Designing Effective Online Orientation Programs for First-Year University Students

While asynchronous, self-paced online orientation programs are not brand new in the field of orientation, transition and retention, COVID-19 forced many institutions to rapidly create a program for the first time to help welcome fall 2020 students. Using the community of inquiry model as a framework, this literature review explores the research related to orientation and online learning in an effort to identify the principles, practices and processes that can help a student affairs professional to design an effective and engaging online orientation program, or enhance an existing program.

Indigenous Students in Higher Education in the United States

This article attempts to highlight literature that focuses on Indigenous students, including the various areas that work to support and honor Indigenous students, faculty, staff, and communities. Only since 2000 has there been more literature produced by Indigenous scholars that honors Indigenous peoples’ lived experiences. This article attempts to focus on Indigenous-authored and Indigenous-centered literature whose goal is to shed light on how we better support Indigenous students through representation, research, teaching, and learning to the praxis of being an Indigenous student affairs professional and faculty member.

Graduate Student Placement: An Examination of Experience and Career Barriers in a Student Affairs Professional Preparation Program

This quantitative descriptive study examined the job placement success and challenges of graduate students in a higher education and student affairs professional preparation program at a mid-size public institution in the U.S. Specifically, this study investigated the impact of curricular standards in the form of supervised practice (i.e., internships and graduate assistantships) on the job placement rate of recent alumni. In addition, perceived barriers in the job search process were investigated and examined comparatively by gender. Findings suggest that current curricular standards may not be sufficient for successful placement and that men and women do not differ significantly with respect to perceived barriers in their job search process. Implications for practice include a re-evaluation of curricular standards for student affairs professional preparation programs and a greater understanding of what factors and barriers contribute to successful graduate student placement.