Many think about our work in transition in stereotypical terms of the ice breakers, campus tours, large (reportedly boring) lectures, academic advising, and course scheduling often associated with orientation programs. Yes, it is that. It is also so much more. Unfortunately, I spend so much time in this space that I don’t always immediately recognize that I’m doing much of that work guided by a broader framework that has the potential to apply to other experiences. In fact – I hadn’t even considered how it might apply to the situation we all currently find ourselves in until I spent some time with our Orientation Leaders Tuesday night.

For our first online HIED 303 (Leadership Development through Orientation) course with the OLs, we knew we wanted to facilitate a conversation about how the last week has been for them. I anticipated that their other instructors likely spent some time providing an overview of their new remote environment, but I wasn’t sure how many of them would create opportunities for conversation about HOW we found our way to this new space. For example – the last time we were together one student received notification that she wouldn’t be able to travel to Ireland as part of an embedded travel experience and by the very next class we experienced ourselves as 33 video boxes populating our new virtual classroom. It happened so fast.

Earlier in the day I had a meeting with an incredible orientation and advising partner of ours at Penn State Harrisburg – Dr. Katina Moten. We work together on one of the University’s action teams discussing options for NSO. Katina reminded us that beyond our own capacity to host an orientation program, we also need to consider the fact that the concept of transition for our new Penn Staters has completely changed. Many, if not most, will not get to experience – at least in the ways they expected – some of the rites of passage often associated with the more traditional move from high school to college. No prom, no senior banquet, for some – maybe no graduation ceremony. We don’t know exactly what that looks like, but we do know that many of our typical “signals” that college comes next will be lost.

It was the perfect set up. In a previous class we taught the OLs about some student development theory. We included William Bridges and Nancy Schlossberg, naturally, because of their work studying adults in transition. (Since the purpose of this note is sharing personal reflections that I think might be of some value to others, I appreciate grace with my lack of proper citations as I continue.) The plan with the team was that I would remind them how Bridges’ mapped out the key steps of the transition experience, and tie in the work that Schlossberg did on the importance of role models for people navigating change. If nothing else, this might help reinforce the message that this team of OLs will be in truly unique position as they help welcome the new class.

We created space for sharing. They did. I was impressed by what they’ve navigated in their own lives and in the lives of their families in only a few short days. I eventually got to the part where I was reminding them that each transition has an “End” (significant life event/non-event), a “Neutral Zone” (between old life/roles/relationships and new ones, lots of unknowns and ambiguity), and “The Beginning” (the start of new life). I was mid-sentence when I realized that this wasn’t only a lesson about how our new students would experience the next few months… we were living through it ourselves.

Now, important side note about the 3 types of transition (Bridges):

• those transitions we expect will happen, and then they do happen
• those transitions we don’t expect or anticipate will happen, but they do
• those transitions we expect will happen, but then they don’t

The date is different for everyone based on their involvement in this crisis, but for me… Wednesday, March 11 was my “End”. Whether it was the announcement of moving classes online, the rush to move staff remotely, the cancellation of large events, or some combination of the three – an unanticipated life transition definitely happened. In many ways… it’s still happening.

I’ve used the phrase “new normal” quite a bit in the last few days, but the truth is it’s not. It’s the normal for today. That normal will probably be required to adjust and shift tomorrow. And at a time in society where trust in institutions is pretty low – we’re being asked to place a lot of trust in said institutions. The workplace and life routines we’re used to aren’t there. Many of us have been forced to learn new skills, and quick. This includes learning new coping mechanism – as gyms, time with friends, and other healthy outlets are being discouraged. We don’t know what tomorrow will hold, but we’re still being asked to make three possible plans for the day after tomorrow (one of my favorite movies by the way). We also don’t know what “the other side” of this will look like. This is the definition of the Neutral Zone.

To quote myself from a training session from a couple of years ago – “And y’all… the Neutral Zone is a bitch.”

This is where Schlossberg comes back in. She was able to articulate that people in transition are able to navigate that change better when they have access to positive role models. (This is the foundation of our Orientation Leaders experience.) That’s going to be pretty tough for us on this one though. Not that we have any shortage of hardworking, competent, and thoughtful leadership on these challenges… it’s just that by the nature of being unprecedented we have no one on the other side to look to.

The good news – we have each other.

Thankfully, Bridges offers this relief – “people can work out much of the necessary business of the neutral zone if you will protect them, encourage them, and give them the structures and opportunities they need to do it.” So, that is the business ahead of us – for each other, our teams, our students, our families, and our communities. I can’t begin to predict when “The Beginning” will emerge. It is quite likely that we won’t even realize it until we are well past it, pause, look back, and see our “new normal” for what it is.

