2011 Student and Family Orientation Schedule
View and print the PDF Brochure
* Considered essential for all First Year, Transfer, and Consortium students to attend these important events
Thursday, August 25
8am-1pm Student 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:
All Transfer & Consortium 8:00-9:30am
Last names beginning with A-J 8:00-9:30am
Last names beginning with K-R 9:30-11:00am
Last names beginning with S-Z 11:00-12:30pm
Location: Page and Clark Residence Halls
8am-1pm 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 Circle in front of Kerrwood Hall
8am-1pm Family Hospitality Centers
Visit the Family Hospitality Center to pick up your weekend schedule and campus passes. Take a break from moving in with light refreshments. Parent Relations staff and Parent Council members will be available to answer your questions.
Location: Page and Clark Residence Halls
8am-1pm Computer Set-up
Information Technology staff will be available to answer questions, help with set-up, and make future
appointments.
Location: Page and Clark Residence Halls
9am-12pm ID Card Picture Taking
The Upper KSC is open between 9am and noon for you to get your ID Card pictures taken.
Location: Upper Kerr Student Center
10:30am Voskuyl Library Tour
Tour the newly renovated Roger John Voskuyl Library and be amazed at the learning environment that our students now enjoy. Tours begin at the Library Circulation Desk and last approximately 30 minutes.
Location: Voskuyl Library
10:30-11:30am Campus Walking Tour
An informative and enjoyable walk led by Westmont students who combine knowledge of our historic campus with personal experience.
Location: Front of Kerrwood Hall
11:30am-1pm Lunch
Last names beginning with A-J 11:30-12:15
Last names beginning with K-R 11:45-12:30
Last names beginning with S-Z 12:00-12:45
All Transfer & Consortium 12:00-12:45
Location: Dining Commons
12:00-1:00pm Pre-Health Interest Lunch
Students considering a course of study in Pre-Med/ Pre-Health are encouraged to bring their lunch from the DC and attend an informational gathering with faculty from relevant departments.
Location: Founders Room
1:00pm Voskuyl Library Tour
Tour the newly renovated Roger John Voskuyl Library and be amazed at the learning environment that our students will now enjoy. Tours begin at the Library Circulation Desk and last approximately 30 minutes.
Location: Voskuyl Library
1-2pm Campus Walking Tour
An informative and enjoyable walk led by Westmont students who combine knowledge of our historic campus with personal experience.
Location: Front of Kerrwood Hall
1-1:45pm Alumni Reception and Photo
Alumni and their new student will enjoy refreshment and fellowship and pose for a group photo of children and grandchildren of Westmont alumni. Photo will be taken at 1:35 pm.
Location: Heironymous Lounge , Kerrwood Hall
2pm Welcome Chapel*
The entire Westmont community and guests are invited to this celebratory opening event of Orientation 2011. Please join us for a worship service, including music, and a message for the class of 2015 from campus pastor Ben Patterson.
Location: Murchison Gym
3:30pm The Westmont Student Experience*
Join us for an entertaining look at the adjustment to college through this presentation. You’ll also hear tips and suggestions about life at Westmont from current students as they share from their own experience.
Location: Page Multipurpose Room
3:30- 5pm Living in Community: Your Student’s First Year
Meet with the Residence Life staff who will be living with your first-year students to learn the essence of the Residence Life program and the importance of being educated outside the classroom.
Locations: Clark residence hall families – Clark Front Lawn
Page residence hall families – Porter Theater
5-6:30pm Dinner
You will eat with your residence hall section. Check with your RA for meal time.
Location: Dining Commons
5-7:00pm Welcome Barbeque for Parents
Join Westmont faculty and other incoming families for a barbeque dinner on the lawn and get a glimpse of Westmont’s academic life from a faculty perspective (Siblings are invited to pizza and a movie nearby).
Location: TBA
7pm First Lecture*
Chemistry professor Dr. Niva Tro will deliver a lecture on The Language of God, by Francis Collins. This program is designed to introduce students to the purposes of a Westmont education and to engage each new class in a shared academic experience.
Location: Page Multipurpose Room
8:30pm Res Life Night*
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 Murchison Gym, Transfer Students in Armington C Lounge
10pm Transfer/Consortium Student Banana Split Extravaganza
Come meet residence life staff, returning and other transfer students for food, fellowship, and fun.
Location: Van Kampen Coutryard
Friday, August 26
7:30-9am Breakfast
You will gather with your 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
9-10am Parent Seminars
Choose from a variety of information sessions including: information technology, tutoring, academic advising and disability services, student employment/internships, financial aid/business office, food services, study abroad, campus safety and emergency preparedness.
Location: Various
9am-12pm ID Card Picture Taking/Pick-Up
You can get your ID Card pictures taken in the Upper KSC anytime between 9am and noon Also, come pick up your ID card if you had your picture taken on Thursday.
Location: Upper Kerr Student Center
10:30- 11:30am President Beebe Welcomes Westmont Parents
President Gayle D. Beebe formally welcomes parents to the Westmont family and discusses the value of a Westmont education in the world today. He will answer questions, and members of his executive team and Parents Council members will add insights and suggest ways to support your student.
