We know many campuses are considering how to offer a virtual experience for their upcoming summer or fall orientation sessions. We've put together the following recommendations and step-by-step instructions on how to use Engage to connect your students with resources and information. Please reach out to your consultant for more information and guidance on using Engage for your orientation!
Step-by-Step
- Import all new students into Engage
- Create organization: Summer Orientation 2020
- Alternate: Create Orientation Pages for distinct groups – major, residence , transfer, athlete, etc.
- Involvement Import: Add orientation students to SO2020 org
- Optional: Use Position Templates to designate any distinctions within the group – major, residence, transfer, etc.
- Create a Position Template for Orientation Leaders to distinguish them from students
- Communicate with students about orientation organization(s)
- Options
- Share News Post with organization members
- Organization messaging (can message specific Positions if needed)
- Send users link to Engage site home page (beneficial if you want to introduce them to other elements of the system)
- Send users link to Summer Orientation 2020 organization page (URL at top of page)
- Use Organization page to interact and communicate with group throughout summer
- Organization functionality:
- Messaging to all members or subset of members – mail relay using personal email for formatting
- News posts – can include embedded videos, links to forms, checklists, etc.
- Organization Only events – highlight events they are required to attend. Events can include virtual locations and allow students to RSVP.
- Forms & Documents available to organization members
- Embedded videos in Organization Profile
- Organization polling (elections)
- Organization discussion wall
- Organization functionality:
- Options
Additional Recommendations
- Create recurring organization events to bring students together at key points over the weekend, week, summer, etc.
- Embed videos into forms to guide students through specific trainings (like this example from University of South Carolina)
- Use Event Categories if students have options for events/trainings they can attend so they can search for specific events within a given category
- Use Self-Report attendance URL or attendance imports to track participation
- Use alerts to help students navigate to important campus information
Next Steps
- Don't forget our Keeping Your Students Connected with Each Other and Resources article with tips on managing organizations remotely
- Learn more about using Co-Curricular Paths for your orientation
- Get in touch with your consultant for more information and guidance on using Engage