To help you prepare for college students’ return to school in the fall, we’ve listed some activities and ideas to engage young adults on campus.  We talked to advocates and college students across the country about their ideas on back-to-school organizing. We hope that these ideas will get your creative juices flowing and catalyze plans for the fall!

Cut through Orientation Overload 

• Connect with the administration: Offer your services to provide credible information about health coverage options, and see if you can get a slot in any already scheduled programming. 
• Get into the welcome packet: By contacting administration officials, you may be able to offer students information about health insurance options that will be helpful for schools to include in orientation information.  
• Table at the student activities fair: This is one of the most common and effective strategies for building your list and engaging students early. There will be many groups vying for students’ attention, so get creative, offer giveaways or free food, and have an upcoming event or action to promote right away. 
• Invade orientation activities: Make connections on campus that will get your group in the mix during orientation. Whether it’s setting up a table at the bookstore or getting your information out at a day of service, find relevant orientation activities and see if you can get involved. 
• Make your information stand out: Make sure you stay relevant and think creatively about how to set yourself apart from the piles of information that are thrown at students during this time. Use the Young Invincibles Back-to-School Toolkit (link to Toolkit) to reach students with attractive, simple, and accurate flyers. 

Engage Old and New Students EARLY 

• Organize an early training: Reactivate your base and new students by organizing a training on campus at the beginning of the semester. By doing it early, you can build commitment by introducing a sense of community and responsibility, as well as getting everyone on-message right off the bat. 
• Help with voter registration: Getting involved in voter registration efforts during orientation can give you access to large numbers of freshman students, build lists of civic-minded students, and raise your visibility on campus. 
• Use the young adult pledge: Many groups are using Young Invincibles’ Young Adult Pledge to get students to take a stand at first contact. Use the pledge to collect names and build your network. (link to pledge) 
• Bring attention to your group early with a big name: As new students on campus are wading through a sea of campus organizations, make your group stand out by getting a big-name speaker or holding a high-visibility event very early.

Educate Parents

• Don’t ignore parents: Reaching parents with information about their child’s health care rights will help build support for the law and get that information funneled back to students.
• Create materials that are targeted at parents: State groups have found it helpful to create parent-specific materials and student-specific materials that have slightly different messages. Parents come at the issue from a different angle and need different information.
• Come back for parents’ weekend: Orientation can be hectic, and parents usually return to campus in the early fall for parents’ weekend. Use this weekend to reach out to parents and educate them on the issue.

The Bottom Line
Although the first few weeks are a very busy time for students, orientation also creates many opportunities for education and organizing. It’s important to start thinking now about organizing on campus in the fall. Time will go by quickly, and it is critical to have early visibility on campus. Please also see Families USA’s Sharing across the States: Strategies for Engaging Young Adults for more tips and strategies to organize young adults on health care issues.

Contributors: Paula-Raye O'Sullivan, Campus Progress; Rahul Rheki, Rice University; Suzanne Schlattman, Health Care for All Maryland; Emily Schlichting, University of Nebraska; Kevin Simowitz, Virginia Organizing; and Aaron Smith, Young Invincibles

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