Higher Education & Student Personnel Practicum Experience

Marie Tucker

First Year Experience

University of Central Florida

July 27th, 2021

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Introduction

The First Year Experience (FYE) office at the University of Central Florida (UCF) is one

of many offices and/or departments which reside under the Student Development and Enrollment

Services (SDES) division. SDES is UCF’s student affairs division and houses many offices and

departments which aid in the various different areas of student success, including health,

wellbeing, and cultural consciousness.

FYE is designed to help make the transition to UCF much easier and streamlined for our

incoming Transfer and First-time in College (FTIC) students. This is done through the

facilitation of multiple transitional programs and services created specifically for incoming

students and their families. Generally, these programs are meant to compliment the mission of

UCF and prepare students to be successful during their academic career.

The UCF Orientation program is perhaps the largest and most front-facing program

overseen by FYE. This program serves as the first tangible point of contact between UCF and

incoming students and their families. FYE facilitates Orientation sessions for both FTIC and

Transfer students which are meant to provide information about student services, campus life,

academic support, academic advising, and registration. Also, this program owes much of its

success to the partnership with student leaders called O-Teamers or Orientation Leaders as they

bring the spirit and student perspective necessary to garner incoming student buy-in.

Additionally, the Pegasus Parent program is another way that FYE fosters collaboration

with parents and family members. This program is meant to provide information about the

resources and services available at UCF to empower families to aid in their student’s success. As

part of this program, FYE facilitates a separate Family & Guest Orientation which allows

participants to learn all about UCF, ask questions of other families, current students, and
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university staff and administrators. Beyond Orientation, the Pegasus Parent program includes

outreach to families through newsletters, online services, and special family visit programs, like

Family Weekend, which are designed to bring families to campus and get them connected to the

UCF community.

Reflection

Throughout this practicum experience, I had the opportunity to work on both of the main

programs overseen by FYE. This experience can be described as a hybrid work environment due

to the restrictions created by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Much of my work was done in a

virtual setting, however, as UCF has been transitioning back to “normal operations,” I have also

had the opportunity to work a limited number of hours in-person. The following pages will serve

as a reflection of the specific projects I was tasked with as well as some of my most valuable

takeaways from these opportunities.

Before jumping into the team, I had the opportunity to experience the FYE onboarding

process. I took time to meet with my supervisor to review the position description, expectations,

and any questions that were remaining at the end of this process. Additionally, I attended the

Orientation Team training to get acquainted with our student staff team and the different

procedures and practices that drive the virtual orientation process. Finally, my supervisor

scheduled a follow-up meeting to answer any further questions I had as well as to provide more

specialized training for the other job tasks I was assigned to take on. To supplement the

onboarding process, I had regularly scheduled check-ins with my supervisor as well as the

opportunity to attend FYE All Staff meetings and a one-on-one with the Director of FYE. I
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found this process to be very thorough and engaging which allowed me to feel confident in the

job elements I was being asked to take on.

At first, most of my time as the FYE practicum student was focused on assisting with the

Orientation Success Sessions in various capacities. To explain, since the Orientation program

was fully virtual for the second year in a row, it is broken down into two parts. The first part of

the Orientation program is the UCF Success Session which consists of a Welcome session, Spirit

and Traditions presentation, Success Panel Q&A, and a Small Group session. The second part of

Orientation is on a separate day called the Advising and Enrollment session where the students

meet with their academic advisor to enroll in classes. As the practicum student, I only assisted

with the Success Session dates in which I would monitor the Q&A box throughout the Welcome

and Spirit & Traditions sessions as well as host the Success Panel Q&A and Small Group

sessions. This was an extremely developmental opportunity for me as I have struggled with

public speaking throughout my entire educational career and although these experiences were in

a virtual setting, speaking and facilitating sessions in front of up to 500 students can still be

nerve-wracking. Additionally, I was able to become a Zoom expert and really enhance and fine-

tune the necessary for being successful in a highly digital world.

