WESTMONT COLLEGE
Fall 2008 Student & Family Orientation Schedule
(TENTATIVE)
Thursday, August 28
8am-1pm Move-in and Check-in
Please follow the signs to park and proceed to your residence hall. Student volunteers will be available from 8am until 1pm to help unload vehicles and carry belongings to rooms. To help with the speed and efficiency of the move in process, please come to campus according to the following schedule:
Last names beginning with A-J 8:00-9:30
Last names beginning with K-R 9:30-11:00
Last names beginning with S-Z 11:00-12:30
Location: Page and Clark Residence Halls
8am-5pm Information Table
Orientation volunteers will be staffing a table at the traffic circle in front of Kerrwood Hall. Come get your questions answered, turn in and pick up lost and found items, and enjoy some refreshments while you take a break.
Location: Traffic in front of Kerrwood Hall
8am-1pm Family Hospitality Centers
Parents can visit the Family Hospitality Center to pick-up weekend schedules and V.I.P. (Very Important Parent!) campus passes. Parents Council members and college staff will be on hand with special welcome packets for you.
Location: Page and Clark Residence Halls
8am-1pm Computer Set-up
Internet Technology staff will be available to answer questions, help with set-up, sell network cables and make future appointments. Be sure to let them know if you have a wireless access point so they can set it up for you!
Location: Page and Clark Residence Halls
9am-12pm ID Card Picture Taking
Students can come to the Upper KSC anytime between 9am and noon and get ID Card pictures taken.
Location: Upper Kerr Student Center
11am-1:30pm Lunch
Last names beginning with A-J 11:00-12:00
Last names beginning with K-R 11:45-12:45
Last names beginning with S-Z 12:30-1:30
Location: Dining Commons
12:30-1:30pm Liberal Studies and Pre-Med Interest Lunches
Students considering a course of study in either Liberal Studies or Pre-Med are encouraged to attend an informational lunch with professors from each department.
Location: Pre-Med in Founders Dining Room, Liberal Studies in Monroe Dining Room
1-2pm Campus Walking Tour
Westmont staff will lead an informative and enjoyable walk around the campus and will combine knowledge of our historic campus with personal experience and provide new students and their families with insight into the upcoming campus improvements.
Location: Front of Kerrwood Hall
1-1:30pm Reception for Parents who are Westmont Alumni
Parents who are Westmont Alumni and their students are invited to a reception with President Gayle Beebe.
Location: President’s Office (Kerrwood Hall)
2pm Welcome Chapel
This is the opening event of Orientation where all new students and families are welcomed. The entire Westmont community and guests are invited to this service of worship, praise and music along with a message from campus pastor, Ben Patterson.
Location: Murchison Gym
3pm GE Receptions
New students will have an opportunity to learn about the College’s General Education requirements as well as ask questions of faculty and older students. In groups of 100, students will hear a brief presentation from faculty and upper class students and, in smaller groups, have a conversation about the role of General Education in the Westmont experience.
Various locations
3-4pm Details, Details for Parents
A panel of representatives from key areas on campus will discuss resources that will enhance your student’s experience, both inside and outside of the classroom. Some areas include: residence life, campus dining, campus security, health center, counseling center, financial aid, information technology, and off-campus programs.
Location: Page Hall Multipurpose Room
4-5pm Student Athletes and Family Reception
Athletes who plan to participate in an intercollegiate sport are invited to meet the coaches and athletic director, Dave Wolf, to discuss issues related to the student-athlete experience at Westmont.
Location: Monroe Dining Room
5-6:45pm Dinner
Students will eat with their residence hall section. Students should check with their RA for meal time.
Location: Dining Commons
7pm First Lecture
This program is designed to engage each new class in a shared academic experience. Biology professor, Dr. Jeff Schloss, will deliver a lecture on the book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, by Phillip Yancey & Dr. Paul Brand.
Location: Page MPR
7:30pm Page and Clark Student Outrageous Orientation
This is where you will meet some of your closest community members, including your Resident Director (RD), Resident Assistant (RA), and the other students living in your section.
Location: Page Residents in Multipurpose Room, Clark Residents in Upper Kerr Student Center
8:30pm Page and Clark Section Meetings
New students in Page and Clark will meet with their RA and section.
Location: Section lounges or various locations to be announced by your RA
8:30pm Transfer Hall Meeting
Transfer students will meet with your RA, RD and other transfer students.
Location: Emerson Lounge
9:30pm Transfer Student Banana Split Extravaganza
Come meet Residence Life staff, returning and other transfer students for food, fellowship and fun.
Location: Emerson Lounge
Friday, August 29
7-8:45am Breakfast
Students will gather with their Orientation group for breakfast.
Location: Dining Commons
8am-12pm Individual Student Academic Advising Appointments
Please look at the academic advising letter in your Orientation folder to find out the name of your advisor and the time and place of your advising appointment. If you have class schedule changes, please complete an add/drop slip with your advisor and bring it with you to the first day of classes.
Location: Your Faculty Advisor’s Office
9-10:15am How They Grow: A Discussion of Student Development Theory
Parents are invited to join Dean of Students Jane Higa for a consideration of how college students develop. This session will be critical to helping parents understand the changes their students will go through during their college experience.
Location: Page Multipurpose Room
9am-12pm ID Card Picture Taking/Pick-Up
Students can come to the Upper KSC anytime between 9am and noon and get their ID Card pictures taken.
