USC Orientation, Welcome Week Have Record Turnouts
As the school year shifts into gear, USC's two signature transition programs for new students, Orientation and Welcome Week, have come to an end after setting record attendance numbers.
Orientation, one of the first steps USC takes to acclimate new students to the university, is divided into several sessions throughout the summer among freshmen, transfer students, international students and two off-campus sessions in Hawaii and Hong Kong.
Nearly 95 percent of incoming freshmen attended Orientation this year. The university saw its greatest attendance increases in the transfer and international Orientation programs. Nearly 1,200 of the 1,400 transfer students attended transfer orientation, a significant percentage increase compared to previous years.
"Our primary goal at Orientation is to provide students with a successful transition to the academic environment and help them understand what their rights and responsibilities are as a scholar," says Tom Studdert, director of Orientation Programs.
During Orientation, students spent time in their new academic homes learning about the expectations, services and resources available, and meeting faculty and staff.
"Research tells us that students are more successful if they know the mission and values of their university," Studdert says. "We have great workshops that talk about globalization and community engagement, and those are all things that relate directly to the core values of the institution."
After Orientation, USC continues its outreach with the campus-wide Welcome Week, seven days of academic and social events.
This year, Welcome Week, which was held August 19-26, had as its theme "Go for your GOLD!"
More than 4,000 campus maps were handed out at "Ask Me!" information booths around campus, and 2,750 students went online to create their own Welcome Week schedules, allowing them to choose and RSVP to a variety of activities.
One of the most popular events, "SPARK! 4th Annual Visions and Voices Multimedia Showcase," was forced to turn away more than 1,000 students because Bovard Auditorium, which seats 1,300, was filled to capacity.
Other popular events included the "Dive-In" movie, where students sit on beach chairs and inner tubes in the McDonald’s Swim Stadium, had 1,600 students RSVP. The "Welcome Back Dance," which transformed McCarthy Quad into McCarthy Club, attracted 1,800 students. "Unspeakable Acts," a peer theatre performance addressing sexual assault and relationship violence issues, drew nearly 1,000 students.
"Welcome Week definitely was successful," says Studdert . "Research does show us that students who attend Welcome Week are far more likely to persist to graduation at USC because it's the time that students develop some of those important social networks."