The Office of Student Life is currently recruiting students to become Student Orientation Leaders.Student Orientation leaders comprise a group called the O’Team, which assist new students and parents at SHSU during Orientation. The students are trained for 40 hours during the spring semester to work summer orientations. They are taught the different aspects and opportunities SHSU has to offer, and are trained to answer questions new students and their parents may have. “Student Orientation Leaders work strictly for summer orientation programs,” said Mary Ellen Sims, assistant dean of students who supervises the Student Orientation Leaders. “About 85 percent or our students go through orientation.”Last year, the O’Team consisted of 25 team members and three Team leaders. Team leaders are experienced students who train the O’Team, and coordinate and facilitate the activities that happen over the summer. They are students that have been promoted from the O’Team to take on more responsibility with new students. Freshman Orientation is offered on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays during the summer in four sessions. Session I is offered June 9 to June11; session II, June 23 to June 25; session III, July 14 to July 16, and session IV, July 28 to July 30. Transfer students have a separate orientation on Thursdays this summer. The dates are June 20 for the first session and Aug. 1 for the second.According to the Student Life newsletter, freshmen that attend orientation spend the night on campus at either Estill Hall or King Hall and have meals in Caf Belvin. They attend sessions and seminars that help them ready for classes in college such as campus involvement, managing finances and even have the opportunity to learn about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. “Passport to Sam” is an open house during orientation that provides the opportunity for incoming students to meet with current students and learn about over 80 campus organizations and university departments. Freshmen also tour the campus. The idea is to get freshmen and their parents ready for the transition from home to college, and to acquaint them with the SHSU campus.Transfer students attend a condensed version of freshman orientation, where they learn what the university has to offer students. They also get the opportunity to meet with an advisor and register.”We worked with 3,000 people last year,” Sims said. The university also offers visitor orientation for those considering SHSU as an educational choice. The Visitor Center offers a video on SHSU featuring distinguished alumni Dan Rather, a campus tour and an information packet about the campus to prospective students. “I found out about the library and the tutoring services they offer there that was good,” said Sabrina Veirs, a prospective student interested in transferring to SHSU from Chatham College in the spring. “The tour got me familiarized with the campus.”
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