Southern Illinois University Carbondale
EN-2: Student Orientation

At SIU, orientation activities and programming available to entering students include: New Student Orientations (NSOs), Saluki Startup (weekend before classes start/move-in), and Weeks of Welcome (WOW). This description has been divided into 3 sections:
1. Undergraduate New Student Orientations
2. Graduate New Student Orientation
3. Incoming student programming

1. Undergraduate New Student Orientations:
-First year freshman and transfer students are the main populations targeted with marketing for NSOs. (However, if graduate students contact the New Student Programs office, they are also welcome to attend any NSO.)
-A sustainability tent and/or table is set up during every NSO, which provides students the opportunity to interact with SIU Sustainability team members and information such as: Saluki Green Action Team participation, EcoReps, Student Green Fund grant program, recycling basics, composting through a video presentation, Sustainability Fellows program and other opportunities to get involved.

2. Graduate New Student Orientations:
The Graduate School offers a Meet & Greet event for new graduate students which can be categorized as an orientation. We are being invited going forward, but have not yet been included in this new event. It is worth noting, however, that all incoming graduate students are welcome to participate in the robust New Student Orientations offered by New Student Programs and can register by contacting the New Student Programs Office directly.

3. Incoming student programming (open to all undergraduate and graduate students)
-During Saluki Startup (a weekend before classes start which gives new students an opportunity to engage with one another) and Weeks of Welcome, students take part in campus activities, and learn the culture of the institution. Programming is encouraged and promoted to all student populations (first time freshman, transfer, graduate students, etc.).
Sustainability is highlighted at 'Light up the Lake' and the Watermelon Fest. Light up the Lake is the main event for first year students the first night they arrive on campus. Sustainability is designated a spot in one of the most prominent location of the event. Here students sign up to join the Saluki Green Action Team, receive reusable water bottles, choose from sustainable-action sticker prompts for their bottles, then fill their re-usable water bottles, all while interacting with Sustainability staff and volunteers. At Watermelon Fest, the University collects all food waste from the event for our compost facility and had a table set up providing sustainability and composting information. During the last 2 summer orientation seasons, New Student Programs embraced the use of the Water Dawg event water bottle refill station and included reminders in event marketing information for participants to bring their re-usable water bottles. An example of one of the many marketing materials (flyers, posters, napkin holder inserts, tri-folds) which contained this message is uploaded below).

https://nsp.siu.edu/
http://salukistartup.siu.edu/
https://wow.siu.edu/
https://sustainability.siu.edu/participate/zero-waste-events.php
https://wow.siu.edu/_common/documents/watermelon-fest-2019.pdf

The percentage calculated above came from the total new students who started at SIU in fall 2019, both full- and part-time:
-undergraduate: 1037
-graduate: 879
-the total number of new students: 1916
1037/1916 = 54.12%
Even though graduate students are invited to (and marketed to) to attend Saluki Startup and WOW programming, we did not feel it is yet appropriate to include them in the above calculated percentage, since sustainability has not been present at their orientation. We look forward to that changing soon!

Data source: https://irs.siu.edu/interactive-factbook/students/full-part-time-enrollment.php
*The 879 number is from the factbook and includes SIU Graduate School students(812 reported from the Graduate School for fall 2019) and the School of Medicine students who spend their first year at SIU Carbondale.