New Student Orientation Programs: The Key to Student Success!

I remember my new student orientation program as though it were yesterday (it wasn’t). All of the incoming freshmen—yes, once upon a time, new students were called freshmen (not First Years, New Students, Post-Secondary Initiates, etc)—gathered in Albee Hall on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. We were given some basic rules and “do nots” of the university and then were organized into groups of ten with an experienced student — I don’t think he was even called Orientation Leader– who had us sit in a circle outside on the grass. He prompted us to introduce ourselves to each other, with our name, hometown, major, and, I think, the number of pets we grew up with. We then adjourned to the student activities fair with dunk tanks, ball toss, and other carnival games. I started classes the next day.

Oh, how things have changed!

Continue Reading Add comment August 5th, 2009