Many students at the University of Memphis attended new student orientation as incoming freshmen, during which they are registered for the fall semester classes, go on a tour of the campus and are shown some U of M traditions.
There were 13 possible sessions for incoming freshman to attend in 2018, and each session was a two-day event that included an encouraged overnight stay at the Living Learning Complex. This year, orientation cost each prospective student $110 to attend the whole session.
"We try to capture as much of the student experience as possible to best prepare new students for their time at the U of M,” Paige LeBlanc, the New Student Orientation coordinator, said. “Academic advising, campus life and student engagement, living and dining, campus safety, student support services and diversity and inclusion are all major components of New Student Orientation.”
LeBlanc said the university does its best to provide opportunities for all students to engage regardless of their personalities or background while also completing the required steps for students to enroll for fall classes.
“Orientation is definitely a campus-wide effort, and a number of offices from every area of the university collaborate to successfully transition new students and their families,” LeBlanc said. “Each year, we assess both the student and parent programs through evaluations and debrief sessions with campus partners to ensure we are allocating adequate time and attention to the most necessary components of the student experience.”
Wesley Roberts, an incoming freshman, said he thought three-fourths of orientation was excessive material and only a small portion was essential material.
“The majority of the events ate up my day, and gave me the impression that the U of M just wants my money and only cares about extracurricular activities,” Roberts said. “Orientation made me feel like it's not about academics but rather about fitting in and joining the most clubs.”
Hayden Durham, another incoming freshman, said it is a good idea to make orientation required, though it does need improvement.
“I felt as if it was just a big sell to get incoming freshman to live on campus,” Durham said.
Mitchell Kiriazes, a sophomore student at the U of M, said orientation helped prepare him for his freshman year because he was not from the Memphis area.
“I’m glad orientation had a portion that included touring around the campus because it cleared up a lot questions I had,” Kiriazes said. “If orientation was not required, I probably wouldn’t have gone. I was more focused on the summer coming up.”
Logan Schaal, another sophomore student, said orientation improved his social skills when he was put in a group of new people, but he thinks orientation should not be a requirement.
“I would say that orientation shouldn’t be required for people who live a certain distance away only because it could be very inconvenient to travel,” Schaal said. “It was definitely good to get walked around the campus and get introduced to some new people.”
