West Virginia University freshmen and transfer students will get their first taste of campus life during a series of student orientation sessions this month.
The one-day and day-and-a-half orientation programs begin on June 10 and run through June 28. For students unable to attend in June, two orientation sessions are planned �€one for transfer students on Aug 13; the other for freshmen on Aug 15just before the start of fall classes.
Nearly 3,600 incoming freshmen will visit campus during the following sessions: June 10-11; June 12; June 13; June 14; June 17-18; June 18-19; June 20; June 21; June 24-25; June 26; June 27; June 28; August 13 and August 15.
Most sessions are full, but several still have openings, but space is limited.
Regan Fritsch-Bruni, new student orientation coordinator, encourages all freshmen to attend summer orientationalthough it is not mandatory.
“Those who attend orientation will become better informed students and will learn more about what the University has to offer,”said Fritsch-Bruni.”By the time they leave us, freshmen are officially full-fledged students at WVU .”
In addition to being more informed, students who attend orientation will be able to register for classes and take placement exams.
They also get a tour of WVU s fabulous Student Recreation Center, and those who participate in the day-and-a-half sessions will be able to work out there. The center, which opened in the summer of 2001, features multiple gymnasiums and courts, an elevated running and walking track, weight and fitness equipment, two pools and an indoor climbing wall.
A glimpse of WVU s new Downtown Campus Library Complexa stunning structure in the heart of campusis scheduled as well. That facility, dedicated this spring, has aesthetically pleasing and comfortable study spaces, modern computer workstations and networks to many electronic databases as well as access to volumes upon volumes of traditional books and periodicals.
New students and their parents or guests will not only tour campus and get their picture ID cards, but will also experience”dorm life”while staying at the Evansdale Residential Complex.
Other planned activities include meetings with academic advisors and a sample of the popular WVUp All Night program in the Mountainlair student union. Participants will be introduced to the Career Services Center and Career Success Academy, learn about WVU s more than 250 clubs and organizations, computer labs and facilities and generally get more familiar with the University and what it has to offer.
They will also meet Resident Faculty Leaders, outstanding faculty couples who live adjacent to the halls to offer advice and counseling, and hear about the Mountaineer Parents Club from First Lady Susan Hardesty, who heads up the organization for families of WVU students.