Enhancing International Student Orientation at U.S. Colleges and Universities Using Appreciative Advising Practices

Abstract

For many newly admitted international students, traveling from their home countries to attend New International Student Orientation (NISO) activities can be filled with mixed feelings of excitement and anxiety. In this article, I propose the Appreciative Advising (AA) framework (Bloom et al., 2008) as an innovative theory and practice that can be integrated into NISO activities to create exciting, enriching, and transformative orientation experiences for new international students. I provide practical application of each of the six phases of AA for orientation leaders and new international students. By so doing, the AA model is used as a culturally relevant and strengths-based framework that encourages and prioritizes the enhancement of intercultural competence, educational, and interpersonal skill sets relevant for both orientation leaders and new international students.