Until then we work to protect as best we’re able, to encourage and support, and eventually… to create opportunities for people to begin to make meaning of what just happened in the world around them.

Dan

--

Daniel W. Murphy, M.Ed.
Director | Student Orientation and Transition Programs
The Pennsylvania State University

orientation.psu.edu

Dr. Brett Bruner’s experience with NODA began 11 years ago when he volunteered to review award submissions for the 2007 Region IV Conference as a first-year graduate student. At that time, he was “trying out” various volunteering positions in multiple associations to determine where he would find his fit and future professional association home.

“This first NODA volunteer experience led me to meeting some great NODA colleagues who have remained my friends over the past decade,” Brett says. “One volunteer role led to another and another. And for the past 11 years, serving NODA as a volunteer leader has become a critical component of my identity as an OTR professional, administrator, and educator.”

We asked Brett to provide some insight into why he has remained so strongly involved in NODA throughout his career and to share some highlights from the past decade.

“I continue my NODA involvement to not only give back to the Association that provides me with the knowledge that I need to contribute to the OTR programs on my campus, but also to gain skills through my volunteer work that will allow me to grow as a professional, administrator, and educator.”

How have your volunteer experiences enhanced your knowledge and skills as a professional?

“As a NODA volunteer, I have and continue to gain skills that enhance my daily work as a student affairs professional, administrator, and educator. Through my service as the 2015 Annual Conference Chair, I enhanced my ability to work volunteers across the nation, empowering and supporting each of them to accomplish the tasks embedded within each of their roles. As a member of the Board of Directors from 2010-2013, I grew in my ability to think strategically, a skill that has been invaluable within my campus role serving on institutional, divisional, and departmental strategic planning taskforces. Through each of my NODA volunteer leader experiences, I walk away with at least one "aha moment" from the knowledge and/or skills through the role that can and is applied to my daily work at my institution.”

Wow! In the midst of the craziness that fall brings and the quick coming and going of the holiday season, I cannot even believe that EOI 2017 even happened, let alone process that it is over! As we submit final invoices and synthesize assessment feedback, what I can tell you is that it was a fun, educational, challenging, and rewarding process at all stages of the planning process. It’s a lot to ask a school or program to drop a conference in the middle of their already crazy extended orientation schedules (EOI is immediately after NODAC and in the midst of staff selection and participant recruitment, for us at least) but what I can tell you is that it is totally feasible with a good team and intentional pre-planning!

Along the way there were bumps in the road, committee member life events, and lots of troubleshooting for things outside of your control; but there were also huge successes and what I hope and think made EOI 2017 so great, the opportunities we took to critically reflect on past EOI experiences and explore: What can we do better? How can we honor and celebrate the good work of extended orientation as a niche field in OTR? How can we recognize and encourage innovation? How can we make this experiences as beneficial as possible for so many people with so many diverse needs (and a very loose definition and interpretation of what “extended orientation” is)? How do you plan for the majority and minority programs in attendance?

Not a small feat whatsoever despite what people might think, but I hope that you can say, especially for those who have attended multiple Institutes, that those guiding questions were answered and implemented in some way, shape, or form – from new educational tracks, to awards and showcases, more down time for networking, stepping in to present to fill in gaps, emphasis on providing utility to new attendees, and keeping old EOI traditions intact. I am proud of the innovation, critical thought, and expansion that the 2017 conference provided and hope that we were able to provide you with a great experience and set up the next Hosts for success.

I would like to thank and congratulate both the EO Network Planning Team and the On-Campus Planning Team for their dedication, willingness to try new things, and intention behind building this experience. Always being a practical person at heart (as much as I appreciate pie in the sky folks), I wanted to provide a few tips and tricks, as well as insights and knowledge for those thinking about hosting the Extended Orientation Institute (or any other NODA institute / event) in the future! 

	View EOI Photos

Applying

• DO IT! You will not regret it!
• Think about what makes your school or program unique and how that can be used to bolster the program (tying in opportunities for people to see your campus and/or elements of your program that might be helpful for them to see and consider bringing back to their programs).
• Think about your location and its proximity to a major airport and access to shuttles if it's not in the same city.

