Advising & Orientation

We work with First Year Programs (FYP) to support First Year students and Transfer students during the Summer Quarter and Autumn Quarters to prepare for Autumn and Winter Admission. Our participation in these situations is primarily virtual and on Zoom in order to be accessible to all students. 

Summer Quarter A&O

A&O for Freshman Students:

During the summer, advisers sign up for various First Year A&O sessions for freshmen students to answer Q&A questions in the chat. These sessions are only an hour long and our responsibility is to answer student questions as they arise during the Q&A portion of the presentation. Advisers in H.A.S. are not obligated or expected to participate in every First Year A&O session for freshman and are encouraged to sign up for the amount of sessions they have capacity for. 

A&O for Transfer Students:

Our team is very involved with A&O for Transfer Students and will block off our entire calendar for the day to support incoming transfer students in these sessions. The higher level of involvement from our department with transfer students is because these students are usually ready to work on their major requirements as they have completed their General Education and Areas of Inquiry requirements at their previous institution. 

The day for Transfer A&O sessions is organized in the following structure:

A.M. Session: Advisers present information regarding majors, scholarship opportunities, advising, and MyPlan registration.

P.M. Session: Advisers meet with 4 - 5 students in scheduled one-on-one meetings to help plan their first quarter and discuss admission requirements for certain majors. 

Information Sessions

Throughout the academic year, we evaluate student appointment data and topics discussed in Friday meetings or adviser roundtables to create information sessions for students to attend regarding various topics and tips. 

Here are some examples of information sessions we have conducted in the past:

• Textual Studies (TXTDS) Minor Launch Info Session

• Global Literary Studies (GLITS) Major Launch Info Session

• Study Abroad Info Session

• Cinema & Media Studies Post-Grad Info Sessions

• Career & Internship Preparatory Info Session in Collaboration with the Career & Internship Center

Social Engagement

As a team, we also love giving students an opportunity to engage with our space and services in more creative and social ways. Our events can change from year to year based on what we feel will bring the most engagement to our students and what may interest them but we really enjoy providing students with experiences which are low-stakes and center giving them space to get to know their peers and build community. 

Some examples of our Social Engagement events include:

• Donuts & Drop-in's (Autumn Quarter): This event is what you use to kickstart the year during Dawg Daze. In Autumn 2022 & Autumn 2023, we invited students to our center to grab donuts & coffee and if they liked, they can have a drop-in session with an adviser. Many students used this event to just get to know their peers and bond! 
• First Generation Celebration (Autumn Quarter): We are proud to be one of the advising centers that takes time to celebrate our first generation college students. We invite all First Generation students into our office where we provide goodie bags for surviving the school year and a light lunch. 
• Winter Warm-up in the Transfer Commons (Winter Quarter): This past quarter we held a winter event in the transfer commons to welcome our transfer students back on campus. We wanted to intentionally give our transfer students an opportunity to connect in person since our A&O sessions are all virtual. We provided lunch for students in the Transfer Commons. 
• Banh Mi Bounce (Spring Quarter): Our spring event was born out of the intention to be able to celebrate the end of the academic year for all students. We opened up our advising center and offered students a banh mi lunch!