The Spartan Orientation Station

What is The Spartan Orientation Station?

Nervous about starting at Michigan State? Worried about your class schedule, living away from home, or where to even start? The Spartan Orientation Station (SOS) is a podcast hosted by New Student Orientation staff and was created by students for students. This podcast will launch twice a week throughout the summer, and each episode will feature a unique interview with campus departments discussing their services, common misconceptions, and fun Spartan engagement opportunities. When you need help at Michigan State, it is okay to signal SOS! Don’t worry – MSU is there for you.

Narrator 0:13

You're listening to the Spartan Orientation Station on Impact 89 FM. Family and Supporter Friday edition. Now, this month's episode.

Maddie 0:23

Hello and welcome to the final special edition episode of the Spartan Orientation Station. Our Family and Supporter Friday episodes aim to answer real questions directly from incoming Spartan families. While each student attending MSU has a unique experience, whether they're a first-year student transitioning to college straight out of high school, a transfer student joining the Spartan family from another institution, a student traveling from out of state or internationally to attend MSU or a combination of these, our information is applicable to all new students, families, and supporters. This episode we will cover things to bring to MSU orientation programming for both first year and transfer students, and crucial transition to college conversations. My name is Madison Sewick. I am a program coordinator within the Transition and Transfer Student Success Office which houses New Student Orientation, and really excited to be here today.

Ashley 1.13

I'm Ashley Hewlett-Lemke. I use she/her/hers pronouns. I'm also a program coordinator within Transitions and Transfer Student Success and a lot of my work these days focuses on Transfer Student Success initiatives at Michigan State.

Dr. Charles 1:25

All right, and I'm Dr. Charles Jackson, the director of the Transfer Student Success Center, which is housed under the Transition and Transfer Students Success unit.

Laurin 1:34

Hi, I'm Laurin Gierman. I'm the director for Spartan Family Connections. I use she/her pronouns and I am thrilled to welcome all of you to today's podcast and to the MSU family.

Jared 1:45

Hello everyone. My name is Jared Stratz. I use he/him his pronouns. And I am a new student program coordinator within the Transitions and Transfer Students Success unit. I know a lot of us are in the TTSS unit. So, so excited to be here.

Maddie 2:04

Awesome. Well, fall semester is getting closer and we are counting down the days until students are back on campus. So as students and their families are starting to prepare for getting back to campus, what tips, resources, things do we really want to make people aware of as we get a little closer?

Jared 2:20

I can get started. I know others around the table will definitely want to add into this. I think one big thing is the newsletters, the NSO newsletters, that we're sending, we are packing that full of information, especially preparation content, just to make sure that students, families, and supporters all kind ofsee whatt to expect. So you're mentally preparing for the Fall Welcome and the upcoming semester. Specifically, with move in I know that's on a lot of individuals minds right now as they transition to MSU. Regardless of if you're a first year, transfer, or commuter students, for those that are hypothetically moving to campus to go to classes and things like that, I think that there's a lot of programming and fun things, fun adventures, events that are happening within that Fall Welcome experience and beyond going into the semester.

Lauren 3:17

So I can share a little bit about the experience of our students who will not be residing on campus, as Jared mentioned, so Fall Welcome is a week plus of jam-packed activities. And our office is responsible for a selection of activities on August 23, 24th, and 25th. So we're actually starting off with, Wednesday evening is the kickoff event at Spartan Stadium, so we're very excited. Absolutely. We are working with our colleagues to bring our--some of our representatives within athletics to come do a fun Fall Welcome Zeke the Wonder Dog and the team will be there to do a show. So we're very excited about that. Transitioning into our Thursday programming, we actually will have Convocation, which is very exciting that's going to be held at the Breslin Student Event Center. That's followed by lunch. And then afternoon programming hosted by the New Student Orientation Program is the Campus Open House. So, I can pause right there if we want to expound on what activities are in store for the Campus Open House.

