U. announces changes to freshman orientation program, beginning 2016

The University will implement a more integrative orientation program for incoming freshmen starting with the Class of 2020, according to the Offices of the Dean of the College and Campus Life.

While Outdoor Action and Community Action were previously considered “pre-Orientation” and optional for incoming freshmen, all new students will now participate in either activity in 2016.

To ensure full participation in OA and CA, the University will no longer charge program fees for students to attend. In 2015, CA cost $495 and OA $645, with trips fully subsidized by the University for those receiving financial aid.

Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Students Thomas Dunne explained that the changes arrive after a long review of the University’s learning objectives for Orientation Week, in view of broader strategic goals for student life.

“Students and administrators have looked at Orientation broadly, looked at Orientation structures at other universities and peer institutions, and thought about what we do well and where there are opportunities for improvement,” Dunne said.

Presenting the four-year University experience to incoming students, some of whom have never visited campus, has proved an overwhelming, often disjointed introduction in the past, Dunne said. He explained that a new centralized Orientation curriculum would provide cohesion across activities and help various communities on campus achieve general learning targets for Orientation week and beyond.

“Whether you’re doing an off-campus trip or whether you’re a fall sport athlete, regardless of where you are in the process, you’re having the same types of conversations and the same material,” Dunne explained.

Fall sport athletes will be included in the new orientation experience during the pre-season training by participating in workshops and discussions that will be similar to those happening during OA and CA, University spokesperson Martin Mbugua said.

According to the Steering Committee on Undergraduate Women’s 2011 Leadership report, whose key findings guided the Orientation Steering Committee’s work, the first several weeks and months play a critical role in establishing students’ sense of community on campus.

Dunne noted thatboth OA and CA boostrelationship-building from the beginning, easingthe transition into life at the University.

“It’s immeasurably important to get to know your fellow classmates and also to have information from upper-class students who are not necessarily your [residential college advisers] but another point of information and a point of support,” Dunne said.

According to Dunne, former Vice President for Campus Life Cynthia Cherrey established the Orientation Steering Committee following recommendations set forth in two separate reports by the Working Group on Campus Social and Residential Life in 2010 and the Steering Committee on Undergraduate Women’s Leadership in 2011. Cherrey deferred comment to Dunne.

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The committee, which began with co-chairs Dunne and former Undergraduate Student Government president Bruce Easop ’13, assembled student representatives from USG, College Council members, RCAs, as well as CA and OA leaders. Administrative representation included residential college administrators, the athletics department, the Office of the Dean of the College, the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students and the Pace Center.

As part of its review process, the committee conducted several surveys to gauge how students felt the orientation experience affected their transition into college.

OA director Rick Curtis ’79 said people felt the small group environment was a great way to ease students’ tension and anxiety. He also said that students who chose not to participate in CA or OA sometimes felt that they had missed out on something, particularly when other students would talk about their experiencesduring Orientation Week.

“A particular area of focus for us was the students who choose not to do either pre-Orientation program and come to Princeton [to] realize, after the fact, that there’s been all this community-building that happened that they didn’t take part in,” Dunne said.

The committee also found that hosting two move-in dates presented a logistical challenge for the University. Dunne explained that parents and families were often confused about the official start of Orientation when the majority of the freshman class was arriving one week early to participate in pre-Orientation programs.

Some students in the committee spoke of “auditorium fatigue,” the result of hours of Orientation presentations in Richardson Auditorium, Dunne said.

“Students had incredibly perceptive thoughts about where we could make improvements in this process, keeping us mindful of [the] sense of being overwhelmed and the orientation schedule being too packed,” he said.

One way to ease this period of rapid turnarounds, Dunne explained, would be to acquaint students with their own class and welcome them with a stronger foundation of University life, such as the residential college experience, prior to their departure for CA or OA.

“Giving more time for people to settle in and understand Princeton before they go on any small group trips is very important,” hesaid.

Furthermore, both CA and OA have already been expanding over the years to meet increasing student demand, Director of the Pace Center Dave Brown said.

Brown explained that CA has now branched into asset-based approaches to service, which seek to recognize and build on the assets that exist in communities. These approaches include groups examining civic engagement in an interfaith context or through the arts.

Brown said two new projects were added this year, one addressing the history of a community and the other focusing on the role of journalism in justice issues.

The goal of the new orientation program is not only to provide a cohesive introduction to the University but also to provide continued support for students into their first year, Brown said. He added that many campus resources help students follow through with interesting opportunities they encounter during Orientation.

“Whether it’s through the Pace Center or the climbing wall at OA, there are a lot of ways people can do service and get involved,” Curtis said. “I look at this [Orientation program] as the first investment and the first touch.”

Curtis said OA is committed to creating an environment for students to connect on a peer-to-peer level, and noted that the trip serves as a first step in students’ lives at the University.

“We’ve always looked at it as an orientation experience first, and an outdoor experience second,” Curtis said. “That continues as we move into this new model.”

Curtis added that the OA program has created a more diverse range of trips, from basecamp-oriented to sustainable farming, in order to match the diversity of the freshman class.

He said that like CA, the OA program would continue to develop experiences, activities and small-group discussions in line with the broader strategic goals for Orientation week.

“There are a series of learning objectives that are being identified for Orientation in general, so those will obviously trickle back down to Outdoor Action and Community Action,” Curtis said. “I think that will be an interesting process over the course of the year.”

According to an email from OA, there will be a town hall meeting on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in McCosh 10 for the OA community to discuss the changes to the orientation program.