New Student Orientation (NSO) has made several changes to the orientation schedule for 2009, including overlapping sessions, smaller group sizes and cutting the student organization information fair, according to Gabe Wical, director of NSO.

Wical said he has worked closely with the NSO Steering Team, which includes 10 representatives from across campus, to determine the necessary changes.

He said the time frame of orientation is going to remain the same, beginning June 29 and continuing through the end of July. However, instead of nine two-day sessions, there will be 17 one and a half day overlapping sessions.

“We’ve been looking at changing things over the years,” Wical said. “The number of students and parents coming to orientation continues to rise and we don’t have the space on campus to hold two concurrent programs.”

Wical said the changes help NSO do a lot of things it was unable to do in the past.

“We will not only have a welcome program on the first day, but also explain the expectations of students as a member of the campus community to both students and parents,” he said.

He said the new information is what orientation has needed for a while.

“As we are talking about what’s expected academically, culturally and socially, the students will hear a more defined message and have a better understanding of what’s expected,” he said.

Tracey Ray, director of multicultural student affairs and member of the NSO Advisory Committee, said the changes will have a positive impact.

“With all the work the University does, assessment is a big part,” Ray said. “By all means, NSO will go in and assess how it runs in terms of the new schedule and how to tweak it. That’s something the committee does every year based on feedback.”

Elizabeth Mayton, a freshman in English, said she provided feedback last year regarding orientation. She said despite her laid back personality, cramming a lot of information into a short period of time proved frustrating.

“Orientation should be a little bit longer,” Mayton said. “They provide a lot of information in a brief amount of time. It’s almost not productive because you are rushed around from session to session.”

Ray said changes were a matter of adjusting the program, within budget, without compromising the student’s experience.

“A lot of thought has been put into the changes with the philosophy of ‘students first’,” she said. “The core values of orientation have been maintained so students still receive a high quality experience.”

Wical said the new schedule structure allows NSO to cut group sizes in half.

“Hopefully the smaller groups will show students from the beginning that there is a way to make the University feel small,” Wical said.

Mayton said the smaller groups is definitely a good thing because it offers more time for students to ask questions.

However, Mayton said cutting the student organization information fair will have a negative impact on orientation.

“I wouldn’t have known what groups to get involved with without first speaking to the people involved with the group,” she said. “I talked to girls from STAT and the Wolfpack Club, and that’s why I’m involved. It’s definitely going to hurt the organizations, as well.”

Wiscal said NSO wanted to focus its energy more on what people needed in the summer time.

“We felt there was a limited benefit of being exposed to a small sample of groups on campus,” Wiscal said. “Instead, we are going to have a session on involvement–how to get involved and the value of getting involved.”

Ray said it will actually be a plus because it will increase student attendance at the information fair SORC leads during “Welcome Back Week.”

“Students are more likely to come out and see all the organizations at once which will be more beneficial to student groups,” she said.