Madison 4:25

Yes, happy to do that. And I encourage folks to also listen to our Fall Welcome podcast, which I think is coming out shortly after this episode, which goes into a lot more detail. So I'm going to be sort of brief with the Campus Open House. We have a variety of campus partners and activities that are happening that day from things like our Passport Adventure, where students can visit various campus departments and get their passport or guidebook stamped, during that time. We have our Spartan Stroll, which is a lot of various activities such as the Broad Art Museum and the MSU museum that are open and available for students to sort of wander through. And a variety of other things, I won't list every single thing that's open, because students will get their guidebook, and it will have a map that includes all of those activities. But I highly encourage folks to take advantage of that campus Open House time because the campus will be open and so many people are excited to welcome you on that day and have a bunch of different swag to give away as well.

Ashley 5:24

Yeah, great opportunity to fill up your your swag bucket. So, thinking about things to bring, maybe scale back your T shirt collection from home because you're gonna gain a few classes get started and whatnot. So, thank you Maddie, for that overview, I guess continuing on in the program. So, Friday, we actually have over in the Breslin Center as well, we do have an opportunity to hear from our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging team. So, they have some interesting activities planned for us as well. And then there will actually be a community panel of some of our campus partners from Public Safety, Student Health and Well-Being.

Jared 6:04

And other events that are happening. Yep. So especially with that panel experience and connecting with Breslin, that Breslin Events Center, it's a great space for students to get to know each other and learn more about MSU. And I think that that's the big part of Fall Welcome is, you may be coming in with a variety of different emotions, and maybe connections with MSU. And connecting with a variety of different resources to help mentally prepare for it. But then know that the people around you are probably asking the same questions. So when we talk about things to bring, I sometimes say an open mind to a variety of different activities, maybe stepping outside of your box, connecting with someone new, making a new friend, going to one of the resources within the Campus Open House experience, I think that there's just so many things that are happening during Fall Welcome, enough for you to kind of choose your own adventure.

Charles 7:06

And you know what, it does not stop there. We also have on Sunday, August 27, from 2 to 4pm, a transfer and commuter meeting event that we will hold for all of our transfer and commuter students. This will give them an opportunity to meet campus partners. And they will talk about high impact practices like undergraduate research, community service learning and engagement, and also education abroad. And we also have something special that will happen during that event, a little skit, by our Theater Ensemble group. And I won't give a lot of information on it. But definitely it will be beneficial to our transfer and commuter students. And it will speak to their experiences as well. We will also have a student panel during that time where transfers and commuters will hear from other students and their experiences transitioning to MSU. And then also, after that transfer and commuter event meeting, there is Sparticipation, that's going to be happening, and it'll start at 4pm. So we have a lot of events that are going to be happening during the course of Fall Welcome and then going into the weekend. And that leads us to the question of, are these events mandatory? Do I have to be there? Are there people checking names and all that jazz? So just wanted to know if Jared, you can speak to that?

Jared 8:41

Yeah, I'll start us off. I know others might have some things to add too. I like to use the word, especially for New Student Orientation programming, during Fall Welcome, students are expected. And that word is intentional. Because there's so much learning and development and engagement and a variety of different things that students can connect with during the Fall Welcome programming. And we want them to do that. And it's encouraged because that's really how you start to get outside of your box and start to connect with different resources and people. I think Fall Welcome really helped to open those doors. And that's why especially for NSO, New Student Orientation, programming, we want you to want to go to these things. That's why we're having so much fun planning these activities. I know that there are other events during Fall Welcome that are mandatory or required of students, maybe let's kind of shift and pivot to that.

Madison 9.46

Yeah, so I know on Thursday morning, MSU is hosting Convocation, and that is a mandatory event for all new students. It is one of those times - we've talked a little bit about what that looks like on our Fall Welcome episode as well. Like, it is where all of the new students get together and get to hear about the academic pieces of MSU. It's really exciting. I've heard the marching band is there, and that our Interim President will speak. And it's just one of those opportunities you get to hear a lot about from the leadership and also from your student leaders, student body president, all of that good stuff. So really encourage students, it's mandatory, but I encourage you to take advantage of, like, listening to that opportunity and hearing about MSU and all the exciting things that are happening.

Laurin 10:28

And there's a really cool t-shirt.

Maddie 10:31

I didn’t know that! Back to Ashley and downsizing your t-shirt collection to fit all of these new, exciting outfits.

