Out-Of-State Student Info Session

Emily Klesner Author

05/11/2022 Added

18 Plays

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Orientation info session

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[00:00:02.150]Hello everyone.
[00:00:02.983]Today we're gonna be talking about some tips and tricks
[00:00:05.620]for out-of-state students.
[00:00:07.670]My name is Emily Klesner.
[00:00:08.970]I work for New Student Enrollment
[00:00:10.530]as an Orientation Coordinator.
[00:00:15.770]So in today's session, we're gonna be talking
[00:00:17.180]about navigating a new environment, so common logistics
[00:00:21.310]that a lot of our out-of-state students face,
[00:00:23.440]and then also how our out-of-state students
[00:00:25.510]find community here at UNL.
[00:00:28.350]So one of the best things that can be helpful here
[00:00:31.260]is when navigating campus in Lincoln
[00:00:34.450]are kind of finding the layout of Lincoln
[00:00:36.770]and getting familiar with that.
[00:00:38.580]Our downtown area especially
[00:00:40.770]is in a very much a grid layout,
[00:00:42.760]so it's very easy to figure out
[00:00:44.660]the lettered streets versus the numbered streets.
[00:00:46.930]They all go north or south, east to west.
[00:00:50.050]It makes it pretty easy once you kind of get your layouts,
[00:00:52.320]and then we also encourage students to find landmarks
[00:00:54.560]to help them kind of get their cardinal direction.
[00:00:56.850]So knowing what's north, south, east, and west
[00:00:59.970]can really help them
[00:01:00.920]as they're trying to navigate their way around Lincoln.
[00:01:04.980]Thinking about practical matters
[00:01:06.510]can be really important before coming.
[00:01:09.030]Knowing how your student's gonna be banking.
[00:01:11.040]If you have a really small local bank
[00:01:13.390]that they're currently at,
[00:01:14.800]are students gonna be able to get cash out
[00:01:17.240]when they need to and get money transferred
[00:01:19.480]that they may need while they're here?
[00:01:21.450]We do have a great bank right on campus,
[00:01:23.490]Union Bank & Trust.
[00:01:24.630]They work with students amazingly well.
[00:01:27.770]They have great rates for students,
[00:01:29.390]special accounts for them,
[00:01:31.130]and the best thing that they really have
[00:01:32.500]is that they can reprint debit cards on site.
[00:01:35.740]So if your student ever loses their card for any reason,
[00:01:38.360]all they have to do is walk into the branch
[00:01:40.070]and they'll have a new card in five minutes,
[00:01:42.290]which is really helpful, a lot easier
[00:01:44.070]than your bank sending the card to your house
[00:01:46.850]and then sending it all the way here to your student.
[00:01:48.880]They can have it very quickly.
[00:01:51.030]Making sure that if your student,
[00:01:53.370]if you have health insurance,
[00:01:54.490]that your student is bringing
[00:01:55.660]those health insurance cards with them
[00:01:58.240]so that they have it and they're prepared
[00:02:00.130]if something happens.
[00:02:01.430]If they don't have health insurance,
[00:02:02.700]we do offer health insurance through the university,
[00:02:04.980]through the Health Center
[00:02:06.110]that they can take a part of as well.
[00:02:08.260]And lastly here, remembering to bring
[00:02:10.150]their social security card with them.
[00:02:12.590]I know it can be kind of scary.
[00:02:14.070]You don't necessarily want to send
[00:02:15.270]that kind of important document with your student
[00:02:17.390]who may still be learning to be all responsible
[00:02:20.730]with a lot of important things,
[00:02:22.040]but a lot of times our students struggle
[00:02:24.440]'cause they want to come and get an on campus job
[00:02:26.470]and they need that social security card
[00:02:28.130]to fill out their paperwork,
[00:02:29.940]and their social security card is a thousand miles away
[00:02:32.490]back home with their parents and they have to wait
[00:02:34.530]before they can get that on campus job or job in Lincoln.
[00:02:38.120]So thinking about those things they might need
[00:02:40.670]that'll be harder to get far away from home.
[00:02:44.610]Coming to Welcome Week,
[00:02:45.690]which is our time right before classes
[00:02:48.140]where we have tons of events for students to enjoy.
[00:02:51.010]It's a great time to get familiar with campus,
[00:02:53.450]with Lincoln, and get to meet a lot of new people.
