Elaina Principato, a fourth-year Communications and Multimedia student, didn’t attend orientation during her first year at McMaster. “I was shy,” she explains. “I lived at home with my parents, I didn’t like being in large groups and I didn’t want to pay for a MacPass.”

In an effort to be more flexible, accessible and welcoming to students like Principato, orientation is changing, says Michele Corbeil, orientation and transition program co-ordinator with the Student Success Centre. The goal is to make incoming students realize that orientation is worthwhile. It’s an opportunity to make friends, explore the city and relieve some of the stress involved in the transition to university.

“We have an obligation to make orientation a valuable experience with numerous opportunities for students to connect,” says Gina Robinson, assistant dean of Student Affairs and director of the Student Success Centre. David Campbell, president of the MSU, agrees, and says the involvement of students in orientation planning is critical. “The ability to leverage expertise in different areas of making students comfortable and confident in their new environment strengthens our first-year orientation at McMaster in a number of ways.”

As a result of these and other factors, summer orientation is being replaced with SOAR (Summer Orientation for Academic Readiness) — an eight-week online program beginning July 8 that is designed to introduce students to the academic realities of campus life. The theme of orientation is One McMaster: Infinite Opportunities — LEARN, EXPERIENCE, SOAR.

“Through videos, interviews, live chats and blog posts, students will explore common concerns, campus resources and the skills needed to be successful at university,” says Jennifer Meister, academic skills program co-ordinator in the Student Success Centre. “Students will have an opportunity to vote and provide feedback during the program allowing us to be more responsive to issues and concerns.”

Also new this year is the opportunity for off-campus and commuter students to have McMaster to themselves for a day. On Thursday, Aug. 8, up to 125 students will take part in tours, discussions, a scavenger hunt, an evening campfire and a sleepover in Les Prince Hall, before joining other first-year students for Welcome Day festivities the following day.

As usual, students and their families can tour campus and explore Hamilton on Welcome Day. This year’s itinerary will include an opening ceremony, tours and a variety of sessions for students and family members. Welcome Week (beginning Aug. 31) includes an array of social, cultural, athletic and academic activities designed to ease students’ transition to university.

Last year, 75 per cent of first-year students surveyed said Welcome Week was a good use of their time, while 77 per cent found it an “enjoyable” experience. This year, Welcome Week will be followed by four transition weeks with opportunities for students to gain additional information about academic expectations, health and wellness, community involvement and managing finances.

Sadi Loai, a second-year engineering student, says he attended Welcome Week activities because he thought it was the best thing to do. “I lived off campus and I didn’t know a single person in Hamilton. The Welcome Week reps were energetic, inviting and made you feel welcome.”

For more information on orientation activities at McMaster, visit the Student Success Centre.