That’s where Information Services comes into play. With this in mind, SSP knew that for a Kickoff app to be successful, it would have to be expertly engineered. "Once you commit to technology, there is an element of risk involved in that technology can be beautiful, but when it doesn’t work, it can be catastrophic,” Perkins says. As such, Perkins shares that he and his team had some reservations about the project during its initial conception. Of course, though building an app is exciting, it is by no means easy. Specifically, the app would serve as an immediate connection point that students can engage with, and in doing so, establish a better relationship between them and Kent State. "So we wanted to create an effective way to minimize those questions and anxieties that incoming students have, and we wanted to do it all in one place.”Īnd because students in 2018 are engaging with applications on their phones more than any other format, Perkins shares that the idea to deliver an electronic way to experience campus “felt like the logical next step.” Indeed, at a campus as large as Kent State, physical documents outlining personalized student agendas simply might not be enough to keep incoming students ‘in the know’, as specific questions and concerns typically arise that cannot be answered in a “one size fits all” style brochure. “Making the orientation experience as applicable and relevant to as possible is our ultimate goal." Perkins tells me that, until now, much of the orientation information pertaining to campus maps and events taking place has not been centralized. We want students to walk away from orientation thinking, ‘That was a good use of my time.’” “So, making the orientation experience as applicable and relevant to them as possible is our ultimate goal. "The student experience is extremely diverse, with differing needs from one student to the next,” explains Josh Perkins, Assistant Director of Kent State’s Student Success Programs. Designed exclusively for incoming freshmen, the app aims to ensure that students arriving at Kent for the first time can make the most of Kickoff. Historically, Kickoff has not relied on a tech-specific component to help guide students through their first week.īut at Fall 2018’s Kickoff, that changed when Systems Development and Innovation teamed up with Student Success Programs to deliver an all-new Kickoff app that would radically transform the orientation experience. Kent State is well aware of this possibility, and as such, the university consistently seeks ways to improve the orientation experience. These words echo a lot of my own feelings from orientation, which got me thinking: Kickoff is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity, as it provides students with a unique way to explore campus before the school year begins but consequently, because there is so much to discover at Kent State, first-year orientation can be quite overwhelming for many students. In the vein of nostalgia, I asked some of my senior-status friends to sum up their Kickoff experience in just one word: What would my orientation week entail, and how could an incoming freshmen like myself adequately prepare for it?įour years later, it is odd to think of Kent as being such a foreign land. Most of all, I remember the uncertainty that surrounded those frantic couple days. Though it has been four years since I attended Kickoff (it was known as “Welcome Weekend” at the time), I can still remember how I felt walking around campus for the first time: attending convocation in the MAC trying to remember the names of buildings getting lost looking for my lecture halls taking the esplanade all the way downtown and peaking into little shops and anxiously meeting new people, wondering what we might have in common. When I think back to my first weekend as a Kent State freshman, I cringe a little bit.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |