other important information.

In addition, Skidmore is installing a siren system with audio message capability for extreme emergency situations such as a tornado warning or a hazardous material release, and will tell students how it works.

Finally, Campus Safety will share with students the College's ongoing pandemic planning process and require students to come to school with plans to have alternate locations that they can travel to in case the College must close due to an flu pandemic outbreak.

For more, please see the Orientation Web site.