Jared 10:39

I think college colloquia is something important too, that happens during Fall Welcome, and is required of all new students. An ability to connect with the academic college slash advisors that are part of the academic journey that you're getting ready to embark on. Especially encourage your student to kind of go to these events. I know, some are required, some are expected, but encourage them to fully participate and be active participants in a variety of these different programs.

Ashley 11:11

And this is a really hard time for many, many students. There's a lot of anxiety, we, we do see a lot of students coming with anxiety disorders, depression, clinical depression disorders. And that's okay, we are here for you, we will support you. And we need you to help yourself, also. Like, these things, it's expected that you go sometimes you have to make yourself go. And I can speak that as a parent, I had to tell my son to go. And sometimes your student just needs that extra push, the extra kick in the pants, to-- to actually do the things and go out and meet the people. But it's really, really important, and it's very difficult. And so having patience and grace, and encouraging is really important.

Charles 12:07

And, definitely, there is a possibility, if you're a transfer student, that you may meet another transfer student who may have shared the same experiences coming from a two- or four-year institution. And it's good to know that there is someone else who is going through the same transition. And that way you can build community with each other and lean on each other and help each other throughout this academic year.

Ashley 12:31

Yeah, I think it really touches upon kind of what--what you were talking about earlier, Jared about having an open mind and an open heart. And just kind of the idea of just leaning in--I know it's a little cliched--but the idea of just leaning into the experience, and college is more than just going to class. I know there's leadership within our institution that says colleges, you're not just going to class, you're going to college. And I think that all of the activities that are planned in the days following up to classes starting on August 28 are really those opportunities to learn about the resources, and I think at the end of the day, it's you know, it's opportunities to have fun, and I mean, it's more than just getting T shirts, of course, but--but definitely just opportunities to connect with other students that I think in spaces with transfer students, for instance, I think that a lot of transfer students, I know that was my experience as a transfer student, was going to class and maybe interacting with some of my classmates. But again, there weren't really those opportunities to be able to connect with others in more informal settings.

Maddie 13:33

Absolutely. I think we've talked a little bit about bringing an open mind, bringing an open heart, and really engaging in these activities and taking them in, but what other things should students bring for that Fall Welcome orientation experience to really be prepared to best engage in these activities?

Jared 13:47

Just really the willingness to want to participate and be an active participant in the activities that are happening. I will call out, though, what not to bring, specifically in regards to our- the Kickoff that's happening in the Spartan Stadium, as well as the Breslin Student Event Center for the New Student Orientation programming. We-- students are requested, or they're, they're being told not to bring bags, purses, and food and drink into those two venues. Just wanted to call it out because the-- it'll definitely continue to be in messaging from NSO. But we definitely want you to feel comfortable and confident as you start to embark in some of these events and activities. Sometimes knowing what not to bring is valuable, as much as the, you know, open mind and experience.

Maddie 14:42

Yeah, I would echo: a water bottle and comfortable walking shoes, I think are always important things to bring with the August weather in Michigan. Sometimes it gets very hot.

Ashley 14:52

So, I was told that the buses would be running. Normally, they start the first day of class, but it's really important that students be able to get to all of these events. And so, if there are blisters, or if there are mobility challenges as well, right, like not all of our students are able to walk on campus.

Maddie 15:10

Absolutely.

Ashley 15:10

So just being aware of that as well. So, watch for more information on that. They will not be the regular bus routes until the first day of class but watch for more information on that.

Maddie 15:22

I think this also, the accessibility piece, ties into one thing that NSO office is trying to do, which is assist students if they need that, that support and getting places or doing any of the Fall Welcome activities. So, we also encourage you to reach out to us if you-- if you need that support. And we will help you make accommodation to attend the events and participate as well.

Ashley 15:43

So, a quick add on one of the questions that I'm seeing a lot on Facebook and getting a lot via email and direct message is, is there a family orientation? So, we've got all of these things planned for students, but is there a family orientation?

Jared 15:56

So right now, we have put a lot of eggs in the virtual basket, if you will. So really engaging with families and supporters through the podcast series, through a variety of different online resources, making sure that families and supporters are connected to the same or similar resources that their students are connecting with virtually over the summer. I know that we have a large list of resources that are on the NSO website page that we're encouraging families and supporters to get connected with. In regards to, as-- as your student transitions, and for those that are residential students, that they're moving to campus, I do know outside of NSO or New Student Orientation, there may be engagement, or at least, through the Office of- of Spartan Family Connections, that there might be an opportunity to connect at least as their student might be doing some things during the move in.