Location: Page Hall Multipurpose Room
10-11am Foreign Language Testing
The test should take approximately 20 minutes. If your advising appointment occurs during this time period, plan to take the exam either just before or just after your advising session. A representative from the Language Arts department will be available to discuss test results and help determine the appropriate level of language course for you to take. A score on the test that places you 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. Students who took the exam online 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 Instruction Lab, Main floor #VL-214
11:30am-1pm Lunch
Last names beginning with A-J 11:30-12:15
Last names beginning with K-R 11:45-12:30
Last names beginning with S-Z 12:00-12:45
All Transfer & Consortium 12:00-12:45
Location: Dining Commons
11:30am-1pm Intercultural Experience Picnic
Lunch will be served beginning at 11:30am. Program promptly starts at Noon.
Students of color, international, missionary and third-culture students and Cultural Diversity Awardees and their families are invited to hear about the programs and opportunities associated with Westmont’s commitment to diversity.
Location: Magnolia Lawn
1- 2:00pm Wellness Open House
Wellness representatives from the Health and Counseling Center invite you to tour the facilities and ask questions about health and wellness services on campus.
Location: Health and Counseling Center
1:30 pm Looks Can Be Deceiving… Comfort Can Be Misleading*
In keeping with the college’s commitment to educating students for a global world, College Counsel and Special In Assistant to the Provost for Diversity Initiatives, Toya Cooper will challenge and share with students a unique perspective on diversity and getting too comfortable in a self-limited world.
Location: Page Multipurpose Room
2-2:45pm The College Transition: What Parents and Families Can Expect
Jane Higa, Dean of Students, and Stu Cleek, Associate Dean of Residence Life, will present information about the adjustment to college, typical transition issues and how families can best support their student.
Location: Porter Theater
3:00pm Service of Commitment*
This service is an opportunity to reflect on what it means to join the Westmont Family. Join faculty robed in traditional academic regalia for this formal ceremony of welcome into the Westmont community. Students will sit separately from parents and at the end of the service they will take the “First Walk” with Westmont faculty, a ceremony that anticipates the “Last Walk” students take at Commencement. This is the last scheduled event for parents.
Location: Murchison Gym
4:30-5pm Families Say Goodbye
Students and families say goodbye before students head off to dinner with their section and families leave campus.
Location: Kerrwood Lawn
5-6:30pm Dinner
You will eat with your residence hall section. Check with your RA for meal time.
Location: Dining Commons
5:00 President's Scholar’s Dinner
Presidential scholars are invited to a dinner and informational meeting to hear more about the challenges and rewards of this important program. Bring your questions!
Location: Founders Room
7-9pm President's Open House*
All first year students are invited to the President’s house for a light dessert. You will go with your residence hall section for this semi-formal event. Transfer and Consortium students will meet in the Kerr Student Center parking lot at 6:30pm to walk up together.
Location: President’s house
9:30pm Quizzo Night
Compete with your section to win prizes and learn about Westmont’s history and traditions. From founder Ruth Kerr to Potter’s Clay, Christmas tree lightings and Spring Sing, prepare to be inspired about the history of Westmont.
Location: Page Hall Multipurpose Room
Saturday, August 27
7:30-9am Breakfast
Location: Dining Commons
9-10:00am Honors Program Meeting
An orientation to Westmont's new Catalyst (Honors) Program. For all confirmed program participants, as well as interested Monroe, President, and (by petition) Provost Scholars.
Location: Founders Room
10:30-11:30am 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
1pm For Further Information
During this time, you are encouraged to visit one or more of the following programs.
1-2pm: Student Employment Information Session, hosted by the Office of Life Planning (Founders Room)
2:30-3:30pm: Want To Get Away?, hosted by Off-Campus Programs (Founders Room)
4-5pm Get Involved! Hear about the 12 Westmont Student Organizations at a panel, hosted by Campus Life
3pm-5pm Library Open House
The Library has a whole new look! Come and see the newly created Learning Commons. Stop by and talk to a librarian to get more information about all that's happening in the Library. Tours and refreshments available.
Location: Library
5-6:30pm 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 transportation.
Location: Entry to the Dining Commons
8pm 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: PMurchison Gym
Sunday, August 28
7:30-9am Breakfast
Location: Dining Commons
Morning Worship:
You’re encouraged to attend morning services at the church of your choice. Talk to your R.A. about connecting with transportation options to various places of worship in town. Or, visit our Church Connections website at:
http://www.westmont.edu/_offices/campus_pastor/church-connections.html
Location: Church of Your Choice
12pm BBQ at Shoreline Park
Join us for an afternoon of food, fun, games and more. Buses will leave from Page Hall every 20 minutes beginning at noon. Last bus will leave the park at 4pm.
Location: Shoreline Park
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, August 29
First day of classes!
* Considered essential for all First Year, Transfer, and Consortium students to attend these important events