CSUEB's Online Campus Orientation Program Earns Innovative Program Award

Cal State East Bay’s Online Campus department recently earned the Innovative Program Award from the National Orientation Directors Association for its new online East Bay Orientation Program.

NODA works to provide education, leadership and development for college student orientation, transition and retention professionals. According to the association’s website, the Innovative Program Award is given annually  to projects that offer unique approaches to challenging situations or specific campus concerns or needs.

Roger Wen, director of CSUEB’s Office of the Online Campus, said earlier this year that the department piloted a program called Smart Sparrow Adaptive Learning which allowed the Online Campus to collaborate with the Student Life and Leadership team to redesign its online transfer orientation course. The course redesign was completed last June, offered to transfer students this summer and then submitted for the NODA award in fall.

According to a letter from NODA, judges felt the program was “an impressive representation of an instance when when an institution evaluated a need and went above and beyond to address it. CSU East Bay seems to have continued to adapt it and grow the program since it began.”

Campus Curriculum Support Specialist Monica Monuz represented CSUEB at the NODA conference in early November and accepted the award.