When transitioning to college, incoming students face a long to-do list, a barrage of incoming (and overlapping) welcome messages from faculty and staff, onboarding expectations, and the prospect of moving away from home – all juggled while wrapping up their high school experience.
Fortunately for students coming to DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, J.C. Lopez has things under control. As Dean of Student Success, he has taken a personal interest in doing all he can to make things better for students before he even meets them.
His strategy creates an environment where students are (and feel) prepared for college before the first box arrives in their room.
Campus-wide Staff Meeting
It all starts in May when J.C. works with the admissions team to convene a campus-wide staff meeting about the incoming class. This meeting helps ensure that a parent who reaches out to the Career Center gets the same answer about something related to move-in day as a grandparent who reads the website. The entire community comes together to celebrate the work of admissions, understand the students who have enrolled, and ensure clear expectations on the level of customer service and support needed for all incoming families throughout the summer.
Gold Enrollment Days
For a selective institution with a national recruitment reach, holding an on-campus visit day in the summer is a relatively unique approach. But it is done (and scheduled) with a high level of intentionality and has been a successful part of the transition for years. Before students come to campus on this day, they will have received their housing assignment and submitted their course requests. As a result, when they come to campus in June, students will see their room, connect with roommates and floormates, and begin to feel the sense of belonging necessary now that they have finished high school.
Monday Messages
All faculty and staff members know the weekly messages J.C. sends to incoming students and families. Anything communicated with students from any department is streamlined into one communication flow, managed by J.C. This allows him to ensure there is no overwhelming point in the process where six departments reach out to students simultaneously.
Welcome To Campus
There may be no more joyous and exciting welcome to campus than exists at DePauw. After a long day of moving into their rooms, students gather in the lobby of their residence hall. J.C. and his student leaders march through campus, joined by new students in each residence hall. Along the twenty-minute route, about a thousand faculty, staff, current students, and families are there, cheering students as part of their welcome to campus. This event creates a sense of closure to the day, ensuring students are now fully and forever a part of the DePauw community.
First Year Seminar
While the concept of a shared academic experience is common, DePauw adds some elements to make this particularly beneficial to students. The faculty member assigned to a student’s First Year Seminar course isn’t just with them for the year; they are the student’s academic advisor until they declare a major. Additionally, each faculty member has selected an orientation leader for their class, ensuring the student’s classroom and extracurricular experience are linked.
You don’t have to talk to J.C. Lopez for long to realize his commitment to serving the DePauw community. The transition process to DePauw, and all the students who have gone through it, have benefited tremendously from his work. From pulling together the entire campus to get excited about the next group of Tigers to hand-selecting up to 60 orientation leaders, he plays an instrumental role in helping students feel welcomed, supported, and at home at DePauw.