Orientation Workgroup
- William Vittetoe
- Yana Mitsos
- Valentina Gómez (Unlicensed)
- Elizabeth Clevenger
Overview
This workgroup is tasked with developing a cohesive, systematic program for onboarding all international students at UT.
Team members | @William Vittetoe @Elizabeth Clevenger / @Lauren Wood / Jason Martisek/ Howard Perry / @Yana Mitsos / Nick Jakel/ Cymone Samuels / @Valentina Gómez (Unlicensed) /GSS Representatives / Marin Wooley / Ivonne Vidal/ Callie Laughlin/ Laura Bryant / @Anna Kholod / Anthony Lanagan |
Due Date | July 1, 2024 |
Retrospective period |
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Navigation
Updates
Pre-Arrival Engagement July 10th at 8am via zoom
Summer Orientation July 10th 3-5pm
Summer 2025 dates
Agenda
Plans for Fall 2024
Pre-Arrival Engagement
Summer Orientation
Student Guide Updates - DUE MAY 16th!!
Scholar Onboarding Process
Immediate Tasks
Send Yana ( yana@utk.edu ) any engagement updates for Fall2024 Orientation
Bullet point notes/ideas of what you are going to write about.
Look over Pre-Arrival material and make any edits necessary.
Onboarding Lifecycle
Students - Point of admission until six weeks into the semester.
Stage | What happens here? | Who is responsible? | What populations? |
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Point of Admission |
| EM, ISSS | Undergrad, Grad, Exchange |
Pre-Arrival |
| ISSS, EM, Grad School | Undergrad, Exchange (Vet Med), Traditional Grad |
Arrival/Orientation |
| ISSS | Undergrad, Grad, Exchange |
Post-Arrival |
| I-House | Undergrad, Grad, Exchange |
Content Needs for Student Orientation Guide
Highlighted Rows = Content that needs to added
Content | How is this delivered? | When is this delivered? | Content Owner | Type | Priority | Deliverables |
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Research Plans for Visa Issuance | Website | Pre-Arrival | ISSS | Student and Scholar | High |
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Academic Success | Booklet | Orientation | ISSS | Student | Completed |
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Transportation | Booklet | Pre-Arrival | ISSS @Elizabeth Clevenger | Student and Scholar |
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Timeline of the onboarding experience | Website/ Booklet | Pre Arrival | @Yana Mitsos | Student | Moderate |
Other iterations on Canva for review |
Overview of the UT educational structure | Booklet | Orientation | @William Vittetoe | Student and Scholar | High |
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Health Insurance and Health Care | Confluence/Booklet | Orientation | @Elizabeth Clevenger | Student | Completed |
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Being A Graduate Student at UT | Booklet | Orientation | Nick Jakel, Howard Perry | Student | Completed | 
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On-Boarding for GA GRA | Website maybe booklet | Pre-Arrival and Orientation? | Howard Perry and Nick Jakel | Student | High |
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Welcome Greeting from Provost | Booklet | Orientation | @William Vittetoe | Student and Scholar | Moderate |
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Who can help you with what? | Website - booklet | Orientation | All | Student and Scholar | High |
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Top Immigration Status Issues | Website and Booklet | Orientation | @Elizabeth Clevenger | Student and Scholar | High | 
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Tax Information (brief overview) | Website and Booklet | Orientation | @Elizabeth Clevenger | Student and Scholar | High | 
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Culture Shock and Cultural Adjustment | Booklet | Orientation | Cymone Samuels, @Elizabeth Clevenger | Student and Scholar | Completed | 
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On-Campus Dining (short), Off-Campus Food Resources and Markets, Big Orange Pantry | Booklet | Pre-Arrival, Arrival | @Yana Mitsos | Student, but could be tailored to Scholar | Completed |
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Off-Campus Housing | Booklet | Pre-Arrival and Orientation | @William Vittetoe | Student for off-campus student housing Scholar for general off-campus housing | Completed |
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UT Safety and Live Safe App | Booklet | Orientation | @Elizabeth Clevenger | Student | Completed |
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Family Needs and Childcare | Website and booklet | Orientation | @Valentina Gómez (Unlicensed) | Scholar | Completed, but needs to be added |
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Enrollment Requirements | Website and booklet | Orientation | @William Vittetoe @Yana Mitsos @Elizabeth Clevenger | Student | High | see immigration info, above - EC |
Employment | Website and booklet | Orientation | @Yana Mitsos | Student and Scholar | High | 
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Campus Life and Activities/ UT Traditions | booklet | Orientation | Howard Perry and Jason Martisek | Student and Scholar | Moderate |
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Content Needs for Exchange Visitor Orientation Guide
https://utkisss.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IBP/pages/283934726
Public-Facing Exchange Visitor/Dependent Content Tracking → find content and its status here
Blue cells mirror the content in the orientation handbook above
Red cells are new content
Yellow cells are content that already existed on Confluence
White cells have not been started yet
Green cells are content that that needs to be written by this group
Content | Content Creator | Type | Deliverables | Comments |
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INTRODUCTION |
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Greetings from the Provost |
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Val |
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Who can help you with what? (ISSS vs. HR vs. Departments vs. YOU) | Val |
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PRE-ARRIVAL INFORMATION |
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Intro to the J Visitor Exchange Program: Requirements, Regulations, and Limitations | Val |
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Val |
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Val |
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Val |
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Val |
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Val |
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PRE-ARRIVAL CONSIDERATIONS |
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| “stuff you need to look into now and take care of asap after arrival” |
Val |
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Val |
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| p. 5 | |
ISSS |
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| p. 15-16 | |
Val |
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Val |
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| p. 7 – p. 17 | |
ISSS |
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| p. 6 (barely) – p. 10 | |
