Posted on behalf of Kevin Perry, Chair of the Orientation Advisory Committee (OAC)
New Student & Transition Programs and the Orientation Advisory Committee (OAC) are excited to announce that for Summer 2020, we will host a Transfer Orientation Session on Friday, July 17th, specifically designed for our unique and diverse transfer student population.
There are many reasons hosting transfer students over the summer is in the best interest of our students. First, it would allow them to meet in-person with an advisor earlier and create a class schedule, which is a predictor of staying at IC. Second, it allows for advisors to spend more time with students versus asking advisors to consider transfer students’ complex schedules while also balancing the needs of incoming, first-year students; this allows students to receive undivided attention and an individualized approach in discussing adjustments to their class schedule. Third, a shorter orientation program takes into consideration the many students who would need to take time away from work, families, and other obligations in order to attend a longer orientation program. Fourth, beginning an in-person conversation with transfer students during the summer provides more time to discuss and work through unique questions or common challenges such as ICC prep, student athlete scheduling, and music testing/placement exams.
The program would also provide an opportunity to align with One Summer Weekend, encouraging students to participate in an extended welcome and invite students, personally, to the Fall new student orientation, for those who are interested. While some schools already have to (and do) bring transfer students over the summer because of their academic program needs, a summer orientation for transfer students aligns all the schools to the same schedule and allows us to streamline our communication to transfer students as a college.
More information will continue to roll out as of March 2020 at ithaca.edu/orientation. If you have any questions or concerns, please email nstp@ithaca.edu.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20200211134217286