ROAR orientation turns virtual

ROAR Orientation is one of WSU Vancouver’s largest events of the year. Meant to insinuate feelings of excitement and anticipation before classes begin, the university’s staple event will be met with new challenges as it transitions online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We decided pretty early on, back in the spring, we would go ahead and move the program online,” said Caitlyn Schock, the new student ambassador coordinator who oversees and organizes ROAR Orientation. 

With the new implementations of ROAR, all incoming freshmen or transfer students will have received an email invitation to accept their enrollment into the orientation hosted on Canvas. Schock explained once they have accepted the invitation, they are given two weeks to complete a set of orientation modules. 

“We developed online modules, and they cover basically the same information that we discuss at orientation, [such as] financial aid, getting involved and how to put your course schedule together,” Schock said. 

Schock explains the challenge is getting an authentic personal connection with students. She feels students lack connection with WSU Vancouver unless they are coming to campus and working with the orientation staff in person. Schock added, to help students get familiar with their new campus, WSU Vancouver is planning online live interest sessions, which will give students a chance to speak to faculty, staff and other students.

“This is all over Zoom, but we will be offering drop-in sessions on advising, or if you are having any trouble finishing the course load. There will also be sessions available to veterans in case any veterans have questions about their GI Bill. [Additionally], there will be one about getting involved on campus.” 

She explained though some students have managed to already complete their online orientation, she has not had the chance to gather feedback from students on how they felt about ROAR orientation. Although she is hopeful the next round of orientations will be conducted in person, she said she also sees the benefits of keeping some of the online aspects to it. 

“Even before coronavirus, we had talked about how we wanted to have more of an online component to ROAR, there are certain topics that are probably easier to consume just via online,” Schock said.

For first time college students, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor Thabiti Lewis and Director of Student Equity and Outreach Felix Braffith worked over the summer on revising a university-wide course titled First-Year Success Seminar. Braffith and Lewis established the class to help incoming freshmen with networking and acquainting themselves with the university. 

“Our theme for the first year is ‘This Is Me’ and the common read book given to first year students is, ‘Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture & Identity’ by Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi.  This is a compelling book about growth, identity and development and aligns well with the VanCoug Journey mantra, which is, ‘Navigate, Discover, Become,’”  Lewis said. 

Academic Coordinator Katrina Choi explained working with students remotely has brought on some challenges such as a need for more prep work prior to an appointment and following up to be sure students are prepared as best as they can be.  

“New students seem most concerned with understanding how their coursework will be delivered since we’re doing a combination of online and synchronous remote instruction,” said Choi. 

While Zoom appointments have certainly been a challenge for incoming students, Choi highlighted the benefits that come from the transitions of in-person meetings to online. 

“The benefit to this shift is students have all information discussed in their inboxes and can reference it in the future. There’s no perfect replacement for face to face meetings but conducting appointments through Zoom allows us to replicate it as best as possible,” Choi said. 

Ultimately, Schock said the goal for Roar Orientation every year is to try and make sure new students are familiar with the resources they have, in order to make their time spent on campus the most engaging experience it can be. While COVID-19 has certainly challenged Schock to learn on the fly, she hopes this new normal can lead to building a better atmosphere for students during future orientations down the road.

“There is a lot of sitting and listening in orientation and I know we will never fully get away from that, but maybe we can move some of those less fun ones online? That is what I would like to focus on [with future ROAR Orientations]. Getting people to get to know each other and just see the campus,” Schock said. 

For more information about online campus resources, visit the Student Resource Center homepage and for information on WSU Vancouver’s upcoming events, visit WSU Vancouver’s event calendar here.