Successfully Orienting Students
The Successfully Orienting Students program, also known as S.O.S., is Auburn Universities transfer student orientation program. The program is implemented to assist students in their transition to becoming a member of the Auburn family.
S.O.S. is especially important for transfer students and returning adult students at Auburn. During the one-day program, incoming students will learn about university services, how to set up meetings with academic advisors, have small group discussions with other incoming students and register for classes.
Each orientation attendee will be placed into a group with other incoming students. The groups will usually include students with similar demographics and academic needs.
The sessions are conducted and led by current Auburn University students. Students go through a competitive interview process in order to become an orientation leader. There are currently 43 orientation leaders and four S.O.S. coordinators for the 2006-2007 academic year.
Katie Swanson, a sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga., is currently an orientation leader for the program.
Swanson said she tried out to be an orientation leader because she wanted to give back to Auburn for all that the university has given her.
“I felt that S.O.S was a great ‘foot-in-the-door’ if I wanted to work with any of the other Freshmen Year Experience programs at Auburn in the future,� Swanson said.
After going through the interview process, Swanson said she went through a six week training process. Training sessions were held once a week for two hours on Monday afternoons and usually included knowledge tests about the university.
Swanson said the sessions helped her learn how to teach the incoming students about Auburn and also keep them interested throughout the day.
“I really loved our training sessions because we got to play around and get to know all of the coordinators and staff while still learning about Auburn,� Swanson said. “One time we got to go up to the Haley center to have our training session.�
Overall, Swanson said all the staff was very helpful throughout the entire training process.
“It was a breath of fresh air to spend a couple hours in the afternoon with them each week,� Swanson said.
After the training sessions ended, Swanson was able to use her knowledge to help students make the transition to Auburn. She said that her job as an orientation leader includes teaching parents and students about Auburn and simply making them feel comfortable.
“We have small group sessions where I explain how the technical stuff around Auburn works such as parking, living on campus and expenses,� Swanson said. “After we explain everything we take them on a small tour and then lead them through registration.�
Swanson said she feels fortunate to help students feel comfortable during their transition to Auburn. She wants to make incoming students feel that Auburn University is their new home.
In addition to her experiences with incoming students, Swanson said she truly enjoys spending time with the other orientation leaders.
“My favorite experience in S.O.S. so far has been growing closer to the group of people I work with,� Swanson said. “We are all so diverse but we have S.O.S. as a common link between us. We even have socials after every training session.�
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