A Collaborative and Integrated International Student Orientation Experience

International educators and new student orientation professionals each bring unique strengths to the table, but how can and should these two units collaborate to support the international student orientation experience? This session will utilize a qualitative case study to examine how two different units (International Education and New Student Orientation), sometimes housed within two different divisions of an institution, can design and implement an integrative orientation experience for international students through programming, domestic student staff, and more.

New student orientation programs are a common element found on the campuses of almost every higher education institution across the nation and even sometimes abroad. Such programs may vary in length from a few hours to a multi-day event. Institutions may choose to design their new student orientation program to focus on the general student or customize it for a specific student population; such populations might be the first-year student, the transfer student, the post-traditional student, or a student micro-community, such as veterans, academically underprepared students, students from underrepresented populations, first-generation students, or international students.

The following case study will analyze how Fort Hays State University’s Student Life and Enrollment Management Clusters within its Division of Student Affairs encountered a collaboration dilemma within the past three years regarding the international student orientation experience. Historical background information will be provided to give the audience with a clear understanding of both the Office of Transition & Student Conduct as well as the Office of International Student Services.

The essential issues of the collaboration problem will be identified as well as the outcomes derived both at present as well as the collaborative vision for the future. Examples will include core competencies, strengths, and areas of growth of international educators and new student orientation, transition, and retention professionals; academic and social transition programming coordinated by both units; and the development, implementation, and assessment of a new international welcome leader student staff position coordinated by both units.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of participating in this educational session, participants will:

• compare and contrast the core competencies of international educators and new student orientation professionals;
• describe the core programming components of orientation programs utilizing the CAS Standards for Orientation Programs;
• articulate the primary requirements of one institution’s domestic student staff supporting the international student orientation program; and
• identify two strategies to collaborate between an international education office and a new student orientation office to improve the international student orientation experience.