[Kim Celano]

Hi Michael,
I can empathize 100%. We had a great two-day in-person training planned for this weekend, and Monday we switched it into a two-hour online session which will be complemented by shadow shifts during our first two virtual weeks of the semester. This is our second round of virtual training, and we learned a lot from when we first did it in Fall 2020.

• One of our most successful things was service area spirit shirts. Each service area wore a designated color tshirt – that way on Zoom, it was an immediate visual of who worked where… Building Managers (blue), Game Room (orange), Info Desk (purple), etc. We had time to purchase them in advance last year, but you could ask them just to wear something from their wardrobe in that color.?
• Make it as engaging as possible. We definitely lost their attention span with presentations over 10 minutes. Need to talk to them about emergency procedures? Turn it into a Kahoot – this can help you survey their existing knowledge, but then after each question, you can talk for a few minutes about what the answer is and why.?
• Play games. This gets them moving, and who doesn’t like a little competition? Scavenger Hunt is probably the easiest… come up with a list of random things, and they have 10 seconds to run around their living space to go find it and bring it back to their screen. Something yellow, something that starts with P, a charger, something that makes you happy, etc.?
• Speed friending. Not too many folks want to unmute in front of a big group, so we randomly sort them into breakout rooms with 4-5 people and give them a few prompts to talk about. Then we bring them back and reshuffle.?
• Make it relatable. For our full-time staff intros, we are each making a 15-30 second TikTok showing a “day in the life”. Some of us are more skilled than others in this area, haha, so I’m sure the students will get a good chuckle out of us trying.?
• Be as transparent as you can. Gen-Z wants to be informed, they want to know what we know. We have a session called “COVID Updates – What We Know”. We’ve done this session each training since this all started, and the students always say thanks for bringing them in the loop.?
• Share resources. One of our signature training sessions is called Care Fair, where we have campus partners share about their areas. For virtual training, we’ve pared it down to a session about mental health & how to adjust to going back to virtual, as well as a session on SNAP Benefits & an overview of our campus pantry. Our students responded really strongly to the SNAP session last semester, several of them enrolling, and are so grateful we talk about it.?

Well, this is a lot 🙂 I hope its helpful! I’m happy to elaborate more if anyone has questions – kim.celano@temple.edu.

Wishing you all the best!
Kim

——————————
Kim Celano
Associate Director
Temple University
Philadelphia PA
kim.celano@temple.edu
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2022 10:01
From: Michael McKean
Subject: Virtual Training

With an increase in covid-19 Omicron cases in our area, our President has asked us to reduce gatherings on campus this week.  With that said, we had planned on hosting live student staff training.  However, we are having to pivot to an online format.  In 2021 we prerecorded sessions and posted them on a private youtube channel.
Does anyone have any other options for holding a virtual training session?

Thanks

Michael McKean

——————————
Michael McKean
Associate Director
Texas A & M Commerce
Commerce TX
903-886-5819
michael.mckean@tamuc.edu
——————————

[Michael McKean]

Thank you so much.  Excellent ideas, definitely gonna borrow a lot.  Thanks again.

Michael McKean

——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 1/5/2022 9:27:00 AM
From: Kim Celano
Subject: RE: Virtual Training

Hi Michael,
I can empathize 100%. We had a great two-day in-person training planned for this weekend, and Monday we switched it into a two-hour online session which will be complemented by shadow shifts during our first two virtual weeks of the semester. This is our second round of virtual training, and we learned a lot from when we first did it in Fall 2020.

• One of our most successful things was service area spirit shirts. Each service area wore a designated color tshirt – that way on Zoom, it was an immediate visual of who worked where… Building Managers (blue), Game Room (orange), Info Desk (purple), etc. We had time to purchase them in advance last year, but you could ask them just to wear something from their wardrobe in that color. 
• Make it as engaging as possible. We definitely lost their attention span with presentations over 10 minutes. Need to talk to them about emergency procedures? Turn it into a Kahoot – this can help you survey their existing knowledge, but then after each question, you can talk for a few minutes about what the answer is and why. 
• Play games. This gets them moving, and who doesn’t like a little competition? Scavenger Hunt is probably the easiest… come up with a list of random things, and they have 10 seconds to run around their living space to go find it and bring it back to their screen. Something yellow, something that starts with P, a charger, something that makes you happy, etc. 
• Speed friending. Not too many folks want to unmute in front of a big group, so we randomly sort them into breakout rooms with 4-5 people and give them a few prompts to talk about. Then we bring them back and reshuffle. 
• Make it relatable. For our full-time staff intros, we are each making a 15-30 second TikTok showing a “day in the life”. Some of us are more skilled than others in this area, haha, so I’m sure the students will get a good chuckle out of us trying. 
• Be as transparent as you can. Gen-Z wants to be informed, they want to know what we know. We have a session called “COVID Updates – What We Know”. We’ve done this session each training since this all started, and the students always say thanks for bringing them in the loop. 
• Share resources. One of our signature training sessions is called Care Fair, where we have campus partners share about their areas. For virtual training, we’ve pared it down to a session about mental health & how to adjust to going back to virtual, as well as a session on SNAP Benefits & an overview of our campus pantry. Our students responded really strongly to the SNAP session last semester, several of them enrolling, and are so grateful we talk about it. 

Well, this is a lot 🙂 I hope its helpful! I’m happy to elaborate more if anyone has questions – kim.celano@temple.edu.

Wishing you all the best!
Kim

——————————
Kim Celano
Associate Director
Temple University
Philadelphia PA
kim.celano@temple.edu
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 01-04-2022 10:01
From: Michael McKean
Subject: Virtual Training

With an increase in covid-19 Omicron cases in our area, our President has asked us to reduce gatherings on campus this week.  With that said, we had planned on hosting live student staff training.  However, we are having to pivot to an online format.  In 2021 we prerecorded sessions and posted them on a private youtube channel.
Does anyone have any other options for holding a virtual training session?

Thanks

Michael McKean

——————————
Michael McKean
Associate Director
Texas A & M Commerce
Commerce TX
903-886-5819
michael.mckean@tamuc.edu
——————————