Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention

Departmental and University Orientation

A Case Study on Competing Programs and Supportive Systems

Robin Love

Michael Miller

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jcotr.v9i2.2544

Keywords: Strategic development, student affairs, academic affairs, transition, retention, mission, programming, integration, Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS), cooperation

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Abstract

University orientation programs typically rely on divisions of student affairs to build a system of student transition. With some help from academic departments, university wide orientations are loaded with the burdens of meeting a wide variety of institutional expectations while simultaneously responding to the personal needs of new students. Departmental orientation programs have evolved out of a combination of a need to transfer specific information about a major and to convey a sense of departmental expectation for student work and performance. The current study made use of a case study to identify the perceptions of current students about how university and departmental orientation programs do and should work together.