Planning

• Think about the questions that we considered this year mentioned above.
• Know that you will not and cannot please everyone and meet everyone's individual needs - there are things that are out of your control and processes that have to happen that others will not know about. 
• With that said, try to cater to as many diverse audiences and program-types as possible!
• Leave plenty of buffer time in your planning schedule to facilitate processes - but also know that things come up and sometimes deadlines have to be extended.
• On that note, you don't control what people submit for educational content but do your best to be proactive in making sure that content is being submitted - this may require tapping individuals and suggesting specific topics. 
• As much as you can, adjust your personal calendar/workload to allow enough time to put into planning.
• Set clear expectations, communicate often, and hold other accountable.
• Be prepared for lots of individual emails with specific questions/circumstances.
• Trust and utilize the NODA Association Office. They are extremely talented, helpful, and committed to your success. 

At the event:

• Plan so that your only role is to troubleshoot.
• Have a good on-campus planning team with lots of volunteers!
• Things that are unanticipated or out of your control will happen no matter how much you plan. Roll with the punches and keep a light heart! If anyone understands that, it's orientation professionals and you are surrounded by them.
• Take moments to take it all in - it goes by REALLY quickly!

It was such a pleasure to get to serve NODA and celebrate the field of extended orientation in this special way!  My hope is that you would consider applying to host an Extended Orientation Institute or other event in the future! It will be one of the most rewarding professional experiences that you will have and, for those who may be hesitant, the support in doing so is second-to-none!

"Re'Shanda has been a longstanding outstanding member of the NODA community for a long time! I first met Re'Shanda in 2007 as a graduate student intern for the NODA Annual Conference in Dallas, and Re'Shanda was a member of the conference committee. During her work at the University of Texas-San Antonio, Re’Shanda developed an amazing orientation program that has been shared & modeled at institutions across the region & nation. This has included her Team Challenge & The Quest system, undergraduate & graduate student structure, staffing & training, and sociodrama presentations. She has continued this development of revamping & developing model traditional orientation, extended orientation, and a family weekend program at the University of Dayton. Her Family Weekend program at the University of Dayton has been routinely noted for its intentionality of inclusion. Re'Shanda has been commitment to the development of so many graduate students through her work as a NODA intern supervisor since the early 2000s. She makes each graduate student feel included and connected to the OTR field. In fact, when she was nominated for and received the 2015 NODA Region VII and NODA National Outstanding OTR Professional of the Year Award, her nomination packet included more than 10 nomination letters from past NODA Interns, many of whom identified as having a diverse background and felt included because of Re'Shanda. Re'Shanda is very deserving of this highlight. She has given back to the Association and made sure that inclusion has been highlighted through her work on multiple Annual Conference Committees (2007, 2010, and 2015), on the Graduate Student Network (she has served as the Doctoral Initiatives Coordinator and brought inclusion the population of doctoral students who have not been represented in GSN programming), on the National Board of Directors (from 2010-2013), and on Regional Conference Committees in both Region IV (her previous region prior to 2012) and in Region VII (her current region since 2012)." - From her nominator

Dr. Brett Bruner served as the HCI Director at Fort Hays State University since its inception in 2015. Summer 2016 saw the implementation of HCI at FHSU, bringing 82 rising high school juniors and seniors from across the states of Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma to the FHSU campus to spend 5 days and 4 nights engaging in the college experience with the ultimate goal to showcase to these students that they can and will attend an institution of postsecondary education.

The collaborative work to make a 5-day, 4-night experience for 82 rising high school juniors and seniors happen was truly a team effort. An executive steering committee met every other week for nearly one year to design the curriculum, recruit, select, and train FHSU small group student leaders, organize operations and logistics, develop marketing, promotional, and recruitment materials, speak to local organizations and high school counselors, cultivate and steward community donors, and integrate campus and community partnerships into the week’s schedule. Representation for this executive steering committee included a cross-section of staff members from the FHSU Division of Student Affairs. The commitment to HCI extended well beyond just the executive steering committee. Extended committee membership represented the commitment to supporting college-going Hispanic and Latino/a students through the HCI endeavor.

HCI at Fort Hays State University provided an incredible opportunity to partner with the entire campus community, including the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; the College of Business & Entrepreneurship; the College of Education; the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences; and the College of Science, Technology and Mathematics to engage Latino/a students in an opportunity to explore possibilities that, student participants initially described in their HCI pre-program surveys, as previously unimaginable.  Faculty and staff members volunteered their time throughout the program, including beyond normal business hours, to educate students about numerous opportunities through sessions including the following:

• App Programming: Build your App!
• Applying to College
• Arduino Programming
• Aqui Estamos
• Chemistry of Cooking
• Communicating Through Science
• Financing College
• Foundations for Success
• Getting Involved When You Become a College Student
• How to Build a Roller Coaster
• Principles of Entrepreneurship
• Public Speaking 101
• Storm Chasing Science
• UAVs, Drones, & You
• Understanding & Using Social Media
• Understanding the ACT

The beauty of the HCI program, even in its inaugural year, was the holistic support of the FHSU campus community in supporting the student participants throughout the program.  Over 100 faculty, staff, and community members (both locally and across the state) volunteered their time throughout the week, through judging preliminary and final student talent and Issues to Action competitions, sharing their stories at the Hispanic Stars roundtable discussions with student participants, and welcoming parents, family members, and siblings to the Closing Brunch & Ceremony on Day 5 of the program.  Twenty-two current FHSU undergraduate students volunteered their time throughout the week to mentor and a lead a small group of 8 students each through the familia component of the program.

