Connecting with other human beings. That’s the purpose of Quest, Radford University’s summer orientation program designed to kickstart a smooth transition to campus for incoming students as well as their families and supporters.
“The core function of Quest,” explained Jason Lucas, Radford’s director of Student Connection Programs, “is to help incoming students connect with another human being. That could be with a Quest Assistant; that could be a faculty member; that could be their advisor. That could be multiple people. It could be other students in their [Quest] group.”
Quest offers various sessions throughout the summer for new and transfer students to begin and solidify those connections, making it convenient for students and supporters to visit campus on their time. Quest sessions began this year in early June and wrapped with a virtual session for transfer students on Aug. 1.
Students meet and make new friends at Quest and learn more about their chosen academic programs. They meet with faculty and deans, learn about clubs and a multitude of campus activities, set their course schedules and get their brand-new student IDs.
“They really connect with the university during Quest,” Lucas continued, stressing the importance of creating new bonds. “We want them to make some connection when they come to campus. Students tend to make multiple connections, and that’s the whole purpose of putting students in groups at Quest.”
Typically, students are placed in groups of about 15 to 20. That’s an optimal number according to data on the matter for students to meet with someone and connect, said Lucas, who’s worked with the orientation program for 12 years. “Anything more is too many, and less can be awkward,” he noted.
This year, about 95% of students who pre-registered for Quest visited campus for a session, and that’s important because most of the students who attend Quest and get a taste of university life go on to enroll in Radford for the fall semester.
“The more students who come to Quest, the more who enroll in classes at Radford,” Lucas explained. “Our yield rate is typically 98% of those students who come to Quest.” This year, roughly 2,000 students came to Quest,” Lucas estimated. Including parents and supporters, about 6,000 people visited campus. That includes first-year, transfer and Radford University Carilion in Roanoke.
“So, throughout that whole day – that Disney World day,” Lucas said of the excitement on campus when Quest is happening, “we know students will be able to connect with at least a few human beings. We hope they’re thinking, ‘Radford is going to be good; they got me.’”
The same applies for families and supporters. “We want them to know we’re caring for their students, said Lucas, whose daughter attends Radford and went through Quest a year ago. “We want them to know that if their student is struggling academically, we got them. If they’re struggling with mental health, we got them. If they’re struggling to make connections with peers, we got them.”
Guiding students and supporters through Quest sessions is a friendly, vibrant group of student workers known as QAs, or Quest Assistants. They’re easily recognizable by their red or blue polo shirts and vivacious smiles. QAs wearing red polos lead the student groups, helping them with every aspect of the program.
Those Quest Assistants sporting blue polos call themselves Fam and are always eager to lead and answer questions posed by family and supporters. “We’re there for the families, answering questions. We eat lunch with them, too,” said a smiling Jodi Allen, a senior sociology major from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and self-described “people-person,” who worked this summer as a Fam.
Working as a QA is all about “sharing Highlander pride and seeing students be excited about school and turning that fear of leaving home into excitement to be at Radford,” said Jenna DiMaggio, a QA intern who’s majoring in geology. “I love seeing the spark of Radford in so many students.”
Students and parents alike appreciate the effort and kindness they received from the Quest Assistants. “It’s been so informative,” said Becky Marousek of Marion, Virginia, as she sat in Dalton Hall reviewing the notes from informative sessions that she’d typed into her phone. Her son, Josh Marousek, will be a freshman at Radford this fall.
This year’s Quest had 19 Quest Assistants for students, 14 Fam workers, four others – the A-Team – working logistics and behind-the-scenes, five student directors and two interns. “In all, we had 44 staff members this year,” Lucas said after quickly calculating the numbers in his head.
Making Quest run smoothly requires a complete campus-wide effort.
“That campus really came together and supported us with anything we needed, from President Bret [Danilowicz] speaking at sessions, to facilities helping us get chairs set up, to Residential Life and Conference Services coordinating with the residence halls, to the dean’s participating and speaking to the students and families and supporters,” Lucas said. “It was a campus effort, and we had such wonderful buy-in from everybody on campus.
“We all work for the students, and everybody knows how important Quest is, and everybody comes together and pitches in to help our new students make those all-important connections they’ll need to excel at Radford.”