Which way to Orientation?

What Orientation entails

For Parents
• Housing at IU
• Information about the Office of the Bursar
• Advising at IU
• Academic success and expectations

For Students
• Academic advising
• Required and optional testing
• Personal awareness and safety
• Registration for classes
• Obtaining student ID card
• Learning about technology at IU

What parents are saying

For parents, orientation involves learning details of housing, the bursar and academic success. But even parents have opposing opinions on its benefit.

IU graduate and mother Suzie Belt said her experience was a bit of a waste.

“It just seems like they are coddling everyone,” she said. “It was a complete waste of our time. They just need to get to the chase and tell me something I don’t know. I want to know the secrets of IU, and instead it’s just a lot of downtime.”

Sharron Middleton, however, said she has enjoyed the experience and feels like it has been a positive one for her and her child.

“I feel like it was well-organized,” Middleton said. “There has been great interaction between advisers and parents in my mind.”

What students are saying

New Student Orientation combines necessary activities, such as registering for classes and obtaining a student ID, with more social ones.

“It was really fun,” Jordan Gill, an incoming freshman, said. “We did a lot of group activities and icebreakers. I came here with a friend, but we ended up in different groups, so I met a lot of new people.”

Eduardo Suarez, another soon-to-be freshman, said orientation has been a “great” experience even though he said he already knew a lot of the information discussed in the program from his research online.

“I have always had great expectations for IU, and it sustained those,” Suarez said.
Though Gill and Suarez said they enjoyed the activities, others said the experience wasn’t quite what they expected.

“I think the whole experience has been all right, but I feel like they have babied us quite a bit,” Katharine King said. “It would be nice if we could spend a little more time learning and a little less time playing games.”

King and Stefani Middleton said they are worried that the orientation staff is spending too much time on activities in which students might not want to participate.

“It has really just been a large waste of time,” Middleton said. “It could have been fit into one day, and I still feel like I haven’t learned that much.”

But for Gill, going through orientation has made her even more excited for the fall semester.

“I loved hearing the students talk and share their perspectives,” Gill said. “They’ve been
through it before. They answered questions I didn’t even know I had. Now, I’m ready to do Welcome Week, meet my roommate and start.”