Orientation restructured
Program just before classes begin to replace summer sessions

By MARA McGINNIS
Reporter Assistant Editor

A major reorganization of the university's freshman-orientation program that will replace the traditional series of summer sessions run by the Division of Student Affairs with one large, broadly managed session held immediately before classes begin also has prompted significant changes to the traditional freshman registration process.

Beginning in Fall 2000, some 3,000 incoming freshmen and their parents will come to campus to participate in a single two-and-a-half-day program that will be coordinated by Nina Kaars, assistant vice provost for undergraduate education and director of advisement. In the past, UB's freshman-orientation program consisted of approximately 10 separate sessions scheduled throughout the summer. Student testing and course registration had been a major component of those sessions, which no longer will be the case.

According to Nicolas Goodman, vice provost for undergraduate education, there was some "dissatisfaction" with the former approach, particularly with the lack of faculty involvement and academic content.

The new program will involve planning and participation by Undergraduate Education, Academic Advisement, deans and faculty members in each of the schools and units within Student Affairs and University Services. A concurrent program for parents, coordinated by Toby Shapiro, parent program director in the Office of Student Activities, will offer parents a choice of several workshops covering various topics.

While many of the program details still are being worked out, incoming freshmen now will preregister from home in late spring, rather than at orientation, and course placement will be determined based on students' SAT scores instead of required math and writing exams that formerly were administered at orientation before students registered at UB. Goodman added that by eliminating the UB testing and allowing students to register in early spring, there will be time for incoming freshmen to take summer courses if necessary.

According to Kaars, students will be contacted by an advisor in May and will receive personal, one-on-one attention via phone and email in creating their first-semester class schedules.

She pointed out that the change in orientation comes at a time when the traditional advising procedure at UB has shifted to one that is much more decentralized. The College of Arts and Sciences and Dean Kerry Grant will play an important role in the new orientation program and the earlier registration process since the CAS advisement center serves approximately 30 departments, as well as students who are undecided about a major-which last fall was about one-third of freshmen. Most schools, including management, engineering, architecture, health related professions, nursing and pharmacy, will provide advisement to students intending to major in those areas, she said.

"Many incoming freshmen don't even know what the different disciplines are," said Goodman, who cited anthropology as one example. He added that he hopes many departments will look at the new orientation program as an opportunity to creatively "showcase" their field of study.

Another major change affecting all freshmen entering UB this fall is that nearly all freshmen will be block-registered, Goodman added. This year, only about half of freshmen have block schedules, which means most of their classes are with the same group of students. Kaars added that block-scheduling fosters "learning communities," a national trend among institutions of higher education that has been shown to have "a positive impact on student retention."

The new orientation program will allow freshmen the chance to meet and interact with the other students in their "block" before classes begin, Kaars noted, adding that each block will be made up of about 24 students.

The program also will include "commuter-only sessions" that will be held while other students are checking into the residence halls and will focus on building successful strategies to connect these students-both academically and socially-with the university.

About 100 UB student aides will participate in the new orientation program, and Kaars hopes they will act as "upperclass mentors" for the freshmen. In addition, for the first time at UB, there will be a "freshman convocation" during orientation, bringing together the entire freshman class at the same time and place, she said.

Kaars explained that one important reason for changing the program was the financial and time constraints summer travel caused for out-of-town students, particularly students with summer jobs. "This way they're coming to college and they're going to stay," she said.

Kaars added that the new program is a "university-wide responsibility" and an excellent opportunity for faculty to connect with new students. She said the program will be "quite dynamic" and promises to utilize much creative energy with all of the people involved. "No one is excluded from this process," she said.