USD transfer students lack orientation, help
As a student who recently transferred to the University of South Dakota, I must admit I am disappointed in Student Affairs for not providing any type of spring orientation when I arrived on campus in January.
Having transferred from my previous university over winter break, I was not given any orientation. Since I had previously attended Northern State University for three semesters, I was familiar with most of the South Dakota Board of Regents software like WebAdvisor and Desire2Learn.
Other than that, I basically had no idea of anything else including where my meal plan worked versus where I had to use flex, the dining schedule, parking rules, quiet hours in the dorms, how or where to print, cost of printing, etc. Of course reading the Student Handbook probably would have helped a little in certain areas, but let’s be real, how many people actually sit down and read the handbook?
When I started school at Northern State University in the fall of 2013, I was provided with a two-day orientation program to help me meet other students my age, including those who were business majors like myself at the time. We moved into our rooms with the help of many orientation leaders.
After, we had plenty of time to move in and say goodbye to family members, we had a presentation and were welcomed as the class of 2017. Then we had food on the campus green which gave us time to socialize and make friends.
There were several presentations and activities where we were broken up into different groups to help us meet others. We also had time to wander campus and get familiarized with where our classes would be. We were able to attend workshops and were told rules and guidelines for campus and the SDBOR, as well as mandatory residence hall meetings to get to know the staff and highlight major rules for dorm life.
When I transferred to the USD this January, I felt completely out of the loop.
I had no idea where the many different buildings my classes were held in, let alone where my classrooms were. I was given no information about the library or tech desk other than what I was told on the tour.
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I didn’t even know where I could eat with my student ID, and I barely knew anyone when I arrived. I felt completely lost and helpless.
If not for my very outgoing personality and a few high school friends, I may not have made it through my first week here. It was definitely a struggle.
I keep asking myself to this day, ‘Why was I not provided with any orientation when I came here?’ There were about 10 students who registered the same day I did. We came in over winter break so campus was not very busy. There is no excuse for why we weren’t introduced to each other, shown around campus and told major campus and residence life regulations.
Sure, we sat through some boring presentations, most of which were old news to me since I was familiar with the SDBOR, SDePay, D2l, WebAdvisor and Starfish.
I sat on my phone the whole time waiting to hear about something new — I wanted to know more about activities, rules I should know, important places and their locations on campus, student health and clubs. I got none of that.
I feel that orientation is an important part of a transfer student’s start on any campus and more should be done for both incoming first-year students and transfer students alike.
Why should we feel lost or nervous even with a campus map in hand — which totally makes us look crazy. Shouldn’t we feel excited and ready for our new adventure? I know I didn’t, and it was disappointing and frustrating.
Something needs to be done about this, and it needs to be handled now so that incoming students of any level this coming academic year can be prepared and confident when they step out of their room the first day.
