Steeped in tradition and history while recognizing the changing needs and expectations of today’s students and families, Denison University initiated a collective “re-thinking” of its new student onboarding process. How could Denison modernize the entire onboarding experience with a digital component while continuing to provide the highly personalized approach the university was known for?

Online Orientation Fills Anticipation Gap

The previous two-day summer onboarding and orientation model honed over 52 years had become expensive, time-consuming, and, in some cases, redundant to campus visits.

“We actually found that students were visiting campus two to five times before they ever arrived for our June orientation session,” recalled Nathan Graves, Associate Dean of Student Support, Director of Orientation & First-Year Experience.

Students were proactively seeking more early engagement in anticipation of attending, showing Nathan and his team they didn’t have a yield problem; they had a connection problem.

Improving Program Delivery and Management

Inserting a well-timed, interactive, and more accessible online orientation into the onboarding process has produced both planned and surprising outcomes:

• Over half of new students completed online orientation within 10 days of launch, with 100% completing the program within 45 days.
• Virtual one-on-one advising sessions over the summer are making enrollment and scheduling decisions more understandable and more productive.
• Reallocation of resources enabled the expansion of experiential first-term programs from six to 17.
• Continuous access to online orientation reinforces a redesigned first-year experience program.

While Nathan acknowledges the perceptions of online orientation "feeling a bit impersonal," it allows Denison to deliver content in a format students can easily explore on their own multiple times. It has also given Nathan, his staff, and campus partners time to keep the relationship at the forefront of the transition and onboarding process.

We've removed a lot of friction, from travel to on-campus experiences to trying to navigate advising software. Students and families have a convenient resource they can reference in a way our two-day, in-person program never did.

Request this Recording to

• Learn from Nathan Graves, Associate Dean of Student Support, Director of Orientation & First-Year Experience at Denison University
• Tour Denison’s Orientation Platform
• Gain practical knowledge in Program Delivery and Management
• Examine the use of analytics to drive data-driven decisions
• Engage and get your chat questions answered
• Discover an online orientation solution adaptable to any onboarding strategy