Furthermore, much of the rest of my time with FYE was taken up by assisting with the

Pegasus Parent program webinars. As previously mentioned, the Pegasus Parent program

oversees the Family & Guest Orientation program which consists of a webcourse as well as

weekly live webinars. I served as a co-host on approximately 15 of these webinars which each

had a different topic as well as panelists from various different campus partners. Serving as a co-

host on these webinars further strengthened my public speaking and facilitation skills as well as

allowed me to learn more about many of the different programs and services offered to UCF
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students and families. I was also able to develop more confidence in speaking with parents and

family members.

Another responsibility of mine related to the Guest Orientation webinars and Q&A

sessions were the assessment reports. The completion of these assessment reports was my sole

responsibility from start to finish. There were approximately 20 webinars throughout my time as

the practicum student with each webinar getting an individual assessment report. The tasks

associated with these reports included compiling data and analytics from Zoom, analyzing

survey results, and compiling all of this information into one uniform report to be used for

internal tracking as well as to be shared out with our participating campus partners. Before this

practicum, I had little to no experience with assessment or report writing so this was an

incredible learning opportunity for me. Through this skill-building opportunity, I also gained the

ability to understand why assessment of our programs and services is needed and how proper

assessment efforts help to continually enhance services offered by student affairs departments.

Finally, I spent approximately 20 hours of my time shadowing various people and

positions within FYE to get a better overall understanding of the office culture and many of the

behind-the-scenes tasks that are necessary to keep everything running smoothly. This time is

what I would classify as the “hybrid” part of my experience as I was able to actually be in the

FYE office during these hours. These shadowing opportunities provided much of the context that

I needed to fully understand how FYE operates and manages such intricate programs which rely

on so many external partners to be successful. For example, while shadowing my supervisor, I

saw how they pulled attendance reports from different academic advisors which track students

who attended their Advising/Enrollment sessions to know which students would need a hold on

their account so those that did not attend could not register for classes without meeting with their
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advisor. I was also able shadow the FYE Student Assistants to see how they helped students

through the complex virtual orientation process by monitoring email questions as well as

answering phone calls throughout the day. Whilst shadowing, I was able to understand many of

the nuanced processes that occur “behind the curtain” to keep the “show” running without a

hitch. This part of my experience was possibly the most fascinating as it made me very aware

that if even one person messed up on their piece of the puzzle, the whole operation would fall

apart. Additionally, being in-person allowed me to get a good feel of the office culture which I

would describe as being very close-knit, welcoming, and much like a small family. I believe that

this culture also contributes greatly to the success of the office since strong communication

between staff is necessary to keep up with the demanding operations, especially during this busy

season.

Conclusion

All in all, I have been very grateful to complete my practicum within First Year

Experience at UCF. Both student and professional staff members have been incredibly

welcoming and developmental in my time working for this office. I have made valuable

connections that I hope to maintain long after I depart from this institution. Further, I have

developed and fine-tuned skills that I would not have had the opportunity to focus on through my

assistantship and therefore I consider this experience a huge success.

More specifically, my main goals before beginning this experience were to gain

opportunities to work directly with student staff, learn more about the essential processes and

mechanics that go into programs overseen by FYE, and to explore FYE’s role in increasing

student success and retention at UCF. Each of these goals has been directly addressed and
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accomplished by the various projects and tasks I was assigned in my time at FYE. For example,

my close ties to the Orientation Team allowed me to develop relationships with many of the

student staff in both a virtual and in-person setting while my shadowing opportunities gave me

the background context needed to fully understand FYE’s role in garnering student success and

retention in a collegiate setting.

Regarding my career goals, this practicum experience has opened my eyes to many of the

possible career paths that I can take post-graduation. While I cannot narrow my sights to one

area of student affairs to focus on in the upcoming job search, I now know that I would prefer a

more front-facing role that regularly interacts with students and student staff. I have also had the

chance to develop many different skills that I would not have been able to do through my

assistantship. For example, this practicum has offered me many chances to sharpen my public

speaking skills as well as learn how to facilitate Q&As and discussions in a virtual setting. I have

also had the opportunity to learn a lot about assessment and how it helps FYE improve their

programming efforts. Also, I can now confidently tell future employers that I have in-depth

assessment experience and will be able to speak to these skills in an interview setting.

Ultimately, this practicum has helped to diversify my professional work experiences with

various student affairs offices and departments and will make me a very well-rounded candidate

as I enter the job search post graduation.