CAPTION: New students on the first day of the 2013 USP Orientation Week.
The opportunity to begin University life well-informed is being offered by the University of the South Pacific for its new students this week.
The Orientation Week being held at the USP Laucala Campus in Suva will run from the 11th till 16th of February, 2013.
The week-long programme, which started on 11 February with welcomes, academic advice and campus tours for Foundation students, is designed to give students a kick start to their studies as well as a taste of the rich campus experiences they will come across during their time at USP.
Similar Orientation sessions are planned throughout the week for the University’s three faculties – Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment; Faculty of Business and Economics; and Faculty of Arts, Law and Education.
During Orientation, new students get the opportunity to meet their lecturers and other staff, make new friends, discover new interests, get involved in their non-academic community, explore life on-campus, receive course advice, and learn about the many available student support services and recreational facilities.
The Group Manager for Campus Life, Glenn Pope, whose office is responsible for the Orientation Week, said that it was very encouraging to see students turn out in numbers to attend the first day of Orientation.
Close to a thousand students actively participated in the programme hosted by the University’s College of Foundation Studies on the first day.
An annual event in the USP calendar, Orientation marks the beginning of a new and exciting phase of a student’s academic career and life at university.
Pope urged new students to use the opportunity to participate in all aspects of the Orientation programme to ensure a smoother transition for students into university academic and social life. This, he said, has proven to have a significant impact on a successful first year.
“While making the transition from high school or work, to university life is not easy, USP recognises the challenges that new students are likely to encounter and is committed to helping new students, explore opportunities for involvement on-campus and to successfully connect with their new community,” he added.
For the first time this year, there will be an Orientation session for parents and partners of new students on 16 February. Parents and partners of first year students are encouraged to attend their Orientation session from 10am – 1:30pm at the Japan-Pacific ICT Multi -Purpose Theatre. The session is designed to give parents and partners an opportunity to interact with staff and discover USP.
The University is also introducing mature age student evening welcomes and daytime week-long study workshops for new students to offer some introductory skills sessions related to academic study at USP.
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