Laurin 16:54

Yes, yes. So, we are very excited to have some very informal, so I want to underline that informal, family welcome events. So, we know a lot of students will be headed over to either the International Center or the STEM Building to pick up their student ID on August 22, or 23rd. And so, from 10am until 5pm, there will be eight departments represented on the first floor of the STEM building in that open public area, you will not be able to miss us. And these departments, including Spartan Family Connections, are there to meet you, to greet you, to answer your questions, to put a face with a name. We have some swag for families because not just students like swag. We may have tissues for tears. And we're--and we're not judging if they're happy or sad tears. But come and meet us, meet other families, get your questions answered while your student is picking up their ID. So, this gives you something to do while your student is picking up their ID. Also, on those two days, August 22 and 23rd, we have a very informal--underscore informal--happy hour at the Kellogg Center, so at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, from 6 until 8pm. We are offering a happy hour space, and this is just a space for families to meet each other. We anticipate that there will be, likely, out of state families, international families, families from maybe the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where you know, it can take 10 hours to drive to East Lansing. But just an opportunity to meet people, celebrate with people, commiserate with people, and just have a few moments as a parent who, or a family member who, is leaving their students on campus. We will have nonalcoholic beverages and some light snacks, but the State Room, the restaurant at the Kellogg Center, the State Room will have their bar open for alcoholic beverages, if you should choose to participate. So there--there are informal family welcome activities on the 22nd and 23rd. And the reason I bring this up is because we are also getting the question, can I go to student orientation with my student? And the answer is, underscore, no. These events are for your students and for your students only. This is the time that they are creating their community, that they are learning about their new college home. And this needs to be their event and their activities. So even if you are planning to, you’re, let's say you're coming from out of state and you're planning on moving them in on Tuesday, and you're not planning to leave until Sunday, that's fine, but plan for things for you to do by yourself. Because your student needs to be doing all of these orientation activities and getting to learn their new community from Wednesday night through Sunday night. So, Dr. Jackson mentioned Sparticipation and the Fall Spartan Spectacular that happens on Sunday night, that is a huge event, it is so much fun. Please don't take that opportunity away from them. So as a family member, please know when to step back and let your student go.

Jared 20:30

I think this goes right back to push--encourage your student to do the thing, too. Sometimes we look back as you know, families and supporters for our own kids and think about maybe for me, it was--it was my mom telling me that I needed to go to the Fall Welcome events. And the impact I didn't see as the student the impact in the moment, but in hindsight, now that I am an adult, I think that those--those are the moments that were flashbulb memories or memories that I look fondly back on and think I did meet a friend there, or “Oh my gosh, Zeke, the Wonder Dog,” I know a little bit more about Zeke, and some of the traditions at MSU, before even classes began. So, I encourage you to encourage your student to go to the events and engage and interact, in the way that makes sense for them. And not every student has the same personality. And some students might be worried or concerned about some of these large-scale events, or, you know, “How am I going to make connections?” and so forth. But during Fall Welcome there's something for everyone.

