The Orientation Leader Academy is a semester-long training course that prepares Orientation Leaders to welcome new students to the University, and to assist with the creation of a welcoming and inclusive environment in which new students can begin their transition. Sixteen students participated in the Assessment.
Through training in the Orientation Leader Academy and work as full Orientation Leaders in the Golden Eagle Orientation program, OLs must discover who they are professionally, where their strengths lie, and how to present themselves in a professional manner while still maintaining their personal authenticity. OLs often need to challenge their own perceptions of their professional identity in order to learn what they are truly capable of.
As a result of Orientation Leader Academy and serving as full Orientation Leaders during Golden Eagle Orientation, student leaders develop the following learning outcomes:
- Feel more confident negotiating complex situations.
- Demonstrate better/stronger active listening skills.
- Better understand how to plan for and reach goals within a group or organization.
For learning outcome #1, 87.5% of participants agreed that they felt more confident navigating complex situations, with 31% saying they strongly agreed with that statement. This indicates that the majority of the student leaders experienced an increase in this ability, which includes critical thinking and decision making. A third of these participants strongly agreed, suggesting they experienced a significant increase in this ability.
For learning outcome #2, 100% of participants stated that they felt better able to listen and reflect on what was being said to them. This suggests that the entire team as a whole saw an increase in their ability to listen actively. 50% of participants stated that they strongly agreed, demonstrating a higher level of awareness and confidence in said active listening skills.
For learning outcome #3, 100% of participants stated that they better understood how to plan for and reach goals within their organization. As a measure of professional development, this suggests that the entire team experienced an increase in their ability to work collaboratively towards shared goals. 37.5% indicated that they strongly agreed with this statement, showing that they experienced a significant increase within themselves to navigate this key group dynamic.
These results indicate that student leaders who partake in the Orientation Leader experience leave the program as better listeners, stronger collaborators, and better equipped individually to handle difficult or complex situations. The majority of this team values respect and honesty, which are important traits that, when combined with the aforementioned skills, become essentials components in professional success.
Based on the data as it relates to the learning outcomes, this program is successful at equipping student leaders with skills and qualities that make them more successful members of a team. Considering this, we will continue to execute the training of Orientation Leader Academy and the experience of Golden Eagle Orientation to continue to produce these results. Additionally, other data will be considered in an attempt to make the experience even stronger. Pre and post survey data will be collected to better understand milestones and turning points along this journey to enhance the overall experience.