Last summer, Samantha Gogol’s orientation did not go as planned. All the “good time slots” and “good classes” were full, she recalls.
The culprit? She attended Ohio University’s last orientation session. With a few weeks until classes started, Gogol said she had little time to organize, buy books and mentally prepare for college.
To give incoming freshmen more time to consider their classes and prepare for the college transition, OU has moved its Bobcat Student Orientation from July 15 through Aug. 3 to June 4 through June 26.
OU administrators agree with Gogol that last year’s schedule didn’t give students enough breathing room.
“I think the most driving factor was probably catching up with our shift to semesters,” said Ryan Lombardi, vice president for Student Affairs. “The previous schedule was set because we were in school until mid-June, and now that we’re finished in early May I think it made sense to try and do it during the earlier part of summer.”
Incoming students need more time between orientation and the first day of classes to prepare for school, said Jenny Klein, director of the Allen Student Help Center and director of Orientation Programs.
“The earlier date allows students to begin to feel like a Bobcat sooner,” Klein said. “Receiving the information they receive at orientation and making the connections they make while they are here on campus will relieve anxiety and help students feel comfortable as they prepare for college.”
OU Orientation staff determined that other universities across the country were holding their orientations closer to the first-year students’ high school graduation dates, rather than their move-in days at the universities, Lombardi said.
Both Lombardi and Klein said money was not a factor in the switch. There is no cost difference in having an earlier orientation, Klein said.
However, the earlier orientation will affect class scheduling.
With the goal of making first-year students’ transition to college life as smooth as possible, Student Affairs staff is cons ide r i ng holding “refresher” courses during the first few days of Fall Semester to remind new students of what they learned at orientation. That initiative is not set in stone as of press time.
Advanced Placement test scores will not be in the university’s system in time for the earlier orientation dates, which will affect scheduling for first-year students, Klein said. Staff will have to work indiv idua l ly with students who have passed applicable AP tests, she added.
“Even with a ‘refresher course’ I still wish my orientation had been earlier,” said Gogol, now a sophomore studying anthropology. “People will feel more secure because they want to have their act together. I wanted to know what I was doing before I got here, and now with more time between orientation and the first day, new students will be able to do that.”
cs951612@ohiou.edu
@Claireismatic