[00:02:56.230]And then we also have events all throughout the semester
[00:02:59.550]and the year that take students not only around campus
[00:03:03.100]and meeting different campus partners
[00:03:04.620]and different resources, but also all around Lincoln
[00:03:06.810]to get to know the community more.
[00:03:10.460]One thing a lot of our students tend to deal with
[00:03:12.590]from out-of-state, of course, is home sickness.
[00:03:14.570]Even some of our instate students
[00:03:16.070]who are hours away feel this as well,
[00:03:18.450]so a couple things that can help balance that
[00:03:20.770]is talking about your communication before you leave,
[00:03:24.670]before your student ever leaves and comes to campus,
[00:03:27.580]agreeing on how much are you gonna call each other?
[00:03:30.190]What's your expectation of them calling you?
[00:03:32.770]What's their expectation of you reaching out to them?
[00:03:35.770]That way, neither one of you feel overwhelmed
[00:03:38.590]or underwhelmed, like you're lacking communication,
[00:03:41.180]but that way you kind of agreed upon it
[00:03:42.840]so that way your student feels supported
[00:03:45.600]but not overwhelmed at the same time.
[00:03:49.010]One thing that can be helpful
[00:03:50.120]for parents is to reach out in different ways.
[00:03:52.810]Even though you may be far away,
[00:03:54.900]just sending cards once in awhile or care packages,
[00:03:58.240]planning those visits.
[00:03:59.360]I know some of our students said
[00:04:00.690]that before their parents ever left campus,
[00:04:03.700]they agreed upon the next time
[00:04:05.340]they were gonna see each other,
[00:04:06.390]and whether that was in a few weeks or a month
[00:04:09.410]or even Thanksgiving, knowing when that time was gonna be
[00:04:13.410]and something for them to look forward to
[00:04:14.820]really help them kind of settle in their first few weeks.
[00:04:18.180]I will note that Family Weekend
[00:04:19.850]is September 23rd through the 25th.
[00:04:22.130]That'll be over our football game weekend.
[00:04:24.480]Lots of great activities and fun things.
[00:04:26.590]It's a really good time to visit
[00:04:28.040]if you're looking for a good weekend.
[00:04:31.180]We also encourage our out-of-state students
[00:04:32.710]to make connections with other out-of-state students.
[00:04:35.710]They're of course gonna be the students
[00:04:37.070]who understand the most what they're going through.
[00:04:39.570]So finding other students you can talk
[00:04:42.070]about the same kinds of challenges
[00:04:43.760]or fun adventures that you're having
[00:04:45.730]and exploring those new things together
[00:04:47.450]can be really helpful.
[00:04:49.280]And then lastly, just remembering
[00:04:51.230]for students to take care of their mental health.
[00:04:52.750]So we have CAPS,
[00:04:53.610]which is our Counseling and Psychological Services.
[00:04:56.900]They have free appointments for students
[00:04:59.290]to take advantage of
[00:05:00.130]if they are just needing someone to talk to,
[00:05:02.270]and we also have Big Red Resilience
[00:05:03.630]that puts on a lot of programming
[00:05:04.860]to help students with that as well.
[00:05:08.117]Some common logistics
[00:05:09.010]that our out-of-state students often face
[00:05:10.850]are transportation in Lincoln.
[00:05:13.720]What that looks like if you're bringing a car,
[00:05:16.460]if you're using bikes, bus, Uber, Lyft,
[00:05:19.160]whatever that may be, thinking that through
[00:05:21.070]and understanding what your options are,
[00:05:23.860]and we'll talk a little bit more about that.
[00:05:26.030]The parking options that you have.
[00:05:27.920]If your student's living in a residence hall,
[00:05:29.690]they will have a specific lot that they will park in
[00:05:32.420]near their residence hall.
[00:05:34.500]If they are happen to be living off campus
[00:05:36.790]as an out-of-state student, we do have a lot of options
[00:05:39.340]for our commuter students as well,
[00:05:41.330]and then there's a lot of metered parking
[00:05:43.120]all over campus that students use frequently.
[00:05:46.440]And then in a moment here,
[00:05:47.700]we will talk about kind of our airport
[00:05:49.340]and long distance shuttle options
[00:05:50.930]and what that can be for students.
