New Bulldogs Get Ready for Fall at Summer Orientation 2011

WILSON, N.C. – Students began arriving on campus on June 21 for Barton College’s Summer Orientation, reuniting with their admissions counselors, and meeting their fellow classmates face to face, as they prepared for their first semester as new Bulldogs.

Session I, the first of three Summer Orientation sessions, ran June 21-22.  Session II followed later in the week on June 24-25.  The third and final session is scheduled for August 17-19.

Following their official welcome from Barton College President Norval Kneten, the Class of 2015 met their First Year Seminar (FYS) Instructors and then headed off to take the mathematics and foreign language placement tests.

After lunch in the Hamlin Student Center dining hall, students received a lively and entertaining welcome from their Orientation Leaders.  George Solan, vice president for student affairs, reviewed Barton’s Honor Code; then students attended a session on “Keys to Academic Success.”  Next, the new Bulldogs broke up into three groups for round-robin sessions in which they learned about the campus computer network, student activities, and the financial aid and business offices.

Late in the afternoon, students met with the Student Affairs staff for a Q&A session with the chaplain, health services, campus police, career services, student activities, and residence life.  Following the Q&A session, students attended one of two residence life meetings: one for residential students and one for students that choosing to live off campus.

The group returned to the dining hall for dinner, which was followed by a dessert reception.  Then, the students relaxed with some fun-filled activities in Hardy Alumni Hall.

Day two began with breakfast in the dining hall.  Students who would participate in sports attended an athletics meeting.  Following breakfast, Jared Tice, director of new student programs, student activities, Greek life, and intramural sports, led a session on Barton’s traditions.  After that, optional campus tours began and ran until noon.  Throughout the day, all students had the opportunity to meet with their advisors to discuss their course schedules for the upcoming semester.

Finally, students ended their Orientation Session in Hardy Alumni Hall, where they received their Barton IDs at student processing and check-out.

That’s a lot of activity packed into just a few days. Why do we do it? It helps make the transition to campus easier. With the preliminaries out of the way, students can focus on gearing up for class.

Fall semester is approaching, and the clock is ticking. If you haven’t signed up for Orientation yet, now is the time. Visit http://www.barton.edu/orientation/ to sign up. We look forward to seeing you here!