Location: Upper Kerr Student Center
10-11am Foreign Language Testing
The test should take approximately 20 minutes. A representative from the Language Arts department will be available to discuss test results and help determine the appropriate level of language course for students to take. A score on the test that places students at the fourth semester college level will satisfy the College’s foreign language general education requirement. Students who have scored a 4 or 5 on a foreign language AP exam, or have successfully completed one semester of a foreign language at a college or university will also have satisfied the foreign language GE requirement. Please note that students who have already taken the exam online need not take it again. Also, students who did take the exam from home via the Web and placed in level 4 must take it again in this proctored setting before the Modern/Foreign Language GE requirement will be considered met.
Location: Library computer lab, lower level
10:30am The Big Picture for Parents
This session will serve as a guide to understanding a Westmont liberal arts education with President Gayle Beebe.
Location: Page Hall Multipurpose Room
11:30am-1pm Lunch
Last names beginning with A-J 11:30-12:15
Last names beginning with K-R 12:00-12:45
Last names beginning with S-Z 12:30-1:15
Location: Dining Commons
12-1pm Intercultural Programs Lunch
Students of color as well as international, missionary and third-culture students and their families are invited to meet faculty, staff, and current students and hear about the programs and opportunities associated with Westmont’s commitment to diversity.
Location: Reynolds Hall Lawn
1:30pm One Westmont
Orientation staff and current students have planned a special introduction to your journey at Westmont. We will introduce some unique privileges and pressures students encounter at college in a fun and relaxing way, and help equip you to meet the challenges ahead.
Location: Page Multipurpose Room
1:30pm Living in Community: Your Students’ First Year
This is a time for you to meet the Residence Life staff who will be living with your students and to learn more about the Residence Life philosophy and program.
Locations: Clark residence hall families to Clark “Beach” (lawn)
Page residence hall families to Founders Dining Room
All other residence hall families to Van Kampen Upper Lounge
3:30pm Service of Commitment
This last event for parents is also an opportunity to reflect on what it means to join the Westmont Family. Students will sit separately from parents and at the end of the service will take the “First Walk” with Westmont faculty, a ceremony that anticipates the last walk students take at Commencement. Staff from the Alumni Office will line the route to present students with a special welcome gift and current students will celebrate with you!
Location: Murchison Gym
4:30-5pm Goodbye Reception
Students and families say goodbye before students head off to dinner with their section and families leave campus. This is the last scheduled event for parents.
Location: Kerrwood Lawn
5-6:30pm Dinner
Students will eat with their residence hall section. Students should check with their RA for meal time.
Location: Dining Commons
5:30 Presidential Scholar’s Dinner
Presidential scholars are invited to an informational meeting to hear more about the challenges and rewards of this important program. Bring your questions!
Location: Founders Dining Room
7-9:30pm Dessert at President’s House
All first year students are invited to the President’s house for dessert. Students will go with their residence hall sections.
Location: President’s house
9:30pm Line Dance
Come prepared to take your shoes off and learn some country line dancing skills! No experience is necessary to have a good time. This event is sponsored by the Westmont Activities Council (WAC).
Location: Murchison Gym
Saturday, August 30
8-9:30am Breakfast
Location: Dining Commons
9-10am Collegiate Learning Assessment
As part of our ongoing pursuit of excellence in liberal arts education, selected students will analyze complex material and provide written responses to prompts during this computer-hosted assessment experience. The selected students have been assigned one of two sessions; either the 9 am time or the 1 pm time, both on Saturday.
Location: Computer labs, library lower level
10am For Women and Men Only Meetings
Come discuss gender-specific issues that arise in college. Led by Westmont staff, these discussions provide a safe place for open consideration of sensitive and relevant topics.
Location: Men in Upper Kerr Student Center, Women in Page Multipurpose Room.
11:30am-1pm Lunch
Location: Dining Commons
1-2pm Collegiate Learning Assessment
As part of our ongoing pursuit of excellence in liberal arts education, selected students will analyze complex material and provide written responses to prompts during this computer-hosted assessment experience. The selected students have been assigned one of two sessions; either the 9 am time or the 1 pm time, both on Saturday.
Location: Computer labs, library lower level
1pm Optional Activities
During this time, students are encouraged to visit one of the following programs, should it be of interest.
1-4pm: 30 Minute Class Tours, hosted by Orientation Volunteers, (Kerrwood Lawn)
1-2pm: Reception for Third-Culture, International and Students of Color, hosted by Intercultural Programs, Admissions, and Residence Life (Founders Dining Room)
2-3: Want To Get Away?, hosted by Off-Campus Programs (Monroe Dining Room)
3-4: Jobs ‘R Us, hosted by the Office of Life Planning (Founders Dining Room)
5-6pm Dinner
Location: Dining Commons
5-7pm Church Fair
Local churches will have representatives outside the Dining Commons to talk about worship opportunities in the community. Be sure to find out about service times and offered transportation.
Location: Entry to the Dining Commons
7pm Faculty Dessert
You are invited to visit members of Westmont Faculty in their homes to enjoy some delicious desserts and great conversation. Wear comfortable shoes as you will be walking to the different homes. Consult your Faculty Housing Map in your folder to find out when your O-Group is scheduled to leave.
Location: Meet on Magnolia Lawn (in front of the Library)
10pm Open Mic
Come listen to student musicians and writers share their various gifts and talents. If you have any developing talents you would like to share, please let your RA or RD know when you arrive.
Location: Page Hall Multipurpose Room
Sunday, August 31
8am Breakfast
Location: Dining Commons
12pm BBQ at the Beach
Join us for an afternoon of food, fun, games and more. Bring your beach gear! Buses will leave from Page Hall every 20 minutes beginning at noon. Last bus will leave the beach at 4pm.
Location: East Beach
5pm Dinner
Location: Dining Commons
8pm Vespers
Come join with fellow students in a time of contemporary worship and singing.
Location: Page Multipurpose Room
Monday, September 1
First day of classes!