[00:05:54.570]So when it comes to airports,
[00:05:55.640]our students usually pick from of these two options.
[00:05:58.480]We do have the Lincoln Airport right in Lincoln,
[00:06:00.880]very convenient, about 15 minutes away from UNL.
[00:06:04.170]Obviously it can be a little more expensive.
[00:06:05.950]It is a small airport,
[00:06:07.410]but the convenience factor is really great
[00:06:10.100]for a lot of our students to just be
[00:06:11.860]a quick little car right away from campus.
[00:06:14.580]A lot of our students also do use the Omaha Airport.
[00:06:16.890]It's only about an hour from campus.
[00:06:19.340]It's a bigger international airport
[00:06:21.250]so it's a little easier to get flights in and out of.
[00:06:24.440]Your different ride options for getting from Omaha
[00:06:28.610]but also just to Lincoln,
[00:06:30.360]when you're going back and forth between Omaha,
[00:06:32.550]if you do flight into that airport,
[00:06:34.760]OMALiNK is a third-party certified shuttle service.
[00:06:37.870]It's not run through the university,
[00:06:39.500]but we do partner with them a lot.
[00:06:41.970]For about $85, they'll take your student
[00:06:44.640]directly from the airport to any address in Lincoln,
[00:06:48.590]and you can pre-reserve those ahead of time.
[00:06:50.690]So that could be really great to know that your student
[00:06:52.610]is in safe, reliable transportation
[00:06:56.220]getting from Omaha to Lincoln.
[00:06:58.943]And we also have what's called the N-E Ride.
[00:07:01.620]That is a shuttle bus that UNL students
[00:07:04.610]are able to take from the Lincoln campus
[00:07:07.120]up to the University of Nebraska Omaha campus.
[00:07:10.800]This still puts students about 15 minutes away
[00:07:13.130]from the Omaha Airport,
[00:07:14.970]but that does make it a kind of quick,
[00:07:17.250]much cheaper little Uber or Lyft ride over to the airport
[00:07:20.540]from the UNO campus and saves a lot of money
[00:07:23.730]getting up to Omaha or back down to Lincoln, either way.
[00:07:28.450]All students need to do is make a quick reservation
[00:07:32.160]that can be done
[00:07:32.993]even when they're about to get onto the bus.
[00:07:35.630]It doesn't have to be done very much ahead of time.
[00:07:38.060]As long as there's spots available,
[00:07:39.410]your student can make a reservation
[00:07:40.800]and pop up to Omaha or come back down to Lincoln
[00:07:43.250]during the school year.
[00:07:45.270]We also have a Greyhound bus station in Lincoln
[00:07:48.730]that students can use if you have a bus that runs
[00:07:51.790]through where you live currently.
[00:07:54.050]That bus station is about 20 minutes away from campus,
[00:07:57.060]so they would still need to do a short Uber or Lyft ride
[00:08:01.380]or get a friend to pick them up
[00:08:02.800]and bring them back to campus,
[00:08:04.120]but it is an option that a lot of students use.
[00:08:06.760]We do have an Amtrak station as well.
[00:08:08.580]So if you live on an Amtrak line, your student can use that.
[00:08:12.840]That station is just over in Haymarket,
[00:08:15.220]so about a 15 minute walk, a five minute drive,
[00:08:18.680]so it is walkable,
[00:08:19.860]or a lot of students just get one of their friends
[00:08:21.930]to come and pick them up.
[00:08:24.320]And lastly here, ridesharing is a really great option.
[00:08:27.370]A lot of our students have been able to make friends
[00:08:29.960]on their residence hall floors or in their classes
[00:08:33.100]who either live the same route home as them
[00:08:36.890]so they can split gas and get close to each other,
[00:08:40.150]or they have made friends who live in Omaha
[00:08:43.010]and live near the airport
[00:08:44.100]and don't mind taking them up when there's a break.
[00:08:46.590]One of our students who lived in Texas,
[00:08:49.110]she actually reserved an OMALiNK her first Thanksgiving
[00:08:52.940]that she was going home
[00:08:54.180]because she didn't know she was gonna get to the airport,
[00:08:56.210]and then after she made that whole reservation
[00:08:58.170]and paid for it,
[00:08:59.180]a couple different of her friends were like,
[00:09:00.907]"Oh, I would've given you a ride to the Omaha Airport.
[00:09:03.417]"I live really close to there.
