Wednesday, June 3, 2026
2:00 – 3:15 pm ET

Strategies That Drive Belonging, Confidence, and First-Year Success

National research consistently shows that belonging, early engagement, and clarity of expectations are among the strongest predictors of retention and academic success. When institutions fail to address these challenges with intentional, relationship centered onboarding, the result is predictable: disengagement, diminished confidence, and increased first year attrition.

Early onboarding is not a welcome event; it is a strategic, research informed process that connects students to people, purpose, and place.

Join us on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, for a high impact learning experience designed for staff and faculty who interact with students inside and outside the classroom. Our presenter will share practical, research based strategies to redesign onboarding as a human centered, sustained journey that nurtures belonging, builds confidence, and empowers students to navigate their undergraduate experience with agency. This session will help your institution transform one time, transactional touchpoints (orientation, advising, ID processing, scheduling) into ongoing, campus wide, transformational experiences. You will learn how to embed students in the community, clarify expectations, and build trust in campus support systems from day one.

Redefine onboarding as a semester long relationship building process aligned with measurable goals for engagement, retention, and student confidence and equip your campus to deliver an experience that truly supports student success.

Topics Covered

You will leave the webinar able to implement practical, research-based strategies and actionable takeaways that will help you to:

• Design onboarding initiatives that create a cohesive, research aligned student experience.
• Shift from information delivery to relationship development through peer mentoring, faculty micro engagements and small group communities that foster belonging.
• Equip faculty to play a meaningful role in student success through early outreach, relational advising practices and participation in co curricular engagement opportunities.
• Build student confidence using care based communication that demystifies academic processes (advising, financial aid, registration), while empowering students to navigate them independently.
• Implement a 30/60/90 day follow up model to assess student adjustment, identify barriers early, and reinforce institutional support.
• Integrate campus traditions and student voices into onboarding to strengthen authenticity, culture and institutional affinity.
• Position onboarding as a shared, care centered ecosystem that unites student affairs, academic affairs, and faculty around sustained student success.
  

Presenter

Dr. Jeri Heileman is currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona located in Tucson, Arizona.
Click here for full bio.