Orientation is the perfect landscape for highly impactful recruitment efforts, while students are already excited and engaged. Review a holistic approach to integrating your program’s recruitment into Orientation, including partner examples below - as well as some quick tips!
A Holistic Approach
Be Strategic
Connect your mentorship initiative to your institution’s broader student success strategy. One way to be intentional with a strategic mentorship initiative is to ensure all incoming students have the option to enroll in mentorship. This may involve adding the mentorship program as part of their enrollment or onboarding checklist, or mailing all incoming students information about mentorship along with their new student materials. Work in collaboration with your institution’s Enrollment Office to identify the best places to integrate your mentorship program in the prospective and new student experience.
Example: Mentorship as an Onboarding Requirement
When a student initially deposits at Assumption, they get access to a portal that contains their onboarding requirements. One of the first items listed is to register for the Assumption Mentor Collective program. Hear Assumption’s full enrollment and Orientation strategy here.
Read more about strategic approaches to mentorship here.
Be Visible
Your enrollment and Orientation marketing should be easily identifiable as associated with your institution. Integrate your mentorship branding into your institution’s branding, nomenclature, and cultural elements. Make sure your phrasing, program landing page, logo, colors, and other marketing materials reflect your institution and appeal to your students. Consider if your marketing is accessible for all students. Create branded posters, flyers, or slides with a QR code that directs prospective participants to register or find more information.
Consider hosting events promoting and celebrating mentorship during Orientation, such as a BBQ or other social gathering in a highly trafficked area. Encourage former mentors or mentees, or paid mentors, to attend the event and share their experience with prospective participants. Use your Partner Dashboard to find past participants who were actively engaged and ask them to speak about their mentorship experience.
Example: Student-Led Promotion
Peer-to-peer recruitment is a powerful marketing tool that can maximize the impact of your Orientation events and champion the student voice. Encourage student-led marketing efforts, such as live streaming and social media campaigns. Hear how Augusta University does this to drive excitement and engagement at their mentorship events.
Read more about visible approaches to mentorship here.
Be Cross-Functional
All institutional leaders who are present throughout the Orientation process should be champions of mentorship. You may want to have an entire session about your mentorship program at Orientation, especially if your program is open for your entire incoming class. Or, it might make more sense to integrate and promote mentorship in smaller, existing sessions for more specific, targeted populations. Work with all relevant stakeholders to find the right time, place, and format to promote your mentorship program at Orientation.
Any promotional materials created and used at Orientation can later serve as a great resource to share widely across campus for continued cross-functional promotion.
Example: Deans Connecting with Parents
Students aren’t your only target audience at Orientation. Think about how to engage parents and guardians, and how to show them the value of mentorship for their children. Here how the Dean of College of Arts and Sciences at University of Rhode Island promotes the mentorship program to parents.
Example: Connecting with Advisors
All departments may have their own specific goals for Orientation, but everyone is focused on one primary goal: student success. Why not help each other? Why not mention mentorship as students decide what classes to take? Here how UC Davis’ mentorship program collaborates with advisors during Orientation to promote the program.
Be Conscious of Participants
Keep your participants and student population top-of-mind when designing your Orientation events. Are most of your students commuters? Consider holding a recruiting event in the parking lot, or reaching out to these students through social media. Are parents and guardians invited to attend Orientation? Consider having an informational session designed to impart on parents the value mentorship can provide to their child.
Example: Hearing Directly from Students
Who understands students the best? Whose opinion do they value most? Other students! Consider creating a promotional video, or showcase participant testimonials at Orientation. See UC Davis’ promotional video highlighting a mentorship pair’s experience.
Finally, remember that Orientation is just the beginning in a student’s mentorship journey. It’s important to foster an institution-wide culture of mentorship to ensure students continue to see value in pursuing mentorship opportunities throughout their academic and professional careers.
Read more about participant-centered approaches to mentorship here.
Quick Tips
- Add the mentorship program’s registration link to your admitted / new student checklist.
- Brand your mentorship program to align with your institution’s branding.
- Use QR codes to make it easy for students to register for your program.
- Encourage student, peer-led recruitment opportunities.
- Pay former mentors or mentees to attend Orientation and promote the program.
- Table or host events celebrating and promoting mentorship in high traffic areas.
- Get cross-functional buy in from Orientation Leaders, advisors, and other relevant staff.
- Connect with parents during or between sessions to discuss mentorship.
- Create promotional videos and/or presentations that highlight the student experience.
- Pay attention and tailor your efforts to your student population.
- Distribute flyers at sessions and hang posters all around campus.
- Coordinate Mentor Collective messaging with Orientation dates.
- Send a postcard to all incoming students, along with other Orientation materials.
See Mentor Collective’s Recruitment Materials Library for templates and examples to use at Orientation!
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