The time between when a student chooses to attend the University and when that student first attends a college class is an important time for the University to educate the student about college life. That process will no longer be the job of two departments.
The recruitment process was previously handled by the Office of Enrollment Management. Once a student completed the necessary steps to enroll, LSU First Year Experience provided introductory events such as Freshman Orientation, Spring Invitational and STRIPES. With the recent changes, all events will be managed by a single department within the Office of Academic Affairs.
With this change, the University hopes there will be no transition and that more communication will lead to a much smoother orientation and registration process. Executive Director of Communications and External Relations in the Office of Academic Affairs Heather Herman said the move was made based on feedback from previous orientation sessions.
“What we have decided to do is combine on-campus tours, orientation and the visitor center into one unit,” Herman said. “[We want to] focus on that student experience and [make] sure that each student feels special and that LSU is the absolute right choice for them and the best place that they can be.”
Herman said a task force had been assigned to gauge opinions of parents and students experiencing the recruitment and orientation process during past sessions. She said there was a bit of a disconnect in the transition from enrollment to orientation and that disconnect was something the new department hoped to eliminate.
“You come in as a prospective student, you come on campus for a tour, you roll right into a pre-orientation, you go to your orientation experience over the summer, and you have no idea that there was any change from one office to the other,” Herman said. “That’s our goal.”
One of the more notable changes will be the implementation of single-day orientations during the summer. In the past, orientation was a two-day event with nine sessions to choose from. There will now be 17 single-day sessions that incoming freshmen can choose to attend. The University will provide an online pre-orientation process to ensure students are still provided with all of the necessary information.
“You’re still going to be able to stay on campus the night of your orientation and get that college experience. We’re going to cover the most important things that you need to know during the day session,” Herman said. “We’re gonna use the internet and technology to retool our campus tours and make sure you get the other [information] in a more fun format.”
Along with reducing the number of sessions, the University will also reduce the maximum number of students allowed to sign up for each session from 600 to 300. This will allow the students in each session to spend a greater amount of time with their individual colleges. The University hopes this more personal experience will help incoming freshmen learn more about the colleges they wish to join and meet more helpful people within each department.
The department is still in transition to its new format, but it has already begun working to ensure the success of the Class of 2021. With Spring Invitational approaching at the end of March and Freshman orientation beginning in June, the Office of Academic Affairs is working to provide for the newest students.