About 500 incoming freshmen and their families will converge on the West Virginia University campus the next two Saturdays for New Student Orientation.

The orientations on May 3 and 10 in the Mountainlair are for”local”students who plan to attend WVU and live within an 80-mile radius of the Morgantown campus, said Regan Fritsch Bruni, New Student Orientation coordinator. Some 230 students will attend the first session; another 260, including transfer and nontraditional students, will visit WVU the following Saturday.

“These orientations are designed for students who live no farther than an hour-and-a-half’s driving distance of WVU ,”Bruni said.”It’s an added benefit to families who live close to the school.”

Participating students are from Monongalia, Harrison, Marion, Preston, Taylor and Wetzel counties in West Virginia; Garrett County, Md.; and Fayette, Greene and Washington counties in Pennsylvania.

Both sessions will begin at 9 a.m. and last until 4 or 4:30 p.m. Students who attend will get their photo ID taken; register for courses; meet their Resident Faculty Leaders, or RFLs; and learn about student services such as the Mountaineer Information Express student and faculty Web site and Student Recreation Center. The program will end with an optional tour of the campus.

The one-day orientations are a prelude to more intensive orientation sessions scheduled June 9-27 for students coming from greater distances, Bruni said. Area students unable to participate in the May orientations can also attend one of the June sessions, she added.

For more information about New Student Orientation, contact the office at 304-293-2264 or go online athttp://www.arc.wvu.edu/NSS/orientation/index.html.