The University of Memphis will host the Southern Regional Orientation Workshop March 15-17. More than 1,900 college orientation leaders, staff members and students are scheduled to attend.
"The entire conference is very high energy, like cheerleading camp on steroids," Destin Tucker, SROW conference chair and assistant director of admissions at the office of recruitment and orientation at the U of M, said.
The University volunteered to host SROW, the Region VI Conference of the National Orientation Directors Association, NODA. Region VI is the largest NODA region composed of nine states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
This is the first year the University has hosted this event.
"It is a great opportunity for institutions to host a NODA conference, especially for Region 6," Joyce Holl, executive director for NODA, said.
Professionals and students from universities and colleges throughout the region will travel to Memphis for the workshop. Of the 1,900 scheduled to attend, about 1,600 are undergraduate students.
"One of the great benefits that institutes experience that host a NODA conference is that they gain a lot of exposure," Holl said.
The activities include case studies; a song, skit and dance competition; a service project; T-shirt and banner competitions and educational sessions.
This year's service project calls for attendees to bring school supplies such as backpacks, folders and markers that will be donated to select Memphis City Schools.
"We expect to have a lot of items. I have had some schools call me and tell me that they had so many items they are having to ship them in ahead of time," Kelly Pietkiewicz, SROW 2013 service project chair and admissions counselor at the U of M, said.
Many of the activities scheduled for the conference are aimed to promote team building while also sharing ideas among universities and colleges in the region.
"They can expect to get motivated about meeting new students and parents at orientations this summer," Tucker said.
U of M orientation leaders for this summer are required to attend.
"It is the most competitive position on campus," said Mary Garcia, a sophomore business and economics major who will be an orientation guide for the first time this summer. "You are entrusted with recruiting people and representing the University."
Even more than scheduled events, Garcia is anticipating gaining valuable information about campus tours from former orientation leaders at the conference.
"You can be lectured to all day, but when people tell their personal stories and how they reacted in certain situations, that is something that really sticks with you," Garcia said.