Laurin 21:42

So we're talking a lot about transitions right now. Right. And there are some conversations, some transitional conversations that, as families and supporters we want you to have with your student, preferably before move in day, because these are pretty important. And, and the--the high emotions of move in, whether you're moving in on campus or off campus. Those are emotional times and so having these conversations during those high emotion moments is probably not the wisest thing to do. But there's really four topics. The so there's budget, there's health and safety, there's academics, and there's communication. So let's start with budget. Having a clear understanding between you as the family and supporter, and your student, as far as budget, that talking money can be really awkward and uncomfortable, but it's really important. What money is your money? What money is the student’s money, and what money is yours collectively? So, what's yours, what's mine, and what's ours? So having that conversation, and maybe that's where you talk about your student getting a job, and contributing, and being a part of that process, but having that conversation is really important. And then I'm gonna move to health and safety. And I think we're going to spend a little bit more time on health and safety together, but I'm just going to throw some things out and then ask my colleagues to add in their experience as well. So, from a health and safety standpoint, it's important that students know how to access and use their health insurance. What is your student going to do the first time they get sick? So, this may be the first time that they've been away from you, and they're not sure what to do for themselves if they get sick? What do they need to have on hand? You know, like a first aid kit and--and medicine, over the counter medicine and things like that. Mental health and mental wellness, how to be active. How to use the counseling and psychiatric services on campus. What is the 988 suicide and crisis intervention line that anyone can use? We want to make sure everyone knows about that, whether it's for you or someone you love. Safety. How, you know, what are the expectations around safe behaviors? So sex and drugs and drinking, other safety behaviors, like locking your door, not leaving your computer behind, locking your--your bike correctly with the right lock, etc., downloading the Safe MSU app. So there's this big bucket of health and safety. And so I want to kind of open that up to my colleagues and see what else they have to add.

Ashley 24:23

I think I'd like to add that any of our students who are living off campus to not think of themselves as not being able to access these resources. So any--any of these resources, all of our non-residential students are able to utilize the Olin Health Center for example, even if you never live on campus, you are still able to utilize those resources. So--so just keep that in mind that if you are sick, if you're on campus, and if you are sick, Olin, I know that they have a van, a courtesy van, that can be called, and they will pick up students and transport them to the Olin Health Center. Maybe something else worth mentioning, I won't give the specific names, but there are urgent care facilities in the surrounding area. There also are two major hospital systems in the area as well that have emergency room capabilities.

Laurin 25:16

And there are a plethora of Uber and Lyft drivers.

Ashley 25:19

Yes, yes, yes.

Laurin 25:21

And students are very well versed in using those forms of transportation as well.

Ashley 25:24

Absolutely.

Maddie 25:25

I would encourage, like, also making a plan. Like, if you get sick, here's the urgent care you should seek out. If you have prescriptions, I know that that is one that a lot of students have never filled their own prescriptions before. Where are you going to go? There are plenty of pharmacies near us. MSU has a pharmacy as well. So where are you going to fill your prescription? And how does that process work for you? So I would encourage you to have that conversation in terms of planning as well about if you need to visit an emergency room? Which one are you going to visit? And how are you going to communicate that with your family and supporters? So, I encourage that planning piece as well.

Laurin 26:01

Yeah, and thank you for mentioning, how are you going to communicate that with your families and supporters? Because this is also a very large robust conversation with families in the Facebook space, around HIPAA laws, and how are, you know, how are families and supporters notified if their student is you know, taken to an emergency room or has to seek care. And you're not going to be notified because your student, in most cases, is over 18. And so, nine times out of 10, your student is able to communicate, and so it is going to be up to them, not any different than if you or I were to go to the emergency room, it would be up to us to contact our family and say, “Hey, just so you know, I'm in the emergency room.” Now, if it's something that is traumatic, then yes, the emergency room or MSU DPPS, or some other departments on campus, there is a process for reaching out to families. But here's the tip that I have for families, and I tell as many as I can, so listen up. When your student comes to campus, make sure that their roommate, or their suitemates, or their wall mate in their apartment building, if they've made some friends in their apartment buildings, make sure that those folks have your contact information. And make sure that your student has their family and supporter contact information. And that way, if something happens, someone else can reach out to you and say, “Hey, just so you know, we had to take, you know, Johnny or Susie to the ER, you know, they had a little bit too much to drink.” If that's, you know, the situation or whatever the case may be, they fell down the stairs and sprained their ankle. So, it's really important that the contact information gets shared between the students so that if something does come up, there's a way to get in touch with you.

Ashley 28:00

And for those family members and supporters who may be from an international audience, I do want to point out that 911 is the emergency contact that can be dialed to reach safety professionals and medical professionals as well. And in this--in the event of an emergency. So just want to share that. 911 is something that, like everybody sitting at this table, we're familiar with that, but might--not everybody might be.