[00:09:04.377]"I didn't realize that's where you were going."
[00:09:07.150]And she just hadn't asked.
[00:09:08.290]And so we really encourage our students to ask around
[00:09:10.550]'cause a lot of times you can get a friend
[00:09:12.520]who can very easily drop you off and pick you back up
[00:09:15.250]with the same schedule and save a lot of money that way.
[00:09:19.290]We also have two student-run Facebook groups.
[00:09:22.050]These are not directly affiliated with the university
[00:09:24.450]but a lot of our students are a part of them,
[00:09:26.820]and you can just post in those
[00:09:28.540]and ask if anyone's going in your direction
[00:09:31.760]or to an airport and try and split the ride.
[00:09:37.270]We really encourage our out-of-state students
[00:09:39.470]to find their community on campus,
[00:09:41.740]and there's a lot of different ways that they can do this.
[00:09:43.720]One of the biggest ways of course is through involvement.
[00:09:46.530]We have lots of clubs and student organizations
[00:09:49.640]and intramural sports that you can be involved in.
[00:09:52.120]Literally any interest that students have,
[00:09:54.480]we have some kind of a club or activity
[00:09:56.860]that they can be a part of
[00:09:57.810]and find other people who have that same interest as them.
[00:10:00.790]So that can be a great way to get involved
[00:10:03.350]in a comfortable place
[00:10:04.540]where you already know a topic or an idea
[00:10:08.080]and you really like what that is,
[00:10:09.950]and then you can find other people who feel the same way.
[00:10:11.880]You can feel a lot more comfortable.
[00:10:14.380]We also encourage students to make community
[00:10:16.840]on their residence hall floors.
[00:10:19.270]Every floor will have an RA or resident assistant,
[00:10:22.020]and this is an upper class student
[00:10:23.410]who's there to support students,
[00:10:25.410]put on different events for the floor,
[00:10:28.538]can be a resource for students
[00:10:29.930]as they're kind of working through this transition.
[00:10:33.600]So not only the floor mates that also live on the floor,
[00:10:37.030]but the RAs can be a great resource as well.
[00:10:39.820]And then lastly, we encourage students
[00:10:41.130]to connect with upper class students as well.
[00:10:44.020]Lots of times they can find students
[00:10:46.230]who are further along in their major,
[00:10:49.260]third, fourth year students who have been in the major
[00:10:51.500]for a little longer who can help them and give them tips,
[00:10:55.120]tell them what their favorite classes were,
[00:10:58.150]different ways they studied for different professors
[00:11:00.570]and different things like that
[00:11:01.403]to help them along their journey
[00:11:02.880]as they work through their major.
[00:11:07.240]During Big Red Welcome,
[00:11:08.270]which is our welcome week events
[00:11:09.650]that I talked about a little bit earlier,
[00:11:11.780]we do have a specific event
[00:11:13.150]just for our out-of-state students.
[00:11:15.040]And so it's called the Out-of-State Welcome.
[00:11:18.150]During this time, we just bring
[00:11:19.800]all of our out-of-state students together
[00:11:21.540]who are incoming for this semester
[00:11:24.150]and we do different small group discussions.
[00:11:25.890]We break everybody out by region or state
[00:11:28.690]so you can get to know other people
[00:11:29.960]who are coming from the same area
[00:11:32.040]and we do different activities together.
[00:11:33.760]It's a really great time.
[00:11:34.810]A lot of times these groups will make a group chat
[00:11:38.000]and hang out all throughout the semester.
[00:11:39.920]It's also a great way to find that ridesharing idea
[00:11:43.100]if you have other people who are also going
[00:11:45.430]to your same hometown or very close to it.
[00:11:48.030]It'd be a great way to get some ridesharing friends as well.
[00:11:51.420]We encourage all students to download the Nebraska App,
[00:11:54.120]and that will give the full schedule
[00:11:55.670]with all the dates and details.
[00:11:59.620]A couple tips here for family members
[00:12:02.690]as you're supporting your out-of-state student
[00:12:05.120]coming to UNL.
[00:12:06.380]Again, just making that plan for money and healthcare
[00:12:09.410]and communication before some kind of situation
[00:12:12.170]or problem does arise.
[00:12:14.230]Sending your love and support.
[00:12:16.320]We do partner with a care package company.
