The contribution of freshman orientation programs to academic and social integration of sophomore students

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between participation in freshman year orientation programs and sophomore students' academic and social integration in a large urban research university.;The academic and social integration scales developed by Pascarella and Terenzini to test the theoretical constructs of the Tinto model of student departure were utilized for this study. Multiple analysis of variance, analysis of variance, and related significance tests were used to analyze the data.;Orientation participants attained significantly higher levels of social integration than did non-participants. Participants who attended a semester-long freshman seminar in addition to one or more pre-enrollment orientation programs achieved significantly higher social integration levels than the participants in other types of orientation programs. That these differences in social integration are significant during the first semester of the sophomore year suggest that orientation participation positively affects social integration at least into the following year.;Findings from this study are consistent with findings from previous research that orientation programs, especially combined with freshman seminars, have a positive impact on students' involvement in extracurricular activities and personal interaction with peers and university personnel. Special efforts to encourage orientation participation should be directed to students academically at-risk, males, older students, and students living off-campus.;A stratified disproportionate study group of students who enrolled at Arizona State University fall term 1988 with no previous college credit and who had been enrolled for three consecutive semesters was surveyed. The study group included all ethnic minority students in the population and a random sample of non-minoriry students. Usable responses were received from 403 questionnaires for a 65 percent response rate.;Results from this study suggest that certain ethnic minority groups may benefit from orientation participation in terms of academic integration However, further research is recommended to validate these findings. Gender differences related to orientation participation were also found in this study. Significant findings related to females, orientation participation, and social integration suggest the need for further research.