Laurin 28:26

So just also a quick note on those non-emergency illnesses that Maddie just talked about. Having a kit on hand, you know, we talk a lot about first aid kits. But having those over-the-counter supplies is also really--really helpful and likely will help your friend make or have your student make a friend, because somebody is going to be needing a bandage or somebody's going to need some Acetaminophen, right? But having that Acetaminophen, having the Ibuprofen, having those rehydration tablets, I don't know it's like Gatorade, but they're tablets. So, you put it in a bottle of water, they're amazing, because you know, sometimes students get the flu, and it's important that they have an opportunity to rehydrate. And so having those rehydration tablets is really helpful. Also, cough drops, and cold medicine. And just a reminder, for those of you who, maybe your student hasn't had to purchase cold medicine, or you haven't lately, in the state of Michigan, you have to be 18 years or older in order to purchase over-the-counter medication. So, your DayQuil, or NyQuil, or Robotussin, Mucin-X, all of those things, you have to be 18 or older in order to purchase. So, if your student is not 18, make sure that you're sending those things with them, because they won't have the ability to purchase it for themselves when they're here. If your student is 18, make sure that they have that government issued ID that has their birth date on it, so that they can purchase those things, whether it's a driver's license, or state ID, a passport, you know, anything like that will work.

Jared 30:17

I think the calling back to the Live On webinar that will be posted. And by the time you're listening to this podcast, I'm sure that they will be talking a little bit more about connecting with some of the resources in the residential halls to in regards to the RA, as well as other support services. Because you may know kind of general ways the best, you know, best tips, best practices with health and safety as a family or supporter. But maybe you just don't know how sometimes it works at MSU when your student may be living in the residential hall, or you have someone who's living off campus and connecting with some of these services. So definitely a plug to the Live On webinar to kind of listen in on some of the Q&As that they shared.

Laurin 31:10

And then just another reminder, I mentioned this when talking about safety, but downloading that Safe MSU app. That's really important. And anybody can download that app. So, you, families and supporters listening out there can also download that app and you can see any, you can see what's available, there are any push notifications that are necessary. There is a geofence. So, there's push notification that goes out within a certain geofence if there is any sort of security risk or issue that will go out on that Safe MSU app, it's just part of the upgrades that MSU DPPS has been able to make. So, check that out. Make sure that your student downloads that app.

Maddie 31:56

I know we mentioned Lyft and Uber too, but I think it's important to know MSU has a service called Safe Ride that is free for all students to transport them in the evenings back to their residential hall or to their off-campus accommodation, I believe. So, if students are, like, at the library studying and it's very late in the evening, and they're like oh, you know, “I live in East neighborhood. I don't want to walk all the way home by myself in the dark.” That is another service that they get that your student can take advantage of and I heard from ASMSU that they are actually getting more vehicles so the wait time will be decreased.

Ashley 32:31

I heard that as well, and that that link is on the Safe MSU app.

Jared 32:35

Can I take a second to plug another app. So, the MSU app is what we're definitely going to be pushing out to students. In order to download the week before Fall Welcome experience, it'll have the schedule for the Fall Welcome programming. But in regards to just getting around campus and navigating, there is a campus navigation on this app as well, the MSU app that allows students to you know, figure out where the buildings are, so if you are walking from the library late at night, that there's an ability to do campus Wayfinding, or to find your way around campus.

Ashley 33:16

These apps described also, you know, navigation, we want to be mindful of the wayfinding components, but also the ability to find access to buildings that are barrier free. So, I think it's important for us to make sure to highlight that these apps all have maps that have barrier free routes that are built into them. So, I also want to bring up and I know that this is a recurring point in any of our newsletters that have gone out. So, some of the conversation that we had earlier about health, health and well-being, I think we were maybe thinking in the context of maybe the one offs, like I got sick this week, and so on and so forth. For students who have reoccurring diagnose health, health considerations, mental health concerns, any anything in that realm, it's really important to make sure that you're connecting with the appropriate resources, specifically the Resource Center for Persons with Disability. And again, I would say check probably any of our NSO newsletters, there's some information about how to connect with the ability access specialists in that office. And we certainly, in the event that you may have missed something, please reach out to the New Student Orientation office and we can connect you with the appropriate individuals. I think that it's also noteworthy, so the language of an IEP or a 504 plan that a student may have had from their high school experience. And I know that there was an RCPD podcast. So definitely check that out, because they will take a deeper dive into these components.

