First, a brief response to your latter query: It is my understanding that, historically, one of the major reasons why FYE courses came into existence stemmed from the fact that student development professionals conducting traditional 1-2 day freshman orientation programs came to the realization that they were overwhelming or overloading new students with information before the onset of their first semester, and that much of the information they were delivering was not immediately relevant to new students, but would be relevant eventually at later points during the first term. Thus, they decided to �extend� the content of new-student orientation into the first semester, and deliver it in the form of a course (freshman seminar or "extended-orientation" course).
This historical development of the extended-orientation course underscores the importance of delivering information to new students in a time-sensitive manner, suggesting that an effective new-student orientation seminar (or an effective new-student orientation program) should be designed with attention not only on what content will be covered, but also on when that content will be covered.
In addition to the issues of content sequence, the timing of content coverage (during the term) is also a critical issue, because the effectiveness or impact of an extended-orientation experience depends not only on what is covered and in what order, but also on when it is covered. Students will be more receptive to and influenced by information that is delivered at a time when it�s most relevant to what students are currently experiencing, dwelling on, or ?stressing? over. Simply stated, students are more motivated to learn about concepts that are timely and immediately applicable to their current interests and concerns. (Just for the biological record, they are also more likely to comprehend and retain timely-delivered concepts because the heightened interest they generate also tends to generate higher bodily production of adrenaline, a neurohormone that is known to facilitate long-term memory storage in the brain.)
For instance, the topics study strategies of test-taking skills might be intentionally covered at about the midpoint of the first term, in an attempt to have it coincide with midterm-exam week,so that students would be more likely to appreciate the value of these strategies and more willing to put them to use in preparation for midterm exams. Similarly, stress management might be introduced around the midpoint of the term because student stress is likely to peak at or around midterm?a phenomenon sometimes referred to as the ?midterm crunch? or ?midterm slump.?
Again, the goal is to address college-adjustment issues and solution strategies at or near the time students actually experience them during their critical first term in college, so as to highlight the immediate relevance of the message, and to motivate students to take that message seriously and to practice it earnestly.
Here's a more lengthy (long-winded) response to your request for information on integration rituals.
New-student integration rituals in American higher education are typically referred to as "convocation" ceremonies, which often involve a formal assembly of the college community who come together for the purposes of (a) welcoming, (b) recognizing, (c) celebrating, and (d) inducting the freshman class, the newest members of the college community. Typically, at this event, new students hear presentations from campus leaders that articulate the college mission and expectations. Students then proceed to a dais where they are greeted individually by representatives of the institution, receive a welcoming gift from the college, and sign their name on a scroll or register, thus reenacting the medieval university practice of having students sign a �martricula�, a roll or register which documented new students? incorporation enrollment in the university's community of learners (Boyer, 1987). Actually, the term ?convocation? just refers to an assembly of a group of people for a meeting, so it really doesn't capture the purpose or spirit of a new-student welcoming and initiation or induction experience. If I had my way (which I rarely do), I think I'd call it "matriculation," or, "matriculation ceremony.? My preference derives from the work of the late Ernest Boyer who reports in his book, College: The Undergraduate Experience in America, that, "The term 'matriculation' has largely disappeared from the vocabulary of the modern American college, and with it the sense of a student's formal installation into a learning community. The 'matricula' was a list or register of persons belonging to a society or order. To matriculate is to incorporate someone into a society or body of persons by insertion of his name in a register" (1987, p. 43).
Some might argue that the term matriculation or matriculation ceremony would be confusing because matriculation has often become synonymous with course �registration� or �enrollment� in American higher education. If this is the case, then my secondary suggestion would be to call it ?new-student induction? or a ?new-student induction ceremony? (or, the word "college" could be added to the mix and it could be called a "college induction" or "college induction ceremony"). This recommendation is consistent with the work of George Kuh et al., who report in their book, Involving Colleges: "Induction activities at Involving Colleges focus on introducing students to the importance of, and opportunities for, group membership" (1991, p. 324).
Whether the event be called convocation, matriculation, or induction, it is a formal ceremony at which faculty usually don full academic regalia, wearing caps and gowns during convocation, as they would for the graduating class. Thus, the event serves as a complementary ?bookend? to the senior graduation experience; both are celebrative ceremonies signifying a commencement, a fresh start or beginning. Just as seniors experience a special event to which only their class is invited and honored, so too are freshmen selectively invited to an event especially held in their honor, which is experienced at a time when no other classes of students are on campus and when all campus resources are devoted exclusively to them. Similar to graduation, parents and family members are invited to attend, and are likely to do so because they perceive it as a formal, celebratory event at which their student is recognized and honored.
Institutions with freshman class sizes ranging from 400 to over 3,000 conduct convocation ceremonies that are attended by the vast majority of their entering class. Integrating convocation into new-student orientation can benefit the institution, building partnerships between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs because both of these divisions become involved in the planning and execution of the event. Also, by infusing a formal academic element into the new-student orientation program that involves a total community experience, it can serve as an effective complement to the more informal, socially oriented aspects of the orientation program which typically involve small-group experiences (for example, small-group icebreakers and other peer-bonding experiences).
Furthermore, if convocation is offered as the first component of the college's new-student orientation program, it has the potential of exerting a very positive and powerful first impression on beginning students because it implements a number of key principles that are known to foster student involvement, commitment, and retention. (a) It implements the principle of �front loading�,reallocation of institutional resources to the front of the college experience, so they reach those students who need it the most and for whom those resources should have the greatest long-term impact (National Institute of Education, 1984). (b) It is a community-building ritual that promotes student identification with the institution (Kuh, Schuh, Whitt, & Associates, 1991). (c) It is a meaningful rite of passage that elevates students? sense of belonging and incorporation into a new community (Tinto, 1993 ). (d) It serves to make new students feel less marginalized and more significant, that they ?matter? (Schlossberg, Lynch, & Chickering, 1989), and provides an important �validation� experience for underrepresented students for whom the transition to college is not a normal rite of passage (Rendon, 1994).
