Q&A: Orientation Leaders
Orientation is a process all UHCL students go through. With a new semester on the horizon, The Signal sat down with two orientation leaders to discuss their role on campus. Tory Kocurek and Joe Contreras are orientation student assistants for Orientation and New Student Programs.
Q: What inspired you to become an orientation leader?
Kocurek: Just to get to know a lot more about campus. Since I joined around the time the pandemic was into effect, I felt becoming an Orientation Leader (OL) would help me learn what is going on and help me direct people to places they need to go.
Contreras: So when I first came to the university in fall of 2019, I had absolutely no interest in being involved. I had been super involved in high school and I just wanted to take it easy in college. Beginning Fall 2020 in my learning frameworks class, one of the professional staff came into my class and did a presentation. I took an application and I sat on it and thought I wasn’t gonna do it. While cleaning out my backpack I read over it and the different things. I thought why not? I had already been involved in high school and along with the presentation, was the deciding factor for me.
Q: Walk me through how an orientation day works and what your role was?
Contreras: So, we have three major sessions. The first day will be the same. For all of our programs we come in two hours before the program to prep, setup, and make sure everything is running smoothly. Around an hour before the program begins, check in starts. That’s when students are instructed to come in. We have orientation leaders at the check in table and walking around speaking with students. Me personally, I am the floater just walking around making sure everything is running smoothly. I will also talk with students. Parents check in with Kimberley Duren, department assistant, who makes sure they have paid the fee. From there we instruct them to get refreshments. If it is early in the morning, we will have breakfast. We take them to wherever our program starts, which is different for all the different programs. It will be the bayou theater, rec, or garden room. Usually for me during transfer student orientation (TSO), and sometimes for first year orientation, I will do a five-minute speech to get everybody hyped up. I’ll then pass it on to my supervisor to get all the stuff started.
Kocurek: Usually it varies depending on what task you have. So, each OL will have different task. Some of them, it will be your job is to set the prepping table for check-in. Then you may have to do student and parent check-in and make sure things are going fine. There are some OLs who will prep rooms for the different Hawk Talk presentations going on. Some OLs take groups of students to the different rooms the Hawk Talks are in. Then you have resource tables and managing to make sure everything is going well.
Q: How are these days planned and who is involved in the decision making?
Kocurek: Usually Tyler Hall, assistant director for orientation and new student programs, plans how the orientation day will go and then he checks in with Joe and I, other staff members to see if everything went well. Usually at the end of orientation he’ll ask other OLs how things went and if there are any changes that need to be made for future orientations. He takes feedback very well.
Contreras: It is all within our office. The way it works is Tyler kind of coordinates TSO and liftoff (first-year student orientation) for new students. For new international student orientation (NISO), we have coordinator for international student programs Firoj Gurung. We all work together, the project lead in the office will come up with the schedule and then we all work to cement that schedule. If we are doing any big changes to a program, we will have to get approval from upper management in our division. For the most part we structure the program in the way we like. After all that happens then it is looked over to finalize.
Q: What are the differences between transfer, first-year, and international orientation?
Kocurek: Yes, we have different sessions for each. So usually transfer have the most students since they are the largest groups of students who come to UHCL. Then for liftoff we have one session a week before classes start. For international students, over the course of the summer we have two sessions. We had one in May and a second session will be before liftoff.
Contreras: For transfer orientation the demographics tend to be non-traditional students. Many will have families or are coming back after being away from school or are coming from another school. Because for the most part they are coming from another university, they have already gone through an orientation at their previous institution. So, we will do a shorter, five-hour program where it is a presentation of resources on campus, meetings with college advisors and college tours. So it is real condensed. For NISO, there are a lot of different presentations from the office of international admissions and programs (OIAP), about f1 status and visa stuff to make sure paperwork is processed correctly. This is a mix of undergrad and grad students. Liftoff is our new program directed toward first-year college students. It is for anyone who has never been to college at all or is right out of high school.
Q: What are the biggest lessons students learn at the sessions?
Kocurek: The biggest lessons students learn are where the offices they need to go are if they need assistance. Where their college is for advising. It is also great for them to meet students with similar interests and to find students who will be in their future classes.
Contreras: I think that people are here for them. A lot of times going to college is intimidating. I mean I remember myself too, but then you go through orientation and realize there are tutoring services and mental health services. There are all these different services and I think that’s the biggest lesson. Learning they are not alone during this transition. Also, there are tons of student leaders. OLs and other student leaders who help us out are all there to help our new students. Students learn, like myself, that you are not alone at UHCL.
Q: What questions are the most asked by students at the sessions?
Kocurek: Usually when applying for orientation students are asked if they can bring guests and of course where they need to go. They will ask for help finding classes for the semester. That’s probably the most asked one during an orientation or a tour.
Contreras: That is a good question. I think questions about navigating campus. How the buildings and room numbers work. People ask how do I locate my classroom or where is my class based on the number.
Q: How do students join the orientation team?
Contreras: For the past two years I have been here, I have been in charge of recruitment. The position is open to any UHCL student. You can be undergraduate or graduate. You must be registering for classes the next semester. That is our only speculation when people are applying for the position. I will go to different programs, do tabling at different events, host events and present at student government to get word across campus. We also present in different classrooms. One of our biggest things is going to learning frameworks classrooms. That is the first-year seminar on campus and that is where we recruit many of our new students. We help those students get involved for the first time. It was my first involvement and how I joined.
Kocurek: This is an actual paid position. Recruitment is done, we advertise on our website, get involved, we have fliers placed up, and word of mouth through students. We also make use of social media and info sessions to explain how being an OL will play out over the summer. We will tell you the average participants that come and the days that we will have sessions. We tell you training will be on this day and give a general overview of how the schedule is going to go.
Q: Do you see friendships of relationships built between students at orientation? How about among OLs?
Kocurek: Usually during the summer the different OLs we hire, they get a better comradery with each other. It is a good opportunity to get to know other students on campus. You may learn some new things. An OL can be a freshman, transfer, or an international student. It can be any of those three and they come together and collaborate. Collaborate and they also help new students who are unsure what to do and they help them open up a bit. For some it is like oh no I am going to a new school and do not know anyone. OLs help them open up and show that UHCL is a friendly place and that you will be able to make friends.
Contreras: We always start the summer with four days of training. We spend all day together and it helps us bond. We work together all summer long and in August, we have another training that is overnight in Hunter Hall. So we do a lot of bonding stuff, group activities, and team challenges to build connections amongst OLs. In terms of students, OLs are trained on how to facilitate small groups. Whenever students are spread into small groups based on their colleges, they are put with students who they may have classes with. We have different social events throughout the programs to help the students build connections amongst each other.
Q: What final word do you want to say about being an OL?
Kocurek: Being an OL is a good opportunity to help yourself get to know campus. It will help make a bond and make you helpful and confident.
Contreras: I think a lot of times, social media depicts OLs as loud, crazy individuals. A lot of people are intimidated to become OLs because they do not see themselves as that person. I really think every OL is different and I would encourage everyone to apply to be an OL. It is a great position and great involvement.
