Welcome to History

by Dr Sarah Feehan, School of History.

The School of History participated in the ‘Programme orientation – more than just the week before term’ workshop which offered us the opportunity to discuss our approach to orientation and to hear how other units in UCD managed orientation. The workshop allowed us to demonstrate the emphasis we put on welcoming and communicating with our students from the pre-registration period through to the completion of their degree.

As part of the workshop we discussed how we use information sessions to give students direct access to academic staff in an informal setting, the use of promotional material such as school tote bags and information flyers to make us more visible to students, and the link we have with the student History Society, who hold their events in the School. Through these methods we establish and maintain a relationship with both our undergraduate and graduate students.

During the workshop we had the opportunity to share our experiences with programme offices, other schools, and student advisors and learn about their experience of orientation and communication with students.

This allowed us to situate our experience in a wider context and see what other units found useful. This workshop was a good introduction to thinking about orientation in a much broader way and started a conversation.

If you are interested in finding out more about the local programme orientation CoP, contact irene.rose@ucd.ie, niall.dennehy@ucd.ie, erin.omalley@ucd.ie.