Orientation ushers in an exciting year at UNE

February 08, 2008

With 20 new courses – including a medical degree through the Joint Medical Program – on offer at the University of New England this semester, Orientation 2008 will usher in an exciting year for UNE.

This year's Orientation program will begin on Monday 11 February when – on the lawns of "Booloominbah" at 11 am – the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, will officially welcome new students to the University. This will be followed by an information session for parents and friends, before "Lifesaver Day" gets under way in UNE's Lazenby Hall.

"Lifesaver Day" is when student and community organisations set up stalls to alert new students to the vast potential for involvement – both on and off campus – in sporting, cultural, and community-oriented activities. It will include a free barbecue lunch, music presented by a live DJ, and the opportunity to win prizes in a treasure hunt. Active entertainment will be provided by a "Bucking Bull", "Gladiator Joust", and "Bouncy Castle" in the Central and Northern Courtyards.

A full program of informative activities throughout the week will include a series of talks on Tuesday 12, Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 February that will introduce new students to their areas of study. These talks will also include advice on career development, social ethics, information technology, study skills, and generally "settling in to UNE". To ensure that they are enrolling in the units that will best serve their educational and vocational needs, students can speak directly to academic staff at a "course advice" session in Lazenby Hall from 1 pm to 3 pm on Tuesday 12 February.

New students will have free use of the first-class sporting facilities at Sport UNE from 1 pm to 5 pm on Friday 15 February, and can take part in "freshers' sports games" (including tug-o'-war, sack race and three-legged race) between 2 pm and 3 pm that day.

Orientation will provide opportunities for new students to visit the University's student-run radio station, TUNE! FM. In doing so, they can get an idea of the contribution they might make to TUNE! as a volunteer, and the contribution it could make to their career aspirations. TUNE! FM will be broadcasting continuously from Lazenby Hall during "Lifesaver Day" and will broadcast updated Orientation information throughout the week.

UNE provides its students with a wide range of services, including counselling, careers advice, disability and equity support, chaplaincy and medical services, and assistance in finding off-campus accommodation and part-time and casual work. Information on how to access all of those services will be available throughout Orientation, and representatives of the services themselves will be on hand to give initial advice and assistance. A special orientation session for students not living in the residential colleges ("town students") at 10 am on Monday morning will help them with making social contacts and feeling at home in the university environment.

Ed Campbell, the Student Experience Liaison Officer at UNE, said he was looking forward to meeting all new students during Orientation, and to helping them throughout the year to make the most of the services – and the extra-curricular academic and social activities – the University offers.

For Orientation information in detail – including a series of podcasts containing the information presented in the introductory talks – go to: http://www.une.edu.au/for/current-students/orientation.

Orientation information specially for distance education students can be found at: http://blog.une.edu.au/deassist.

Orientation for international students began today, with special information sessions, welcoming events, and a barbecue lunch. The photograph displayed here shows two students from the United States at today's Orientation program: Anna Harrison from Washington State and Brett Tyrell from Wyoming.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at February 8, 2008 05:55 PM