ISSS |
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| p. 6 (barely) – p. 16 | |
ISSS |
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ON-BOARDING |
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Val |
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| p. 10 | |
Val |
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Val |
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| p. 11 (Utilities, phone number, internet and TV, renters insurance) | |
Val |
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WELCOME |
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Val |
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| divided into (1) Technology and (2) VolCard, and (3) Facilities (“Utilitarian”) / p. 13 / | |
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Campus Life and Activities | Jason and Howard on the student side, Valentina will adapt them for scholars |
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| UT Traditions |
CULTURAL ADJUSTMENTS | Valentina |
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American Social Behavior |
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| from Orientation Guide |
Working in Higher-Ed in the U.S. |
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| What to expect as a professor and as a colleague What can staff expect → talk to the Staff Senate |
Val |
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| p. 18-19 / Include Title IX and Disability info / Incident Reports*** | |
Leisure |
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| “The Classic” On and off-campus activities and facilities |
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| p. 19 | |
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DEPENDENTS |
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Guide to Childcare in Tennessee and Finding a Program in Knoxville | Val |
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Guide to the U.S. School System and Enrolling Kids in Tennessee Schools |
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Immigration Regulations and Visa/Status Limitations for Dependents | Val |
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Val |
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| (Priority: some sort of list of activities for spouses and for children) | |
BEFORE LEAVING UT |
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Exit Checklist |
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| p. 20 |
Engagement Needs
If there is anything for us to be aware of for August Orientation, let me know!
Event | Who is doing this? | When does it happen? | Populations | Priority |
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Pre-Arrival Engagement | ISSS, EM, Grad School | June, July | Undergrad, Traditional Grad | High |
Airport Pickups | International House |
| Undergrad, Graduate, Exchange, Special Programs | Critical |
GSS Welcome Event | GSS |
| Graduates |
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Orientation | ISSS | 08/17/2024 | Undergrad, Grad, Exchange | Mandatory |
Graduate Resource Fair | Graduate School | Fri. 8/9 - in-person at Circle Park |
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GTA Orientation | Graduate School | Thurs 8/8 - online |
| Mandatory? for TAs |
Grad Student Orientation | Grad School | Tues 8/6 - online |
| High |
International House Welcome and Campus Tour | International House, ISSS, Global Ambassadors |
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Welcome Lunch with Resources and Student Groups | International House, ISSS, CGE, EM, Grad School |
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Service Project with a Lunch | I-House | TBD |
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International Mother Language Day | I-House and GSS/WLC | 02/21/2024 |
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Friendship Program | I-House |
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Deliverables
Deliverable | Who is doing this? | Status | Budget | Drafts |
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Orientation Booklet | ISSS, EM, Grad School |
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Orientation PowerPoint | ISSS | Completed |
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Pre-Arrival Program | EM, ISSS, Grad School | On-Going |
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Action plan
Action | Owner | Due date | Action items |
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Create Assessment Piece | @William Vittetoe |
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Website Landing Page-Currently defunct
CGE Comms will create and host a centralized landing page that we can dive all incoming international students to for information about becoming a student at UT. Emphasis is on reducing the amount of text and serving as more of a link hub.
Cultural Adjustment - I House is the do/ ISSS is the learn
Category | Content (links) | Status |
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Incoming Graduate Students | International Graduate Students: https://gradschool.utk.edu/graduate-student-life/international-graduate-students/ (could we make this more focused?) Costs and Funding: Costs and Funding - The Graduate School (do we want to have anything for internationals?) After Admission/Next Steps: Office of Graduate Admissions - The Graduate School Official Transcript/Degree Certificate Instructions for Non-U.S. Institutions: https://gradschool.utk.edu/admissions/applying-to-graduate-school/transcripts/transcript-submission-for-non-u-s-institutions/ |
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Incoming Undergraduate | First-Time Students Admission Requirements- International Students Application - Undergraduate Admissions - University of Tennessee, Knoxville Transfer Students- Transfer Students Application - Undergraduate Admissions - University of Tennessee, Knoxville (we do not have any language driving internationals) Scholarships- Scholarships - One Stop Student Services (updates for the future) Next Steps- International Admitted Students - Undergraduate Admissions - University of Tennessee, Knoxville (do we need to have something that drives other statuses?) |
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Incoming ELI Students | Prospective Students: https://eli.utk.edu/prospective-students/ |
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Incoming Special Program (Exchange, Lean Enterprise, Vet Med, 2+2 ect…) | Incoming Exchange: https://programsabroad.utk.edu/incoming-exchange/incoming-exchange-students/ (there is a lot of duplication and overlap here. ISSS is working with PAO to sort this out.) Vet Med seems to be missing. Lean Enterprise Systems is missing. |
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Campus Resources | ISSS Next Steps/Pre-Arrival Checklist: https://international.utk.edu/international-students-and-scholars-services/isss-incoming-students/pre-arrival-checklist/ Search for Campus Organizations: - University of Tennessee Campus Events: - University of Tennessee OIT Getting Started on Campus Guide: https://oit.utk.edu/general/areyounew/getting-started-on-campus/
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