Emporia State’s next cohort of incoming freshmen and transfer students will encounter a new system of enrollment and orientation. This summer, ESU’s Student Success team will implement the first round of Hornet Orientation, a process designed to streamline matriculation and maximize new students’ connection to the Emporia community before school starts.
According to Hannah Hearld, ESU’s executive director of Student Success, the restructuring is built around the division of enrollment and orientation into two separate processes. The previous system required attendance at Hornet Connection, a day-long event in which incoming students would enroll and learn about the campus and the surrounding community. This new system requires that students enroll in classes during individual sessions with academic advisors using the student scheduling app Navigate. Once they are enrolled, students and their guests will attend one of five orientation sessions throughout the summer.
“This reimagined system is designed to provide exceptional support to both students and their families as they join Emporia State University,” explained Vice President of Student Success Taylor Kriley. “By focusing on meaningful interactions with academic advisors and fostering a supportive environment, we’re setting students up for success.”
After checking in, orientation begins at a “browsing fair” where the university departments, student organizations and other resources provide information on their contributions to the campus. Attendees will be welcomed and then split into groups representing the students’ school of interest. A representative of each school will present their building, programs and points of interest about the field. Groups will then rotate through informational sessions on various topics including residential living, student organizations, financial aid, paying for tuition and campus engagement.
Students and their guests will be split during one session. While the students learn about community initiatives and the welcome week schedule, their guests will discuss campus safety and the Hornet Textbook Bundle, among other topics. This information will be shared more explicitly with students during their welcome week informational sessions and floor meetings. Hearld explains that the information is distributed this way to strategically avoid “inundating students” with details.
Another addition to the orientation schedule is time for new ESU residents to view their own room. While campus tours allow potential students to see a showroom in the residential halls, new students will get to examine their own room during orientation.
“Showrooms are typically what our our main residential life spaces look like,” said Hearld, “but for a student and family to see what their actual room is going to be when they move in, I think it’s just an awesome way that they can even visualize like, ‘Okay, what can I bring, what will fit in my space,’ and help streamline the actual move in process.”
The new enrollment and orientation system is partly intended to reduce “summer melt,” referring to the phenomenon in which students being recruited to universities fail to complete the enrollment and orientation process. Potential students may decide to change their career path, address pressing situations or attend a different school. According to Hearld, Hornet Orientation aims to make it easier than ever to become an ESU student.
“What we really intend to do with this program is onboard them so well that they’re confident in their decision and coming to ESU,” she commented, “because they’ve had that quality initial time with their academic advisor to talk through not only what they’re going to be taking in their first semester here at ESU, but planning future forward and what that might look like as they complete their degree here with us at ESU.”
All new ESU students are required to attend one of the five Hornet orientations held over the summer. The sessions are free, and the students will be entered into a drawing for a scholarship upon attending orientation.
