First-Year Orientation: Welcome new students

First-year Orientation sessions begin tomorrow, June 1, and we want to welcome all new students and parents who will be visiting campus for two-day tours/registration/information sessions all summer. It can be an overwhelming experience, as we well understand, though orientation has been designed with this in mind. Still, there is much to take in; the University of Georgia operates like, and offers as many services of, a small city: Where will you live? How will you get to class? Where are the dining halls? When are they open? Buses? The list is nearly endless, but hidden within these more quotidian concerns are major questions for students to answer as they literally come of age: what will you study?

Much like a city, the university is staffed with many professionals to help our students along the way. From academic advisors to the faculty, University of Georgia professionals are here to prepare our students to find their way. Coming to campus with strong ideas about what you want to do is no better or worse than not doing so, considering the world of possibility and potential students are entering. An institution of higher learning a treasure box: Here are the keys to everything. Which ones do you want?

The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences plays an outsized role in this process. As the largest and most diverse academic unit at the University of Georgia, Franklin degrees and degrees programs are at the heart of many campus experiences. They are also a valued complement to many other areas of study from agriculture to finance, engineering, environment and design, forestry, pharmacy and social work. Indeed it is the interaction of all these pursuits on one campus that creates and sustains the university environment itself. Students pursuing a diverse array of degrees and disciplines, living and working together, learning about each other - this is the self-organization of a better world in action.

We will be revisiting this topic all summer, and pursuing various strains of argument (it's what we do!) about the many paths on campus and how to find yours. For now, our Office of Student Academic Services awaits the arrival of the first orientation group of new students tomorrow. Talk with them, ask, listen, find out. Get ready to embark on something great.