At the IU Auditorium on June 6, a program called Orientation to Orientation was provided to participants with information about goals for the Office of First Year Experiences.
Orientation to Orientation is an event which gives parents, faculty and students a preview of the events New Student Orientation will provide.
Participants are also introduced to major key figures in the FYE, such as the OTeam memebers. OTeam members are students from IU.
The 2016 summer freshman orientation runs June 8 to July 19. There are also fall and spring sessions. However, FYE anticipates the majority of their orientation participants to reserve a summer date.
The program takes two days and is filled with numerous activities for incoming freshmen.
“We will share with you what is maybe different, what is updated and some of our proud traditions,” said Senior Associate Director of FYE Melanie Payne. Payne is also the Director of New Student Orientation.
The event began with a check-in process similar to the New Student Orientation. The Orientation Team provided bags of materials, similar to those given to incoming freshmen. The participants were guided through much of the New Student Orientation program, highlighting some new features as well as traditional favorites.
FYE is a division of IU that offers students their first IU experience through New Student Orientation. FYE guides students after orientation through IU traditions from the Freshman Induction Ceremony to Little 500. The office adds depth to a student’s academic study by providing information about events like “Trading Places” and “What’s Next for You at IU?”
“We will also equip you with the logistics, the numbers and the details to make sure to provide a picture of new student orientation even to the most practical and detail-orientated of you,” Payne said.
Payne talked about the program schedule for orientation. She provided the benefits of attending, such as the required and optional placement exams included in the orientation program. But prior to New Student Orientation, students will receive information on how to take the required online exams like the Foreign Language Placement Exam and the Math Placement Exam.
FYE Associate Director Sarah Nagy shared a new initiative coming to IU in fall 2016. To continue the information provided through New Student Orientation and Welcome Week, Nag is introducing a program titled “Experience IU.”
The program’s goals are for students to attend and participate in at least 10 experiences through the course of their first year. The program provides incentives for students to “nudge them along the way,” Nagy said.
The program will include interaction with the FYE app. The app allows students to “track their progress and increase their awareness of all the opportunities out there,” Nagy said.
After the information sessions led by Payne, Nagy and other FYE faculty were finished, guests were given an opportunity to visit a reception in the lobby afterward.
The reception allowed guests to meet the orientation staff, from assistant directors to OTeam members.
