New Graduate Student Orientation

Why Attend the Department Orientation as a Graduate Student?

 
One of the most important events that affects the quality of a graduate student's academic residency is the orientation and introduction to the department--its staff, faculty, department head, facilities, and its resources.  Even though you probably attended a multi-day orientation as an undergraduate (and even if you attended one at this university), there are more than a few surprises in store for you as a new graduate student.
 
Your orientation actually begins when you receive the Welcome information (email messages with attachments) from the academic advisor. 
 
  • If you're enrolling for the Fall Semester, look for the Welcome information in late June or early July (and if the Spring Semester, early November). 
  • After reviewing the Welcome information, Domestic students may correspond with the academic advisor by email to begin pre-registration for courses.  International students will meet with the academic advisor and register for courses during their on-campus orientation with the ISPS office.
 

Graduate Vs. Undergraduate Life:  What a Difference!

 
Your life as a graduate student will be much different from life as an undergraduate.
 
  • Your circle of fellow students will become smaller but bonds will be stronger.  Your fellow graduate students will become your future colleagues in the profession that you have chosen.
  • Courses will be more challenging and you will be studying more on your own.
  • Advising is doubled--you have a faculty advisor and a departmental academic advisor--and therefore more intensive.
  • Expectations will be higher in all areas of learning--course work, lab work, field work, computer modeling, research, and writing.
  • Self-initiative and critical thinking skills which you practiced as an undergraduate will become crucial to your success as a graduate student researcher and, ultimately, a working professional.
  • Out-of-the-classroom study and research will become the rule rather than the exception. 
  • Graduate education will take you to a whole new level of understanding and knowledge in your chosen discipline.
 

Graduate School:  A New Culture and Higher Expectations

 
Students who attend graduate orientation sessions have a better understanding of the culture of graduate school and the requirements and expectations of their degree programs.
 
  • They don't waste time taking the wrong courses or making uninformed decisions.
  • They tend to have greater success in maintaining their financial support, and they know how, and to whom, to ask for help or assistance.
  • They tend to have less difficulty with the university's financial systems.
  • They make more timely progress in degree completion because they know their degree programs' academic benchmarks and when they should be achieving them.
  • Last, but not least, they learn quickly that first-hand knowledge is better than second-hand knowledge.

 

Fall and Spring Orientations

 
The department holds a series of orientation sessions for newly admitted graduate students prior to the beginning of each major semester.  During the Fall semester, the orientation is held in one of the department's conference rooms and typically scheduled on the Friday afternoon prior to the first day of classes that begin the following Monday.  During the Spring semester, the orientation may be held in a conference room or in the academic advisor's office, depending on the size of the group. Orientation in the spring tends to be done on a much smaller scale due to the number of students.
 

First Session with Academic Advisor, Staff, and HWR Student Association (HWRSA)

 
The first session held prior to the beginning of classes is moderated by the academic advisor who presents most of the information but also includes a welcome from the department head, as well as brief introductions and presentations by key staff members--the administrative associate (main office), the senior business manager, the senior  IT and computer manager, and the chemical laboratories, research, and building manager--and officers from the department's student association (HWRSA).

 

Agenda

 
A typical agenda for the first session with the academic advisor includes:
 
  • Distribution of required forms (e.g. Office and Key Request form, Computer Lab Use and Email Registration form, Emergency Contact form)
  • Distribution of materials and discussion of the
    • Time frame and benchmarks (measures of progress) for completion of degree requirements
    • Explanation of required formal exams for MS and PHD student--they're different!
    • Course requirements, degree program requirements, professional development requirements for MS and PHD students--they're different!
    • Completion of undergraduate deficiency courses
  • Discussion of financial support, enrollment requirements, and future requests for financial support (e.g. fee scholarship awards)
  • Interim and permanent faculty advisor assignment
 
HWRSA student officers will introduce new students to the department's facilities (e.g. mail room, offices, lunch areas), may take student photos (camera and weather permitting), and will discuss campus safety, bicycle safety (and bicycle theft deterrents), apartment living and housing, and HWRSA student association activities. 

 

Followup Sessions:  Parade of Stars

 
Follow up sessions are held about the third and fourth weeks of classes during the Wednesday Weekly Colloquium hour.  At these sessions, informally called the Parade of Stars, individual faculty members make presentations of their research activities and talk about the courses they teach.  A different group of faculty members speaks each week, so students should attend both sessions.

 

Fall Semester Open House

 
By the fourth week of classes, new graduate students should have met most, if not all, of the faculty and continuing students.  New students will also have the opportunity to meet them again more informally at the annual Department Head's Open House, usually scheduled in late September or early October.

 

Advising Walk-In Appointments Encouraged!

 
Frequent visits to the academic advisor's office during the first few weeks of classes are encouraged until students feel comfortable with their schedules and have made final adjustments to their course- and research-related registration for the semester.  Students may also need to meet frequently with the academic advisor and the senior business manager to finalize their financial aid (e.g. fellowships-scholarships, fee scholarship awards, fee waivers or remissions) or their financial hiring paperwork (e.g. assistantship or student wage hires).

 

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