This year saw the implementation of a new orientation system for incoming freshman, New Student Orientation (NSO).

While Jumpstart, the previous system, had lasted three days, the core of NSO itself took less than three hours… so it is interesting indeed that this new system provides a better all-around acclimation to college life than Jumpstart did.

“How can this be?” you may be asking. A large part of it has to do with attitude. “One of the biggest complaints we got from Jumpstart was that it didn’t feel grown-up enough, it felt too much like a summer camp”, said Terrill Hall, assistant dean of students and organizer of Jumpstart and NSO, “We wanted to give the students a more collegiate experience.”

This is reflected in the shortened time frame and less formal structure of activities during welcome week. It is even reflected in the admittedly dry (or alternatively, “more adult”) sounding name.

Not only does the new system feel more adult, it also gives freshman a more realistic and integrated introduction to the college lifestyle. A large part of this is the timing of activities. While most welcome week activities for Jumpstart took place before classes started, most welcome week activities for NSO took place during the first week of classes.

As Anthony Laster, a co-director of NSO explains, “Right when they [the freshman] get here they are immediately integrated into what the semester is going to look and feel like, they’re interacting with upper and lower classmen, going to class, there’s not a lot of time where you’re worried about what’s going to pan out.” In other words, rather than planning activities and explaining to the freshman what they will experience in a week or so, everything can be explained as it is happening. It allows Peer Advisors to walk the freshman through their experiences with them, rather than giving them some ideas of what might happen, and then sending them out on their own.

This brings us to another change from last year’s Jumpstart: Peer Advisors counsel freshmen all semester long. Previously, Peer Advisors only worked with their group of students during the welcome activities. This year, Peer Advisors are providing a much more integrated service for freshman, planning social activities, holding study sessions, and giving general advice on day-to-day problems to their students.

In most areas then, NSO seems to be better for freshman and the campus as a whole. However, Anthony acknowledges that there are areas for improvement; “There are some things we did well this year, and some things we need to improve on”, he continues, “…we’re going to be working on how the Peer Advisors interact with their groups and what their job entails specifically.”

So what’s the bottom line? NSO was a great improvement over Jumpstart, and it looks like it will only continue to get better.

Photo Credit: Rachel Grant