Rites Of Passage In College

Matriculating in a four-year college or university, as a new or first-time student, is an experience unlike any other. Whether one is following the path of a traditional student or a non-traditional student, is a minority student on a predominantly white campus, a first generation student, a low-income student, or a combination of the former, a college or university can be a completely new, unfamiliar, and unintuitive landscape to navigate. Student persistence & departure theories have noted the importance of student’s incorporation into the community and culture of an institution. Tinto’s (1993) student departure theory, suggests that departure is associated with noninvolvement that can create a perception of not belonging or fitting in the

One may experience stress and feelings of loss during the separation and transition phases (Tinto, 1988), however, if successfully achieved, while still in the transition phase, interaction with the new environment enables the student to explore new values, norms, and ideas (Milem & Berger, 1997) assisting their shift to the next phase, incorporation. During this final phase, one seeks adoption of the appropriate social and academic norms of their particular institution to assume the perception of membership or belonging (Tinto,

Given the fact that these programs are designed to: assist with students’ adjustment to campus life and culture, set expectations for their impending college careers, inform them of academic standards, school policies & procedures, help with the academic & social transition, and help families understand their role in their student’s process (Robinson, Burns and Gaw, 1996; Upcraft and Farnsworth, 1984; Tinto, 1988; Upcraft, Gardner and Barefoot, 2004), Tinto (1988) advises that “orientation programs, for instance, are…popular forms of introduction to the life of college. But in most cases, they are very short-lived, if not highly symbolic in character, and do not provide for the sorts of extended contact needed for the establishment of community membership,”