SUNY Oswego - Alumni Association - September E-Newsletter

Fall 2010

New Students Learning to Be Lakers on Campus, Online

The Office of Orientation Programs is integrating social media into the college’s life skills programming using The Laker network for freshman and transfer students.

Orientation scene

Launched in 2008, The Laker is a place for incoming students to connect, ask questions and find articles with advice for their new lifestyle. The use of ubiquitous social networking with the GST 100 “College Orientation and Success” course is a natural combination, said Kate Haefele MSED ’11, graduate assistant in the orientation office.

“Initially it was a way to tell students about orientation and answer questions,” Haefele said of The Laker. A majority of the interaction today deals with housing – connecting with future roommates and finding out where new friends will be living. “Eventually it’s going to be (used to answer the question), ‘What’s going on on-campus this week and how can I get involved?’”

And that’s an underlying theme in GST 100, a six-week, one-credit course taken by many freshmen each year. The Laker offers quizzes, articles and other resources like an interactive map of campus and town that complement the orientation course syllabus.

“They do a lot of team-building activities,” in GST 100, Haefele explained. “It’s about becoming more comfortable with students from different backgrounds.”

With several hundred students registered, The Laker helps build that diverse community. It will also enhance the early college experience with special tools.

For example, students will be required to use The Laker features to set up a study group and establish goals as part of the course, said Nate Emmons, assistant dean of students and coordinator for orientation programs.

The Office of Orientation also supports the Laker Family and Friends network, a social platform that includes similar content for parents. True to its name, all family and friends of Oswego students are invited to register, Emmons said.

— Shane M. Liebler

PHOTO CAPTION:
Laker Leader Lauren Knightes ’11, at left in yellow headband, gathers a squad of incoming freshmen for a discussion in July. The Office of Orientation Programs is using The Laker online community to help ensure the first year of college goes smoothly.

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Who doesn’t want to save the world? Michael Kite ’02 does that for a living through World Wildlife Fund.

As marketing specialist for one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, Kite and his team of three work to raise more than $5 million each year. The majority of that money comes from licensing partnerships and promotions with the likes of Barnes & Noble, Gap, Hewlett-Packard, Dial and Coinstar.

Retail partnerships help WWF spread its message to the general public and raise funds for its conservation work around the globe. For example, Bank of America contributes $100 for every special Visa account opened and Nabisco is supporting WWF’s “Year of the Tiger” initiative with special packaging and a $100,000 donation. The new CVS Green Bag Tag program rewards reusable bag-toting customers, and generates five cents for WWF for each tag sold.

All support WWF’s mission of protecting the future of nature, down to the finest details, Kite said.

“We like to see that the product is made from recycled material and is recyclable itself, and somehow ties into our mission,” Kite said. The Green Bag Tag, for instance, is made from a corn-based material and features a 100 percent recycled silicone lanyard.

As a broadcasting major at Oswego, Kite got involved with WRVO-FM and WNYO-FM.

“I think it gave me a lot more confidence in talking to people,” he said. It was an important part of his early career in broadcast sales and remains an important piece in the message he “sells” today.

“The best part of my job is seeing a product in the store with the WWF logo after months of working with a company to launch it,” said Kite, who joined the organization in 2006. “It’s rewarding to give people a fun, unique way to protect our planet.”

— Shane M. Liebler