Sunday, August 23 : 8:30am - 5:00 pm
Trained 65 Orientation Leaders on communication, millennial students, and 2 hours of team building activities. We practiced the essentials: name games and 4 generic scenarios that could happen in their groups of 25 students. We practiced what to do when your group doesn't show up anymore, what do to when one student dominates the conversation, what to do when a student hates BSC and poisons the whole group's experience, and what to do when students just want to get drunk or know about parties. Laura Hill Rao, Susannah White, and I also gave an introduction to the Saturday of Service, where the OL's were responsible for soliciting participation and some of them were site coordinators. The Juggling team builder worked out very well.
Tuesday, August 25: 8:00am - 8:30pm
Freshman Move-in Day.
My role was trouble shooting all day, which consisted of breaking up the OL's when they were congregating to socialize rather than help families, encouraging them to carry things for students and parents, finding folders if they were not in the bins outside residence halls, etc. Beginning at 5pm I took tickets for the planetarium shows which occurred every half hour for parents and families. Biggest problem was that despite a confirmation the day before, the bus company never sent a bus for the parent trip to Niagara Falls. We issued "rain checks" to the parents and offered 2 trip times the next day (which did happen).
Wednesday, August 26th: 6:00am - 10:00pm
6:15 -7am: Commuter check-in set up and OL check in/staff meeting. Distributed "green sheets" for Saturday of Service where OL's would get an accurate number from their group of 25 students of who planned to participate.
7am-9am Commuter student check-in, and get assigned to orientation groups. OL's put group stickers on commuter name tags, and let them know the first time they will be meeting. Also breakfast and separation of commuter students from parents. Parents went into the sports arena to sit in the bleachers and await the freshmen procession. Students ate breakfast according to their school in the ice arena bleachers.
8:30am : Resident OL's bring their groups over to the Ice rink to line up for convocation.
9:00 - 10:15am First Year convocation. Every first year student was wearing a bright orange shirt that said "Buffalo State...The Right Choice"
Students dismissed by school from convocation to various quads, then broken up into individual majors from the quads to be led by OL's to "Meet your Faculty" session
10:30 - 12:00pm Meet your faculty
residual OL's went through residence halls waking up and pulling out reluctant or sleepy students. I hung and distributed flyers for Saturday of Service.
12pm-1pm Lunch with academic departments
Some departments had students pick up lunches and bring them back to classroom, other just told students when to return to their room.
1-3pm Major expectations
Students return to their rooms to meet with faculty.
3pm-5pm 411 from an upperclassman
Student meet with their orientation leader. Biggest problem was OL's not knowing enough ice breakers, or letting their group go early "because they wanted to leave." I let them know this was unacceptable, especially since we practiced that exact scenario in training.
5pm-7pm Chiavetta's Chicken BBQ dinner
BIG HIT with both students and parents.
7 - 10pm Hypnotist Tom DeLuca
The first show was for commuters and we only had about 60 students attend, however the second show (residents) had about 250 students in attendance. I supervised OL's during the show.
Thursday, August 27 7:00am - 5:30pm
7:30am - 9am Breakfast in the union
Students and OL's ate breakfast in the union lobby. We held a staff meeting in the lobby from 7:45am-8:15am, distributing a list of "updates" or schedule changes for that day. at 8:45am i cleared students and OL's out of the union to go to the next session.
"Engage in Buffalo" workshops were tremendously successful - I was stationed with Roz Park in the Library with "Engaging in Academic Success" and we filled the room for each of the 4 sessions between 9am and 11:45am
11:30 - 1pm LUNCH
1:00 - 3:15: 411 from an upperclassman and campus tours
This time, no one let their group out early.
3:30 - 4:15 Intellectual Foundations Requirements.
4:15 - 5pm CIRP freshman survey
5pm-7pm DINNER
Friday, August 28th 7:00am - 5:30pm
7:30 am - 9:00am Breakfast/staff meeting with updates
Generally for the entire day I was either in the library or at the classroom building directing lost souls or trouble shooting if faculty failed to show up.
11:30am-1pm LUNCH
1pm-2pm Schedule confirmation (students met with their academic advisor)
2:15 - 5pm 411 from an upperclassman and Acting Out: Insight into College Life
Presentation of information from theatre students was incredibly well received - nearly 700 resident students in attendance. Students receive information better when it's presented by their peers.
5:30pm celebratory dinner and drinks with Trish, Bob, Katie, and Tim Eklund.
Saturday, August 29th:9:30 am - 5:30pm
Saturday of Service
Set up from 9:30am to 10:30am.
OL's arrived at 12:30 to be trained in duties (either registration or site coordination)
1pm FY students arrive.
1:30pm last group of students leaves for site
Trouble shooting throughout the day
5pm last group of students arrived back on campus.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Thursday, August 20
Hours: 8:00am - 6:30pm
Trained Orientation Leaders from 9am-12pm, leading a communication icebreaker from 9am-10am. If I could go back in time, I'd make sure I was present for training every day this week, instead of just tuesday and thursday. If i mandate the OL's to be present, I ought to be present, too. The teambuilder involving legos and communication worked out really well and I was impressed with the reflective thinking that the students did.
Personnel troubles concerning 2 Orientation Leaders - I got really angry today, but I handled the situation appropriately and removed myself when I needed too. In addition, I told my supervisors that I choose not to have a conversation with the individual because I wasn't comfortable and I wouldn't be able to censor myself/not yell. They were wonderfully supportive and receptive to this. I basically said, "I don't trust myself to have a conversation about this with this person." and they said "ok. we can run interference and take care of it." I really appreciated that.
