Piloting a Library-Led Online Academic Skills Orientation Program
This article describes the pilot of a program called JumpStart Your Learning, a libraryled, pre-entry, online academic skills orientation for incoming undergraduate and graduate students conducted in August 2021. The pilot featured a range of synchronous online workshops, panel discussions, and “Ask Me Anything” sessions over a four-day period, which provided students an opportunity to learn from learning specialists, librarians, peer mentors, professors, academic advisors, and other campus partners. The pilot was attended by 548 unique students with overall workshop and panel attendance totaling 1310. The article provides insight into the inspiration for the pilot, reflects on event planning and logistics, describes the topics covered during the event, and discusses how lessons learned from the 2021 program informed the planning process of the 2022 program, which included both online and in-person elements. The article concludes with recommendations for other library professionals who are interested in undertaking similar orientation programming and encourages them to reflect on how libraries can take a leading role in supporting student transition and academic acculturation if such programming is not currently in place at their institutions.