Katie Sarria began as a first-year academic advisor at the University of North Florida (UNF) and worked her way up to the role of Director of Orientation, so nobody knows the experience of a first-time student at UNF quite like her. With over 16,000 students and 150 academic programs, Katie knew that her new student orientation had a lot of ground to cover. Still, her experience told her that hours of in-person presentations wasn’t going to cut it. That’s why, when it came time to transform UNF’s student orientation program, she looked to Advantage Design Group for an engaging, meaningful orientation so that her students were prepared, connected, and excited about their future at UNF before even setting foot on campus.  

More Meaning, Less Meetings 

UNF offers a vibrant campus experience, with more than 200 clubs and organizations and countless opportunities for students to get involved beyond the classroom. Katie’s challenge was finding a way to introduce students to campus life in a way that felt engaging, meaningful, and efficient. Before working with Advantage Design Group, orientation for UNF Ospreys had students and their parents sitting in a large theater for hours at a time, listening to presentations that didn’t always reflect their individual interests or experiences. Katie suspected it wasn’t effective, and her post-orientation student surveys confirmed her fears: students wanted to connect and engage, not sit and be talked at. As Katie put it, “we had to shift if we wanted orientation to be more meaningful.” 

For UNF’s fully customized orientation platform, Katie focused on giving students a baseline understanding of their campus experience before they ever arrived, positioning the pre-orientation as a go-to resource for must-have information about campus services, involvement opportunities, and student support. This approach ensured students came to campus prepared to ask informed questions and better understand the context of their in-person orientation activities. Rather than relying on long lectures, the content employed stunning visuals, interactive games and polls, and optional “tell me more” sections that reinforced learning and improved information retention. With foundational knowledge handled in advance, UNF’s in-person orientation could shift its focus to what matters most: building connections through social events, shared experiences, and opportunities for students and their families to engage with campus life. One Advantage Orientation® resulted in limitless customization and relevance for each student. 

Real Impact, Quickly 

After only a year of her custom orientation, Katie is already seeing positive results in her student population. After completing UNF’s pre-orientation: 

• 88% of students report feeling better equipped for classes 

• 94% of students say they’re more aware of resources and services on campus 

• 88% of students shared that the online student orientation was a great first step to becoming an Osprey 

A great orientation experience creates positive waves that extend well beyond quelling first-day jitters. Just one year after implementing the new student pre-orientation platform, UNF’s overall retention rate increased 2%, growing to 86.6% in Fall of 2025. Before Advantage Orientation®, Katie noticed that students often arrived on campus unsure how to get involved or where to turn for support. After completing the online pre-orientation, they came ready to connect, engage, and start building friendships from day one. 

A Living Student Orientation 

Putting together an effective online student orientation that is both relevant and exciting to students while covering all necessary elements is a team effort. To start planning the contents of their student pre-orientation experience, Katie engaged her orientation leaders, who shared the common questions they received from new students and what they wished they had known about UNF before stepping on campus. With this information, she built a framework that she took to her campus partners, who provided the expertise and information she needed to develop the content with her Advantage Design Group team of writers, videographers, designers, and project managers.  

“I'm not the expert in student health services or recreation and wellness services, so I had to reach out to all of the campus partners. They were excited to get in front of first-time and college students to really outline all their services and resources that they can give the new students before they even get to campus, which was really exciting for them.” 

However, as anyone in higher education can tell you, things move quickly, and information can become out of date after only a few years. Katie prioritized evergreen content throughout her new-student pre-orientation, but also plans time to make annual edits. Fortunately, the Advantage Orientation® admin panel makes it easy to edit and update content, regardless of your comfort level with technology. If you do have questions or need help, Advantage Design Group’s client success team is on standby to ensure that your orientation continues to serve your students for years to come. 

“I'm not a technological person at all, and it's so easy for me to go in [to the orientation] and make edits… I could very easily add a slide on my own and put the content on there. I could make it a game if I wanted, I could put accordions, I could do call-outs, I could do all those types of things to make it look pretty as well.” 

What It Means for You 

An engaging orientation does more than prepare students for their first day of class; it lays the foundation for years of success. UNF’s story shows what’s possible when institutions move beyond long presentations and information overload toward a student-ready, pre-orientation approach. If you’re ready to increase early engagement and improve retention through a more effective online student orientation program, take the first step and request a live tour of Advantage Orientation® today. 

Related Stories: 

• Nova Southeastern University: Leveraging authentic online orientation design to impact student engagement (https://advantagedesigngroup.com/library/stories/authentic-design-principles-for-online-orientation/)
• Rutgers University: Balancing Creativity & Technology in Online Orientation (https://advantagedesigngroup.com/library/webinars/rutgers-online-orientation-webinar/)
• University of Maryland Global Campus: Reaching new students with the Right Message, at the Right Time (https://advantagedesigngroup.com/library/stories/umgc-virtual-orientation-high-completion-rates/)