University of Colorado Colorado Springs
EN-2: Student Orientation

The Office of Sustainability staff attended 100% of the freshmen, transfer, and graduate student orientations. At the freshmen orientations, we presented at all lunches (see attached PowerPoint and presentation outline) along with hosted a table at the resource fair. For the transfer orientations, there were no lunches, so we hosted a table at the resource fair. For the graduate students, we hosted a table and gave a short presentation. All of the presentations focused on current students and recent alumni and the ways they engaged with sustainability at UCCS. The Director of Orientation always emphasizes sustainability as a value at UCCS and has integrated all Orientation documents into the app instead of printing. We encourage our student employees to gain public speaking skills, so majority of these presentations were given by undergraduate students.

Due to COVID-19 impacts, Orientation revised their methods of engagement from in-person to online from April 2020-present. Students and their families were provided access to a Canvas module that included information and support from departments across campus. Orientation staff also saw the need for more, one-on-one conversations with incoming transfer and freshmen students; they provided times each day that our Orientation Welcome Leaders (OWLs) were available to meet virtually with each student to walk them through their resources and assist in any questions they might have. This connection changed responses from students from anxious to excited; Orientation staff collected this data via a student survey pre and post orientation. The Office of Sustainability created content including a video from current student employees that was posted in the module under “Student Resources”. As part of their virtual orientation, students and their families browsed the module to learn more about each section. From April-August 2020, the Sustainability video had over 1,700 views. For the upcoming orientation, the video was revised and re-uploaded. We anticipate a slightly lower number of views due to decreased enrollment and the option to meet one-on-one with an OWL with the resources as a voluntary option.

Total attendees at orientation from 2018-2020:
Spring 2018
Parents | 304
Students | 791

Summer/Fall 2018
Parents | 3,218
Students | 3,630

Spring 2019
Parents | 290
Students | 697

Summer/Fall 2019
Parents | 2,913
Students | 3,182

Spring 2020
Parents | 250
Students | 720

Summer/Fall 2020
Parents | Unable to accurately discern with online delivery
Students | 3,040