Office/Department: Office of Orientation and Transition
Position: Transition Graduate Assistant
Supervisor: Mallory Powers
Number of Positions Available: 1

Mission Statement: The Office of Orientation and Transition engages students in the JMU learning experience by preparing them to be active and authentic members of the university community.

Functional areas included in this department: Orientation and Transition

Position Description: The Transition Graduate Assistant in the Office of Orientation and Transition is responsible for assisting in the recruitment, selection, hiring, training, and supervision of First year Orientation Guides (FROGs), the office’s Weeks of Welcome volunteer student staff. The GA will also support transition initiatives like National Transfer Student Week and the first-year seminar pilot program. The Transition Graduate assistant will collaborate with the Orientation Graduate Assistant on orientation programming, like Orientation Peer Adviser training, when relevant.

Programs associated with this role:

• Fall FROG Training (August)
• Weeks of Welcome (August)
• National Transfer Student Week (October)
• Spring Welcome (January)
• FROG Interview Day (March/April)
• Spring FROG Training (April)

Students who participate in this experience will gain an understanding of student affairs as a profession and the influence student affairs has on contemporary higher education through the following tasks and activities:

• Assist with the recruitment, selection, hiring, training, and supervision of First yeaR Orientation
  Guides (FROGs)
• Design, implement, and support transition program initiatives like National Transfer Student
  Week
• Participate in departmental and divisional meetings, planning, and projects
• Apply student development and counseling theory to everyday practice
• Understand transitioning student and family needs
• Participate in the review of assessment objectives, instruments, and results
• Contribute to the planning and implementation of Orientation and Transition programs
• Work collaboratively on special projects within the Office of Orientation and Transition and with
  other university departments
• Participation in professional development opportunities

Students who participate in this experience will be exposed to the purposeful application of the
following student development, and/or organizational theories:

• Vincent Tinto’s Model of Student Integration
• Chickering and Reisser’s Seven Vectors of Identity Development
• Identity Development Theories: Racial, Sexual, Gender, Ability, Religious, Social Class
• Bollen and Hoyle’s Perceived Cohesion Scale
• Schlossberg’s Transition Theory
• Baxter Magolda’s Theory of Self -Authorship
• Sanford’s Challenge and Support Model
• Leadership styles and theories

Students assigned to this site will be able to participate in the following assessment and/or evaluation projects:

• Develop student learning objectives for FROGs and other relevant student staff members
• FROG training evaluation and assessment
• Weeks of Welcome program evaluation and assessment

Students who participate in this experience will be evaluated and provided ongoing feedback in the following ways:

• Weekly one-on-one meetings with supervisor
• Periodic assessment of learning outcomes from learning contract
• Formal written performance evaluations at the end of each semester

Specific expectations of students assigned to this site include:

• Assist in coordination and implementation of FROG recruitment, selection, hiring, training, and
  supervision
• Plan, lead, and facilitate leadership workshops and training sessions for FROGs based on
  established student staff learning objectives
• Collaborate with campus partners to coordinate large-scale training events
• Support Weeks of Welcome programming logistics, implementation, and assessment efforts
• Communicate effectively with supervisor, co-workers, staff, and faculty
• Role model professionalism, ethical decision making, and responsibility handling confidential
  information
• Be willing to work evenings and weekends, when necessary
• Create and maintain a schedule to meet assistantship requirements
• Support the mission of the Office of Orientation and Transition, the Division of Student Affairs, and JMU
• Perform designated tasks in a timely, organized, and professional manner
• Attend all professional staff meetings and events
• Appreciate diversity and individual differences
• Assist with special projects as needed
• Other duties as assigned