Your new parent orientation playbook
Orientation is one of the few times when families are fully tuned in.
They’ve cleared their schedules. They’re taking notes. They’re asking thoughtful questions about housing, billing, safety, and belonging. For a brief window, they’re paying close attention.
That’s what makes orientation so powerful. It’s not just a transition for students. It’s a transition for families, too.
But even the best orientation can feel like drinking from a firehose. When families can’t revisit what they heard, confusion sets in, even if the live experience was strong.
At Florida State University, Abby Cloud Langdon, Program Coordinator for New Student & Family Programs, and her team saw an opportunity to approach orientation differently. Instead of treating it as a standalone event, they used it as the starting point for long-term family engagement.
Learn how they built the New Nole Orientation Hub using CampusESP for Family Communication, a resource that supports families well beyond those first three days. (Or watch the full webinar here.)
A great experience… and a lot to take in
Florida State’s New Nole Orientation is a major undertaking each summer. In 2025 alone, more than 11,350 family members and guests joined their students for the university’s three-day program.
Families attend sessions on financial aid, housing, campus life, academics, safety, and more. Students and families share much of the schedule, and the program is intentionally comprehensive.
“It was well organized and provided a tremendous amount of information in a short time,” one family member shared.
Another wrote:
“I was extremely impressed with the resources my child will have available to allow them to succeed.”
But even with strong reviews, many families shared the same feeling afterward: it was a lot to absorb.
“At times I was overwhelmed by the information,” one family member wrote.
That feedback sparked a new idea. In 2025, the team introduced a centralized orientation hub, giving families a place to revisit key information long after orientation ended.
Here’s how they did (and how you can, too):
Step 1: Define the problem you’re solving
When FSU built the New Nole Orientation Hub, they were clear about the role it needed to play.
They wanted to:
Take pressure off families to capture everything in real time
Centralize orientation content in one place
Provide ongoing resources, tips, podcasts, and conversation starters
Deliver the information families actually want and need
The goal wasn’t to replace orientation. It was to build on it and extend family engagement beyond it.
Step 2: Organize content around what families actually care about
Instead of uploading slides and calling it a day, FSU structured the hub around seven topics that mirror the live experience and the questions families care about most.
Money & Finances
Housing & Dining
Campus Life
Engagement & Career Planning
Academic Life
Safety & Wellness
Family Resources
Financial aid and cost consistently rank among the top decision drivers for families. In CampusESP research, 81% of families say financial aid packages are among the top five factors when choosing a college.
Yet only 25% of families say financial aid information is complete and easy to understand.
So it’s no surprise that FSU’s most-clicked content focused on cost and finances.
Step 3: Repurpose what you already have
One of the most reassuring takeaways from Abby’s story is this: you don’t have to start from scratch.
“Building a hub can be a challenge by choice,” she explained.
FSU began with materials they already had:
Orientation presentations
Pre-orientation modules
Content from campus partners
Then they expanded it into a mix of formats:
Podcasts from the Vice President for Student Affairs
Short videos
Hyperlinked campus resources
Conversation starters families could use with their students
They also added a human touch through “Ask the OLs” posts featuring advice from Orientation Leaders.
That mix of practical guidance and student voice helped turn the hub from a content archive into something much more engaging.
Step 4: Make access seamless
Even the best resource won’t work if families can’t easily find it. FSU focused on making the hub simple to access and navigate.
Their approach centered on four moves.
1. Align with orientation timing
Family Orientation runs May through June for first-time-in-college students and mirrors the student schedule.
2. Automate enrollment
After registering for orientation, families were automatically enrolled in the FSU Family Connection portal in CampusESP and added to the New Nole Orientation Hub community.
3. Create a clear starting point
A featured “Start Here” page acts as a table of contents with direct links to each content category.
4. Drip content instead of dumping it all at once
Posts roll out across the seven categories once families are enrolled, reinforcing key topics without overwhelming them. This step is critical. Moving information online doesn’t automatically solve overload.
Step 5: Measure confidence, not just clicks
FSU looked beyond traditional engagement metrics and asked families directly what the hub helped them accomplish.
In their post-orientation survey:
83% said they could determine effective ways to support their Nole
87% said the hub reviewed information from orientation that they needed
83% said the hub was easy to navigate
One comment stood out to Abby:
“I wish my parents had this kind of resource when I was going to university in 1989 :)”
Engagement metrics told a similar story:
9,217 users joined the community
74% open rate, higher than their portal average
11% click rate, nearly triple their overall portal average
92% said they shared information about FSU resources with their student
The hub didn’t just deliver information. It helped families feel more confident supporting their student.
Beyond orientation: building an evergreen foundation
FSU already has plans to expand the hub in 2026 with:
More targeted drip emails
Onboarding for special populations
Discussion boards for post-orientation questions
Stronger partnerships with campus departments
Custom first-year family newsletters
But communication doesn’t end with orientation. Through CampusESP, families continue receiving updates, reminders, and resources throughout the year.
When families have a place to return, revisit information, and re-engage with campus resources, you’re not just solving information overload. You’re building trust that lasts well beyond move-in day.