[00:12:19.070]It's called OCM, which is On Campus Marketing.
[00:12:23.000]You can go to that link there
[00:12:24.080]and they have tons of different premade gift packages
[00:12:27.070]that you can send to your student,
[00:12:28.240]or we always encourage you to make your own as well.
[00:12:32.030]You can on the housing website find the exact addresses
[00:12:35.860]for all of the residence halls as well
[00:12:37.620]so you can make sure that you get that labeled correctly.
[00:12:41.180]We really encourage you to refer your student to resources.
[00:12:44.190]We know that you're gonna be there
[00:12:45.410]to support them and help them,
[00:12:47.400]but we know sometimes you can't do everything
[00:12:49.760]and you can't always help with every situation,
[00:12:52.480]so we really encourage you to help encourage your student
[00:12:55.920]to go and reach out to their different resources
[00:12:57.960]here on campus and the people
[00:12:59.320]that are here to support them as well in addition to you.
[00:13:02.830]Then lastly, we really encourage our family members
[00:13:04.620]to connect with other family members of UNL students.
[00:13:08.260]So we do have our UNL Parents Association.
[00:13:11.250]They have a great website and Facebook groups.
[00:13:13.720]And then we also have a couple of groups on Facebook
[00:13:18.010]that different parents have made
[00:13:19.360]from Minnesota and Northern Illinois.
[00:13:21.770]These are not officially run by us,
[00:13:23.880]but just parents who wanted to connect
[00:13:25.530]with other parents from these areas
[00:13:28.190]and make some friends and support each other,
[00:13:31.050]so you can always go and look those up
[00:13:32.930]if you would like to connect with those parents
[00:13:34.540]if you're from those areas.
[00:13:37.000]A couple tips for your students that you can pass along.
[00:13:39.840]Making sure they don't over pack.
[00:13:41.300]I know when I came to college, I packed way too much.
[00:13:44.320]I felt like I was gonna need everything.
[00:13:45.740]Especially as an out-of-state student,
[00:13:46.900]it can feel like you can never bring enough stuff,
[00:13:50.540]but really thinking through what's practical
[00:13:52.290]and what you're actually gonna need.
[00:13:54.130]Definitely remembering that you can always shop in Lincoln.
[00:13:56.700]We have every store you could need,
[00:13:59.270]Target, Walmart, everything more,
[00:14:01.810]and that you can go and shop in if you forget things
[00:14:04.090]or don't pack enough.
[00:14:05.440]You also can ship boxes directly to residence halls,
[00:14:08.070]so if your student's flying in from a different state
[00:14:11.870]and they can't bring everything on the plane,
[00:14:14.060]you can ship boxes straight to your residence hall.
[00:14:16.070]And like I said, on the housing website,
[00:14:17.620]they do have a page that has all the addresses
[00:14:19.680]so you can make sure that you label those correctly.
[00:14:22.730]Encouraging your student to attend our Big Red Welcome,
[00:14:25.350]coming to our Out-of-State Welcome,
[00:14:27.800]attending our Club Fair and Street Festival
[00:14:30.010]so they can get involved with different organizations.
[00:14:32.760]And then again, downloading that Nebraska App
[00:14:34.760]for all the information.
[00:14:37.660]Once again, getting involved.
[00:14:38.980]I know I said that three or four times
[00:14:40.730]throughout the presentation, but it really is the best way
[00:14:43.290]for out-of-state students
[00:14:44.360]to feel a part of the campus community.
[00:14:47.000]And then lastly, just exploring Lincoln.
[00:14:49.360]It's really easy to stay on campus
[00:14:51.240]and kind of get in a little bubble here,
[00:14:52.790]but Lincoln does have a lot to offer.
[00:14:54.980]I know it may not feel like it,
[00:14:56.110]especially for students coming from really large cities
[00:14:58.770]in other states, but there's a lot to do here,
[00:15:01.390]a lot of fun activities all throughout the year.
[00:15:04.080]So really encourage them to step off campus
[00:15:06.200]and see what all it has to offer.
[00:15:09.410]If you do have any questions, feel free to contact me
[00:15:12.800]or to contact our main NSE line.
[00:15:15.060]We're here for you anytime that you need
[00:15:17.210]and we can help you and your student
[00:15:19.060]be prepared for coming from out-of-state.

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Out-Of-State Student Info Session

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