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By Elsa Núñez

The start of the fall semester is an exciting time on college campuses, especially for newly arriving first-year students. With proper planning and execution, the enthusiasm that is created by the incoming freshman class can extend throughout the campus community to returning students, faculty, and staff, as well as beyond the campus environs to local neighborhoods, alumni faithful, and other friends of the institution. 

Even at the entire campus feels refreshed and invigorated, the focus of start-of-the-year activities should be on introducing new students to campus. National data shows that freshmen are most vulnerable to dropping out during the first six weeks of the fall semester., often known as “The Red Zone” due to the heightened risks involved. Welcoming new students (including transfers and graduate students) to campus with a well-planned program of activities and events is key to student success and retention.

Onboarding new students should focus on three objectives — to educate/inform, to inspire, and to connect. Students need to quickly learn about available resources and support systems. At the same time, while providing information is important for making newcomers to campus more comfortable, motivating them by grounding activities in the college’s core values and mission reinforces school spirit and shared aspirations. Perhaps the most important objective in introducing new students to campus is to give them a sense of belonging. Students need to feel that they “fit in,” that the campus’s culture, customs, and experiences meet their needs and interests. At the same time, students should feel that the campus community respects and values them as individuals — from day one. Programs that embrace diversity — race and ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation — need to be available and ready to serve.

Educating and Informing

Every campus has many of the same resources, services, processes, and procedures that entering freshmen need to know about. Students should not be expected to find out about your campus support system on their own. The challenge is to find innovative and effective ways to introduce students to what they need to know. While orientation and transitioning to college is a serious proposition, executing it can be fun.

One popular method is to use a “passport” program, where students earn stamps, points, or some other form of recognition for being exposed to individual services. Rewards can include bookstore discounts, meal passes, event tickets, and more. At Michigan State University, a Resources Fair Crawl allows students to become familiar with campus resources in small, dormitory floor-based groups. At the University of North Texas, a First-Year Passport program moves students through traditional orientation and transition programming. At the University of South Carolina, a small group scavenger hunt model is used to introduce students to resources across campus. Similar programs exist at the College of the Holy Cross, Northwestern University, Washington State University, and the University of Scranton.

The key to these programs is that they are engaging, encourage students to get to know each other, and provide a comprehensive exposure to the breadth of services found on campus. That includes academic support services such as peer tutoring, academic computing, the library, mentoring programs and advising; health services including mental health counseling and accessibility services; equity programming (women’s centers, pride centers, multicultural centers); programs for commuting and transfer students; and other resources such as the bookstore, financial aid office, and career development center. A webpage dedicated to transitioning to campus is also an important resource, with links to on- and off-campus services, calendars, important dates and deadlines, relevant forms, FAQs, and other essential information. New students also want to know about volunteer opportunities, sustainability programs, and student clubs.

Whether they are invited to participate in orientation programs with their sons and daughters or have their own events and activities, parents should be included in start-of-the-year programming. This can only help entering students as they transition to college and learn to live away from home and family. In addition, orientation programs that use student leaders as peer guides for incoming students help to break the ice and create lasting friendships.

Inspiration and Motivation

As important as providing information and campus resources and services is for newly arriving students, creating a sense of unity and common purpose is also an essential component of activities planned for the first few weeks of the fall semester. Establishing a shared commitment to excellence, inclusivity, and other core values should permeate the formal and informal programs you create to introduce new students to campus.

One popular event is Convocation, a traditional ceremony to introduce new students to their academic journey. Speeches by academic leaders, the President, alumni leaders, and other officials share the culture and expectations of the institution, with the ceremony serving to build school spirit, creating a sense of belonging among incoming students and their families. Convocation for new students takes place in small colleges — Luther College, Elon University — and large institutions — Boston College, Penn State. At the University of Albany, convocation is a candlelight affair, adding to the event’s inspirational tone.

Another, less formal approach to inspiring individual students and building school spirit is through activities that center around college athletics. Even Division III institutions can build campus pride and school spirit through pep rallies, sporting events, bonfires, and athletic-themed activities.

Building a Culture of Belonging

College should be a fun experience, a time to build lasting friendships, discover new interests, and explore one’s innate talents. Programs to start the academic year that bring students together allow each student the opportunity to express themselves, and build a culture of connectedness and reinforce the ties that bind community.

Building connections can be fun. At the University of Notre Dame, groups of students on the same dormitory floor learn about volunteer opportunities by sharing community service projects in the local community. At Arizona State University, “faculty-in-residence dinners” bring professors into the dormitories so that entering freshmen can get to know the faculty on a personal level while sharing a meal. At the University of South Florida, dormitory floors engage in friendly competition as they attend orientation events, visit on-campus services, and take part in wellness activities. Theme housing is another way to connect like-minded students together. The key to all these examples is that they focus on building peer-to-peer relationships, are experientially based, and center on small group interactions around shared challenges and activities.

Most college campuses have some form of Welcome Weekend or Welcome Week. Regardless of the format, welcoming activities follow familiar ground and help build connections while reassuring each student that they are valued as individuals. Perhaps the most direct opportunity to immediately give new students a feeling of belonging is Move-in Day(s). This is not just a time for incoming students to move into campus housing. Effective residential life programs find ways to include parents in the festivities and even include alumni leaders in introducing new students to campus.

Of course, after the hard work of moving into the dormitories and engaging in orientation sessions, it’s time to party! Social events can include picnics, ice cream socials, pizza parties, concerts and other entertainment, and more — all opportunities for new students (and returning students) to socialize and become comfortable in their new home. On larger campuses, academic departments and residence halls can sponsor smaller-scale social activities. On a small campus, a picnic for all students, faculty, and staff can be combined with a Student Club Fair, where incoming students learn of opportunities to join campus clubs, make friends, and pursue personal interests. Volunteer options, intramurals, and other campus life opportunities can also be introduced.

Another fun opportunity to create a common link between new students and returning students, faculty, and staff is to introduce new students to campus traditions. There is no better time than the start of the fall semester to do so. At one college in New England, first-year students toss a penny into a campus fountain while making a wish. This “Make a Wish” tradition returns at graduation when the same giant jar of pennies is used for graduates to toss a penny into a fountain at Commencement, making a new wish as they start the next chapter in their journey. Other traditions found on college campuses include the popular Midnight Pancake Breakfast served by college officials on various campuses. At the University of California-Berkeley, first-year students frequently repaint a giant “C,” constructed in 1905, with revolving messages for the campus. At Knox College, a giant handshake line (“The Pump Handle”) literally connects the entire campus community in one enormous handshake.

Canisius University sponsors campus bingo nights, an annual bonfire, and “Party in the Quad” to help students establish new peer connections while transitioning from home to college. At the University of Central Florida, students jump into the campus reflecting pool to retrieve rubber ducks. Students at Stanford University jump into campus fountains during orientation, while Bryn Mawr students hold “Lantern Night,” when they sing songs by candlelight and engage in symbolic induction rituals. Whatever your traditions, keep them alive by engaging new members of the campus community at every opportunity. You can also include returning students and current faculty and staff if appropriate.

Each college and university is unique, and the mixture of formal and informal activities created to onboard new students will be different based on size, campus personality, and mission. Whatever programming you choose, take advantage of the opportunity that the opening of the academic year affords you. Newly arriving students can become familiar with campus customs, resources, and services while developing a sense of belonging and the relationships on which community is built. Done right, you can create a joyful and engaging beginning of the year for everyone on campus, reinforcing a shared vision and purpose and bringing the entire campus community together with a renewed commitment to teaching and learning.