Laurin 34:54

So, I promised that health and safety was going to be a robust conversation. It really was. So, we have two quick other topics that I want to touch on before we're out of time here, and academics is a big one. What grades do you expect your students to get? What are your student’s expectations? If you ask any student starting at MSU, what they expect their grade point average is going to be most of them are going to say, “oh, yeah, I'm going to four point.” I guarantee you not all of our 10,200 incoming students are going to get a four point in their fall semester. And so, what is going to happen when they get that first low grade? Are they prepared for it? Are you prepared for it? So, it's just an important little conversation to have. Because maybe they've never gotten a “B” in their life. And are they going to be crushed when they get that first “B”? So just something to think about. And then the last one is communication. And this is around communication between the student and the family and supporter. And what are those expectations? Does your student expect to talk to you once a week, while you expect to talk to your student once a day or more? And when those two things do not match, what does that look like? And so going into fall semester with a plan of you know, “just touch base with me. Let me know how things are going just once a day. That's all, just let me know.” Or if it's once a week, you know, “just send me a send me a text on Sundays and let me know that you're still alive.” I think you know, looking around the room, most of us were from the generation that actually had to call from a phone on a wall versus from a pocket. So, I know--I know, I'm totally dating myself here. But having just that communication conversation and you know, at least you're going in with eyes wide open.

Charles 37:09

Just to expand on the communication and the academics, I've been stressing this to our transfer students, but this is applicable to all of our students who are coming in as well. We want you to have agency in your program planning. And what do I mean by agency? Agency means making sure that the student knows that they have the capacity and the ability to influence what their program planning looks like. So when you're in those academic advising appointments, and you realize that you didn't get the grade that you--that you wanted, you have the ability to have those conversations with your advisor, letting them know, “Hey, this is what I think the these are some insights or what I've gained from this past semester, or from this past month.” We want students to be active participants in their program planning, it shouldn't just be just a one-way street, where you have the academic advisor just telling you a list of classes that you--you're going to have to take. And that said, we want you to be equally engaged in that conversation, because it's going to be important for you to bring your insights, bring your experiences to those conversations.

Ashley 38:22

That is so important and I'm so glad you brought that up. Because not only do they have agency with their academic planning, and in conversations with their academic advisor, but also with their professors and their teaching assistants, there are office hours that are rarely utilized. Professors really do like to talk to students, but there is a perceived power dynamic. When students come if they're 17, 18, 19, 20 years older, or more, when they're coming from a K-12 system where the teacher was the authority. And you didn't, you know, talk back, you didn't, right. There, there wasn't an opportunity to have that conversation, really about their progress when they're in that system. And now there is, and it's encouraged, and somewhat expected, for students to have those conversations. So like Dr. Jackson said, if you didn't get the grade that you think you deserved, go and talk to the professor and say, “Why didn't this happen? This is, this was my understanding.” And it is hard. That's a very, very difficult thing to do. And it's really important.

Charles 37:37

It's not going to happen overnight. It's going to take some time. But you know, taking that first step in that meeting, either with your professor or TA or with your academic advisor, at least letting them know where you are, and what you expect out of your academic journey here at MSU.

Ashley 39:52

I think it's also important just the idea of asking questions. There are no, there are no bad questions, I think the Fall Welcome opportunity before classes start. I think that's a great opportunity to, you know, get in front of both professional staff and student staff who can answer any of your questions, and there's no silly questions out there.

Laurin 40:12

That was a very healthy conversation. And I'm pretty sure that the families that are still listening their, their hair is blown back after that one.

Madison Sewick 40:24

Oh, absolutely. There was so much great content there. And I think all of you for joining us in this conversation because so many important things as we get closer to fall semester that you pop--like you think of and you're like, “oh my gosh, I didn't realize that this was something I should start thinking about.” So, I think that a lot of those things were brought to light in this conversation. So, I appreciate you all among our families and supporters. Thank you so much for listening to this final episode of the Family and Supporter Friday editions of the Spartan Orientation Station. I hope you and your students have a great transition to MSU and go green!

All 40:58

Go white!

Narrator 41:00

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Spartan orientation station on impacts 89 FM. Let us know what you think by connecting with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at MSU underscore NSO