Orientations for new students are held at the start of each semester. This year’s fall orientation began on Jun. 8 and will continue through August. Recently, orientation has undergone new changes that could improve the quality of the experience for new students. Orientation leaders provide a fun and engaging day of campus activities to prepare new students for their new life as a Lion.
The Lion's Roar/Alex Brainard
Summer is underway and the university is holding its annual orientations for new students. However, recent changes have determined how orientation will be run in the upcoming years.
“We’re expanding the orientation program to add in some more student connection pieces,” said Assistant Director of Admissions Keslie Smith. “One of the things we added was an overnight accommodation. Instead of doing two programs per week, we’re doing Wednesday check in which starts at 1 p.m. and students can stay on campus for an entire night and stay a full day on Thursday.”
According to Smith, each year admissions have evaluations from family members and students. The feedback is taken into consideration each year and orientations will possibly be changed in response.
“I think one of the good components of having a student stay overnight is they get a taste of what it’s like to be a Southeastern student,” said Smith. “We want them to have a positive experience here and possibly someone who is a commuter student may change their mind and decide to stay in housing over the semester. It helps them be prepared and excited for the fall.”
According to Smith, orientation for the fall began on Jun. 8 and will continue through August. “The number of students that come in this year should remain flat,” said Smith. “We are expecting four hundred students each week at orientation.”
Admissions counselors do much to help students enroll in the university.
“We do a variety of things to recruit people in,” said Smith. “We have admissions counselors that go out to high schools and make connections with students and high school guidance counselors. They will do private visits and presentations or they’ll do a college fair. They are on the road a lot in the Fall semester. They make phone calls, emails, anything it takes to get students here. We reach out to as many students as we can to tell them what’s great about Southeastern.”
At the orientations, some of the new incoming students had a chance to speak out on why they chose to attend the university.
“It’s close to home and I like Hammond,” said orientation attendee and freshman physics major Zachary Bass. “It’s really nice here.”
According to Smith, orientation is important because it is the transition that takes students from high school and leads them into college.
“It’s the connections you make here that will impact your first semester at the university,” said Smith. “We want to make sure you’re prepared and excited at the university. We want to help students feel confident and reassure that you made the right decision to choose Southeastern.”
Orientations for new students are held at the start of each semester. This year’s fall orientation began on Jun. 8 and will continue through August. Recently, orientation has undergone new changes that could improve the quality of the experience for new students. Orientation leaders provide a fun and engaging day of campus activities to prepare new students for their new life as a Lion.
The Lion's Roar/Alex Brainard
During orientation, students browse campus organizations and finalize schedules.
The Lion's Roar/Alex Brainard