Assessment of the program revealed so many strengths from the inaugural year of this new program!  Faculty members of the 30 academic departments identified that these student participants were the most engaged group of students that they had ever encountered, especially during the Major Resource Fair on the afternoon of Day 2 of the program.  Student participants were asking questions and meaningfully exploring various career options in each of the 30 academic departments represented!

Responses from the 82 student participants were perhaps most valuable and indicative of how participating in HCI influenced their college path.  Prior to arriving at HCI, only 69% of the student participants considered themselves likely to attend college.  However, after attending HCI, 86% of student participants considered themselves likely to attend college (the ultimate goal of HCI)!  In addition, students identified the three most important things they learned from the program included (in ranking order): 

1. Self-confidence in their own strengths, talents, abilities, and goals
2. Taking pride in being a Latino/a student with the goal of attending college
3. The important role of family in the undergraduate college experience 

At an institution with high focus on shifting from a culture of student retention to a culture of student completion and achievement, the Hispanic College Institute has been invaluable in providing student assistance & outreach to incoming students, assisting in their personal and professional exploration of the college environment and possibilities that may have previously seem unimaginable (in their own words). The HCI was able to mobilize faculty, staff, and students from across campus, breaking down any previously established functional silos, to design and deliver an unparalleled student experiences for these 82 students from across 5 states. The Institute has already set a lasting impression on the focus and care of rising high school juniors and seniors. 

To learn more about the HCI, please visit the program's webpage or contact Brett Bruner. 

At each orientation session, Miami University students are introduced to the university's Code of Love and Honor, which outlines values of respect and inclusivity as central to the Miami experience. Orientation leaders create and present a brief vignette about these values, and new students watch this brief video featuring international students reading the Code of Love and Honor in their native languages:

I am Miami.

I believe...
that a liberal education is grounded in qualities of character and intellect.

I stand...
for honesty, integrity, and the importance of moral conduct.

I respect...
the dignity, rights, and property of others and their right to hold and express disparate beliefs.

I defend...
the freedom of inquiry that is the heart of learning.

I exercise...
good judgment and believe in personal responsibility.

I welcome...
a diversity of people, ideas, and experiences. 

I embrace...
the spirit, academic rigor, opportunities, and challenges of a Miami Experience, preparing me to make the world a better place.

I demonstrate...
Love and Honor by supporting and caring for my fellow Miamians. 

And because I Am Miami,

I act...
through my words and deeds in ways that reflect these values and beliefs. 

With a deep sense of accomplishment and gratitude,

I will...
Love, Honor, and make proud those who help me earn the joy and privilege of saying,

"To think that in such a place, I led such a life."

As they discuss the idea of “community” during this session, they point out that being a member of the university community revolves around being open to living with (and learning from) others who are different than yourself and showing others the same level of respect that you expect in return. They make a point of telling the audience at this point that FGCU is a place “Where Respect Happens" as a they tie up this particular aspect of the discussion.

Through pre and post surveys, the staff were thrilled to see that by the end students could not only articulate what they learned about their own identities but also their understanding of their responsibility as community members to foster respect for diversity. Here are some comments from the 2016-2017 participants after the activity: 

• "I don't feel that alone. Now I know there are a lot of people who are the same as me."
• "People (including myself) will think twice about jumping to conclusions or making rude or offensive remarks. We need to be looking out for others."
• "Being respectful to all groups of people opens you up to a great variety of cultures and histories."
• "We have to be accepting of all people because they are not as different as you think."
• "We are all different and unique. Our school is very diverse and it's hard to believe how much in common we all have as a group."

After the program, participants reported feeling more comfortable engaging with difference. They also reported an increased understanding of how culture shapes behavior and an increased desire to participate in international engagement programs. Given the year-long pilot's success, coordinators plan to involve additional chapters in future semesters and add components beyond the two-hour facilitation, such as service learning and group meals. "International Conversations" was named NODA Region V Innovative Program this year.