CASE STUDY

Reimagining University Orientation for Trust and Teaming

CORENTUS CLIENT CASES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY | Reimagining University Orientation for Trust and Teaming


Background 

At a top-tier university in the Greater Boston Area, leaders of the combined graduate schools faced a critical opportunity: 

How do we prepare an incredibly diverse student body to work together from the very beginning? 
Approximately 40% of the students were international, representing a multitude of countries and cultures. The U.S. students were from differing cultures as well as they came from rural and urban, coastal and inland environments, bringing vast diversity in experience, expectation, and perspective. These students were entering fast-paced graduate programs that demand continuous collaboration: shared decision-making, cross-cultural understanding, and high-functioning team dynamics. 

Corentus approached the university with a bold proposal: 

  • What if you reimagined orientation?  

  • What if you made it a launchpad for effective teaming and cross-cultural connections? 

Instead of simply welcoming students, let’s begin developing the core leadership capabilities that will shape their academic and professional success, starting from day one. The university agreed. 

Engagement Objective 
Design an orientation experience where students begin seeing one another as teammates and experience what it means to work together in diverse, high-performing teams from the start. 

Approach 
To accommodate the large number of incoming students, Corentus facilitated two high-energy sessions on the first day of orientation, each held under a beautiful tent on campus. Hundreds of students attended each session, not as passive listeners but as active collaborators. This wasn’t just any orientation, it was for all graduate students across the university, coming together for the first time. 

Using the Corentus Building Great Teams Playbook, we guided students through key concepts and hands-on interactions grounded in real-world team and leadership development. Integrated into the experience, students were introduced to the four dimensions of high-performing teams: 

  • Common Purpose & Shared Goals  
    Why are we here, and what are we working toward? 

  • Roles & Competencies 
    What strengths do we each bring, and how do we use them well? 

  • Collaboration & Cohesion  
    How do we build trust and work productively across differences? 

  • Mutual Accountability  
    How do we stay aligned and accountable to one another? 


While setting up the ‘teaming experience’, we introduced the i4 Phase of team formation, helping students explore: 

  • Identity: Who am I in this team? 

  • Integration: Will I feel a sense of belonging? 

  • Influence: How will I contribute? 

  • Individual Goals: Will this team support my growth and goals? 

To bring these concepts to life, each table of eight students was invited to co-create a ten-inch LEGO chair, symbolizing the foundation of a strong team and the unique contributions each member brings to the whole. Students connected deeply, across cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. Through movement, structured dialogue, and shared insights, they practiced teaming as a lived experience, not a theory. 

Immediate Impact 
Students weren’t just oriented, they became connected. They saw one another as teammates, not strangers. They experienced cross-cultural collaboration and practiced the leadership mindsets they would be expected to use in class, in project work, and in their careers. 

Long-Term Impact 
Orientation became a launchpad for effective teaming, not later, but now. Helping students learn how to work together is imperative for their future success and for the success of the institutions preparing them. When students team effectively, they perform better academically and they begin building the leadership and teaming muscles today’s organizations demand. 

More universities are beginning to recognize this. 
Corentus helps them make it real.