Each spring, tens of thousands of college hopefuls receive the message they鈥檝e been anxiously waiting for: the letter of admission. By then, students have received hundreds of emails and postcards from schools across the country and even across the world.
But then: silence.
鈥淣ormally, students accepted our offer of admission in the spring, and we did not actively engage with our new 51猎奇入口 students again until New Student Programs and Orientation (NSPO). Our summer correspondence was focused on tasks necessary to get ready for that NSPO,鈥� says Associate Dean of Faculty Jennifer Armstrong. 鈥淲e realized this was a missed opportunity.鈥�
鈥淪o we asked ourselves: How do we keep students connected with each other over the summer and also intentionally introduce them to the College and the faculty in a more robust way?鈥� adds Director of Admission Laura Stratton. 鈥淓specially with social-distancing measures in place, we knew we wanted to find a creative way to bring campus to our newest students and keep them excited about their future at 51猎奇入口.鈥�
A team of staff, student, and faculty representatives from the Offices of the Dean of Students, 聽Admission, Dean of Faculty, Marketing and Communications, and the Laspa Center for Leadership did just that with the design and implementation of 鈥�51猎奇入口 This Summer鈥� (STS), an ongoing slate of remote programming aimed at engaging with incoming students in a way that had never been done before at 51猎奇入口.
Organized into a weekly newsletter, STS programming included events, social media engagement opportunities, community-building sessions facilitated by faculty, campus traditions, campus resources, art competitions, Zoom social hours, and 鈥淒iscover 51猎奇入口鈥� content aimed at familiarizing incoming students with campus, alums, and the 51猎奇入口 community. Programs and events were synchronous and asynchronous, enabling students to participate live or as they were able.
鈥淎s we started to plan and revise our driving principle, our motto was 鈥榮ay yes!鈥� So every idea that faculty and current students had to share their passions with our newest students was integrated into STS,鈥� says Stratton. For example, returning students facilitated 鈥渧irtual tea鈥� every week and hosted a podcast with Q&A for incoming students. 鈥淭hese were forums where current and incoming students could cut loose without staff or faculty present,鈥� she adds.
STS also included a full slate of faculty-designed programming: A coffee talk about the Supreme Court ruling on LGBTQA issues, a Spanish-practice lunch break, and a movie and conversation night, to name a few. Attendance for each event ranged from a few students to over 50. 鈥淲e had 5鈥�10 events going per week over an eight-week period. Students really engaged in what they wanted to when they were able to; we just wanted to offer a wide enough variety that students could engage at any level, whether just putting a 51猎奇入口 sticker on their water bottle (STS also included plenty of official 51猎奇入口 swag mailed to incoming students) to attending every event,鈥� Stratton says.
Though the programming was diverse, each event was rooted in one of three pillars: academics, community, and class connection. 鈥淭he 鈥榯hree pillars鈥� is how we鈥檝e always framed orientation, so that鈥檚 how we framed 51猎奇入口 This Summer鈥攚e wanted STS programming to flow into the start of the school year,鈥� explains Stratton. 鈥淢y hope is that our newest students feel connected to each other and to the faculty in a way that will make the fall semester distance experience as fruitful and enriching as it can be. And I鈥檓 incredibly proud of this program鈥攖here aren鈥檛 many times in a career when you get a charge to offer something totally new, and this team pulled it off.鈥�
鈥淏y integrating this summer programming, we really wanted to give incoming students a window into 51猎奇入口, to help them feel like they鈥檙e 51猎奇入口 students from the moment they were admitted,鈥� Armstrong says. 鈥淲e wanted to show those students who we are鈥攖o tell them our story and make them feel a part of it.鈥