From 11th September, 2020 to the 13th, the Digital Orientation Platform（http://freshman.hust.edu.cn）for HUST went live, enabling freshmen to be digitally guided through HUST’s registration procedure. Registering through the digital orientation platform, a freshman student commented that, "through this platform, I could not only go through all the registration procedures in advance, but I also got to know my counselors, head teacher and classmates".

HUST’s digital orientation platform consists of two parts: the orientation website and the digital orientation management platform. Catering to all needs, it is broken up into 16 different sections including guidelines for epidemic prevention and control for freshmen; with further sections focusing on freshmen reporting their health status, choosing dormitories, purchasing insurance and more. This year, HUST optimized 5 areas of the platform. First, guidelines were added for the prevention and control of the epidemic together with relevant emergency plans; second, a health status report system was installed where freshmen are required to report their body temperature every day, for 14 days in a row; third, the payment process is more convenient than before, as alongside traditional methods, HUST’s new entrants can choose to pay their relevant fees through Alipay, WeChat, etc.; fourth, HUST has provided a new pre-depositing function for student’s campus cards and a phone number purchasing service; and fifth, HUST strengthened the control, security detection and risk prevention for the digital orientation platform according to the relevant laws and devised contingency plans.

Freshmen were able to log into the digital orientation platform with their name, admission letter number and ID number, and read guidance. Following the flow chart provided, they could go through the relevant procedures. The procedures prior to payment were required to be completed in sequence, with the platform enabling the students to log into the system multiple times within the specified period.

Under the leadership of the university’s digital orientation team, HUST held several coordination meetings to ensure the progress and delivery of the one-stop service. More than ten departments prepared related tasks in advance. From September 11th to 13th, the Office of Student Affairs, Office of Finance, Office of Security and other departments all prepared hotlines for student consultation. Each school selected orientation volunteers from their senior students who possess a 1:8 ratio, and matched them with designated freshmen to guide the new entrants through the platform in early September.

This year marks the sixth successive year for the digital orientation with a total of 7106 undergraduate freshmen enrolled in HUST through the platform. Among the new entrants was HUST’s soon-to-be youngest students Tianhang Li, who was born in 2005, Junmin Hao, captain of Chinese National Men's Soccer Team, and two sets of twins from Yichang, Hubei and Xinzhou, Wuhan. As the pandemic was brought under control, Congling Li who was a member of the Anhui aid medical team took a picture at the gate of HUST before she left Wuhan, hoping that her son Zongxi Yu could achieve the family dream – of being enrolled into HUST. And now, Yu, as part of the 7106 students enrolled, is set to further his study in the experimental class of photoelectric excellence program. According to statistics, by September 13th, more than 99% of the freshmen successfully registered through the orientation platform.

Following the success of the digital registration, HUST provided a "one-stop service" at the reception site for the freshmen after they arrived, with the student orientation volunteers directly leading them to their dormitory. The digital orientation platform has significantly improved orientation, deftly solving the traditional problem of long waiting times and has facilitated the unified management of freshmen information, providing a smooth, student-focused service to every HUST 2020 newcomer.

Written by: Yutao Cao

Edited by: Shengyuan Ma, Andrew, Yumeng Peng

Source：Office of Student Affairs