Today was Kim's last day; she will not be present for the First Year Week of Welcome. We had cake and celebrated and went out for drinks and fare following the interim President's (Dennis Ponton) splash party held at the president's house on Lincoln parkway. We took a tour of the lower level of the lovely house.
Trained Orientation Leaders from 9am-12pm, leading a communication icebreaker from 9am-10am. If I could go back in time, I'd make sure I was present for training every day this week, instead of just tuesday and thursday. If i mandate the OL's to be present, I ought to be present, too. The teambuilder involving legos and communication worked out really well and I was impressed with the reflective thinking that the students did.
Personnel troubles concerning 2 Orientation Leaders - I got really angry today, but I handled the situation appropriately and removed myself when I needed too. In addition, I told my supervisors that I choose not to have a conversation with the individual because I wasn't comfortable and I wouldn't be able to censor myself/not yell. They were wonderfully supportive and receptive to this. I basically said, "I don't trust myself to have a conversation about this with this person." and they said "ok. we can run interference and take care of it." I really appreciated that.
Today was Kim's last day; she will not be present for the First Year Week of Welcome. We had cake and celebrated and went out for drinks and fare following the interim President's (Dennis Ponton) splash party held at the president's house on Lincoln parkway. We took a tour of the lower level of the lovely house.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tuesday, August 18th
Hours: 7:45am - 4:30pm
9am-12pm Trained Orientation leaders in the morning utilizing a "train the trainer" methodology. Instead of me running ice breakers, I asked the orientation leaders to run the ice breakers. It worked fairly well, and I'm hoping that it builds my own confidence in the OL's ability to facilitate ice breakers in groups, and demonstrates to them that I trust their facilitation skills. Ayan, a new orientation leader did the name game, Lafayette facilitated 4 corners with me, and Sean facilitated two truths and a lie. We have an orientation leader in a wheelchair, so it's especially good practice for the OL's to be thinking about different ability levels of students that may be in their group - visibly and not visibly.
12pm-1pm Brainstormed a running list of tasks for OL's to work on during their mandatory "office hours" that take place from 1pm-5pm every day this week.
1pm-3pm Met with Orientation Saturday of Service committee to iron out details, work through the logistics of the day.
9am-12pm Trained Orientation leaders in the morning utilizing a "train the trainer" methodology. Instead of me running ice breakers, I asked the orientation leaders to run the ice breakers. It worked fairly well, and I'm hoping that it builds my own confidence in the OL's ability to facilitate ice breakers in groups, and demonstrates to them that I trust their facilitation skills. Ayan, a new orientation leader did the name game, Lafayette facilitated 4 corners with me, and Sean facilitated two truths and a lie. We have an orientation leader in a wheelchair, so it's especially good practice for the OL's to be thinking about different ability levels of students that may be in their group - visibly and not visibly.
12pm-1pm Brainstormed a running list of tasks for OL's to work on during their mandatory "office hours" that take place from 1pm-5pm every day this week.
1pm-3pm Met with Orientation Saturday of Service committee to iron out details, work through the logistics of the day.
Transfer Session #2
Tuesday, August 11: 8:15 am - 7:15pm
Trained Orientation Leader staff in preparation for Thursday Transfer Orientation Session #2. Specifically, I conducted training in Engagement, focusing on Maslow's hierarchy (meeting th basic needs of students permits then to engage in their education at deeper levels) related it to Dance Floor Theory (The 5's are asking what they can do for others/better their community and society as a whole), and talked about kinds of power.
Wednesday, August 12: 8:00am - 6:15pm
All day preparation for Transfer Orientation. Specific accomplishemnt - we were doing tasks usually done at 5pm, at 11am - which means that due to efficiency, excellent communication, and division ofresponsibility, we were running 6 hours ahead of schedule. :)
Thursday, August 13,: 6:00am - 5:30pm
Transfer Orientation Session #2
The OL's lost their minds....we were under staffed, leaving orientation leaders with groups of more than 40 students to manage in crowded spaces on a hot day. For as smoothly as things went during session #1, this session did not run smoothly. I failed in communicating that the function of OL is to keep the group together. At the end of the day, we reprimanded/punished the OL's for their poor performance. I learned to focus on the basics. Insterad of how to motivate the students to intellectually engage in "OL time" i should have been focusing on public speaking, group facilitation skills, and how to keep a group of people together.
Trained Orientation Leader staff in preparation for Thursday Transfer Orientation Session #2. Specifically, I conducted training in Engagement, focusing on Maslow's hierarchy (meeting th basic needs of students permits then to engage in their education at deeper levels) related it to Dance Floor Theory (The 5's are asking what they can do for others/better their community and society as a whole), and talked about kinds of power.
Wednesday, August 12: 8:00am - 6:15pm
All day preparation for Transfer Orientation. Specific accomplishemnt - we were doing tasks usually done at 5pm, at 11am - which means that due to efficiency, excellent communication, and division ofresponsibility, we were running 6 hours ahead of schedule. :)
Thursday, August 13,: 6:00am - 5:30pm
Transfer Orientation Session #2
The OL's lost their minds....we were under staffed, leaving orientation leaders with groups of more than 40 students to manage in crowded spaces on a hot day. For as smoothly as things went during session #1, this session did not run smoothly. I failed in communicating that the function of OL is to keep the group together. At the end of the day, we reprimanded/punished the OL's for their poor performance. I learned to focus on the basics. Insterad of how to motivate the students to intellectually engage in "OL time" i should have been focusing on public speaking, group facilitation skills, and how to keep a group of people together.
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