Two years ago, the director of New Student and Family Programs at Coastal Carolina University noticed something during Orientation programs that didn't sit right with her.

Orientation days run about seven hours, and incoming students often bring family members with them, like younger siblings, to Orientation, but those family members weren't engaged during the program, often spending the entire time on a tablet.

Shortly thereafter, the "Little and Future Chants" program was born.

"We wanted those children between the ages of 5 and 17 to see what the college experience will be like for their family member who is coming to Coastal," said Susannah Marshman whose office handles new student and transfer Orientation progams.

Once she realized they needed to develop a program, Marshman took two third-year Orientation Leaders to a national conference and tasked them with developing the new program and what the schedule would look like.

One of those undergraduate students was Jena Ranzo, who now works at CCU in the Office of Admissions and Merit Awards. During the conference, she learned that few institutions offered a program like the one Coastal wanted to start, but she was able to learn from their programs to create Little and Future Chants.

Orientation Leaders are assigned to a group of children during the first day of Orientation, and the groups are split up by age. They get a tour of the campus, get to spend time in the game room, meet Chauncey and write a postcard to their CCU student that gets mailed during the fall semester.

Older children, those around ages 16 or 17, also get to meet with an admissions counselor to learn about the college admissions process in general. The program is optional for families to enroll in, but Marshman said many families do take advantage of it.

Taylor Moon, an Orientation Leader, said many of the children ask questions about college, and some even say they want to come to Coastal after spending time on the campus.

Marshman said she plans to continue to offer the program, and will solicit feedback from participating families to learn ways to enhance the program moving forward.

Orientations began in early July and finish at the end of the month. Visit coastal.edu/nsfp.

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