Richard Light (2001) conducted extensive interviews with college students for the purpose of assessing the impact of different undergraduate experiences on student development. One college senior�s comments on ideas presented to him during convocation provide a poignant illustration of the potential power of this event: ?I remember them because those ideas were presented to all of us so soon as new students, with all of us a bit nervous, all eager to do well, all eager to meet new people. It was one thing we all had in common, we had all heard the same welcoming presentation. The main thing is that it set a tone. I think hitting us right out of the gate, when we first arrived, was critical and a good idea? (p. 205)
At my college, convocation probably ranks as our most successful programmatic effort. It has brought with it the following advantages. (a) It has infused an academic flavor into our orientation program and, in the process, unified Academic Affairs and Student Affairs--by getting both of these divisions involved in the planning and execution of the event. (b) It has stimulated the attendance of students? parents and family members--because they perceive it as a celebrative ceremony at which their son/daughter/spouse is recognized and acknowledged (akin to family attendance at a graduation ceremony). (c) It has complemented the informal aspects of our orientation program, which typically involve small-group experiences (e.g., icebreakers and other peer-bonding socialization experiences), balancing them with a formal, whole-class (total community) experience.
Listed below is a definition and description of our convocation program. (Much of this information is shared with students? families via a direct summer mailing that is designed to stimulate their interest in, and attendance at the event.)
CONVOCATION AT MARYMOUNT
Convocation is a formal assembly of college faculty and administrators who convene for the purposes of (a) welcoming, (b) recognizing, (c) celebrating, and (d) inducting the freshman class--our newest members of the college community.
Students are required to attend convocation, as the first component of our required new-student orientation program--which takes places during the two days immediately preceding the start of classes. (Note: Originally, we held convocation during the first or second week of the semester, but when offered at that time, it tended to be perceived as an aberration or interruption of college, rather than an introduction and induction to college.)
We have excellent attendance at convocation because it is nested within our required orientation program, and attendance for the two-day orientation program is excellent because it is conducted as a required component of a graded, credit-bearing course required of all entering students?our Freshman Seminar, a.k.a., The Art of Being Human. (Student attendance at orientation events is taken in the form of a ?passport? on which all required events are listed in boxes, and student attendance at these events are validated with an inked stamp issued by the student?s Orientation Week Leader [OWL]. This student attendance info, along with several ?minute papers? or reaction papers completed by students in response to certain orientation experiences, are routed to the student?s freshman seminar instructor who records this info in the class grade book and credits it toward students? course grade]).
Students? parents and family members are strongly encouraged to attend convocation via a summer mailing that include a description of what convocation is, and why it is important.
Convocation is held outdoors, with speakers and luminaries seated on a slightly elevated stage that is flanked on both sides by chairs in which faculty sit. Students sit facing the stage, in a specially designated section of chairs closest to the stage, while their family members sit in a separate section behind them.
Because it is a formal ceremony, the college faculty don full academic regalia, wearing caps and gowns as they would for the graduating class. Information about the meaning and purpose of academic apparel is contained in the event program received by students and their parents just before the ceremony begins. (For example, info is included in the program about the history of academic apparel, the fields of learning represented by hood border colors, the significance of sleeve size, cap shape, and the tassels? colors.)
The convocation ceremony is 45-minute long (+ or -), and includes the following components or sequential steps:
1. After students and their family members are ushered in and seated, convocation begins with a procession led by Trustee members and high-level administrators, followed by faculty and student service professionals. (?Pomp & circumstance?
music is played in the background during this procession.)
2. Campus chaplain delivers an invocation.
3. Director of the Board of Trustees issues a brief welcoming statement.
4. Student body president delivers a short welcoming speech.
5. Faculty recipient of the ?educator of the year? award addresses students and their family members.
6. Scholarships are awarded to entering students and a faculty-funded scholarship is awarded to a returning sophomore, which is based on outstanding academic performance during the freshman year.
7. Procession of all new students to the stage in three lines (for time-conservation purposes) where they are greeted with a handshake by either the College President, Academic Dean, or Dean of Student Life (depending on which one of the three lines they occupy). While new students march forward to sign the register, processional music is played in the background, and the names of all the home states and countries represented in this year's freshman class are announced by the Associate
Dean of Academic Affairs.
8. Immediately after being greeted, students sign their name on a scroll or register, signifying their incorporation or matriculation into the college's community of learners.
9. Immediately after signing the register, each student receives a welcoming gift from the college?as a symbol of gratitude for choosing our college (e.g., students keep the college pen with which they have signed the register).
10. The college president ends the ceremony by delivering a short speech or series of closing remarks.
Following the formal ceremony, an informal reception is held for new students and their parents, where they can meet and socialize with college administrators, faculty, and key student support professionals.
- Joe Cuseo
References Cited
Boyer, E. L. (1987). College: The undergraduate experience in American. New York: Harper & Row.
Kuh, Schuh, Whitt, & Associates (1991). Involving colleges. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Light, R. J. (2001). Making the most of college: Students speak their minds. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
National Institute of Education (1984). Involvement in learning. Study Group on the Condition of Excellence in Higher Education. Washington, DC: Author.
Rendon, L. I. (1994). Validating culturally diverse students: Toward a new model of learning and student development. Innovative Higher Education, 19(1), 23-32.
Schlossberg, Lynch, & Chickering (1989). Improving higher education environments for adults: Responsive programs and services from entry to departure. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures for student attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
� 1999 [email protected]