The Class of 2027’s fall orientation will look a little different this year. The second year of Experiential Orientation will include the addition of three new orientation groups, more opportunities to interact with students participating in other projects and more breaks throughout the day.
In fall 2022, Duke implemented the first iteration of its newly-designed Experiential Orientation program, which administrators dubbed the biggest change to new student programming at the University in almost 30 years. Incoming first-years were divided into 18 thematically-based projects meant to emulate pre-orientation programs from years past.
Nearly 1,000 first-years and over 150 orientation leaders completed a survey reflecting on their orientation experience in fall 2022. Their feedback, as well as feedback from “dozens of formal and informal conversations” with students, was taken into account when designing the structure of this year’s orientation program, wrote Ben Adams, senior associate dean of students for QuadEx and director of new student and family programs, in an email to The Chronicle.
“The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, but equally important, we received a lot of great data and feedback about how we could make this year even better,” Adams wrote.
The changes were designed by the Office of New Student and Family Programs and the Orientation Board, a 52-member student leadership team.
Class-wide interaction
The lack of interaction between orientation groups was one source of student frustration in 2022. According to Adams, many first-years wanted more time to meet students from different projects.
According to senior Kaitlyn Lewars, the current director of Project Citizen who also led the program last fall, program directors and orientation leaders did not know other programs’ schedules, which made it difficult to plan activities across orientation groups. She added that some students in Project Citizen felt as though they did not even get to meet everyone within their own project.
This year, ensuring inter-program interaction is “something that's in the forefront of [organizers’] mind[s],” Lewars said. For instance, Lewars looks forward to a “crossover” event between Project Citizen and Project Identity and Culture when both groups travel to Washington, D.C.
All project groups participating in Experiential Orientation will also come together for evening programming on designated nights during orientation week to strike a balance between class-wide and project-specific programming, Adams wrote.
Adams hopes that this increase in class-wide programming will allow students to “not only feel connected to students in their projects, but also have greater connection with students in their residence halls, their quad, and across their class.”
Project Band, Project Preseason and Project Global
This year, NSFP is offering three new orientation projects — Project Band, Project Preseason and Project Global — bringing the total number of orientation groups to 21.
Project Band aims to prepare students for participation in the Duke Marching Band, helping them juggle rehearsals with orientation programming. Ideally, all new students who plan to join the marching band will also join Project Band, said junior Kyle Coaker, the project director for Project Band.
“We were wondering why there wasn't an orientation for marching students, considering that they needed time to rehearse throughout the week in order to prepare for the first football game,” Coaker said.
Project Preseason will be hosted in July for fall athletes in order to accommodate their rigorous summer training schedules, providing “foundational information about life at Duke and helping to build a healthy community,” Adams wrote.
Meanwhile, Project Global will explore the concept of global citizenship, introducing students to local and world cultures through dance, food, activism, and more.
These new programs are not without their critics. Lewars worries that Project Global may isolate international students and that Project Band will section off the “band kids” from the rest of the student body.
“As you form more and more groups and niches, you kind of isolate people as you go on through university,” Lewars said.
“I do think that there definitely is a limit to how small we should make these orientation programs and how niche we should make them,” Coaker added, echoing Lewars’ concerns.
However, Coaker believes the marching band will always attract a tight-knit group of students, “regardless of if they do [Project Band] or not.”
“You see these people almost every day, so it's more so inevitable that, at least in band, you will get close to the people who you're marching with,” Coaker said.
Altered orientation schedule
According to Adams, one of the concerns administrators heard from first years about Experiential Orientation last fall was that the busy week left students tired.
The impression among program coordinators last fall was that they should plan full days of activities in order to “tire [students] out,” Lewars said.
Lewars noted that orientation programming in 2022 began the night of move-in and resumed early the next morning, giving first-years little time to unpack and get settled and orientation leaders little time to recover from helping the new students move into their dorm rooms.
Fall 2023 programming will start later in the morning and end earlier in the evening. Students will also be provided more time for rest and relaxation throughout the day.
Lewars said that schedules have changed “to an extent” this year.
“We're expected to program until 11 p.m., which isn't that much of a difference from last year, if I'm honest,” she said, noting that Project Citizen never ran much past 11 p.m., unlike some other programs that she noted ran “until 2 a.m.”
Orientation programming will begin the day after move-in this year, rather than on move-in night. The change is meant to give students the opportunity to unpack, but some insist that more time is necessary for them to fully settle in.
“I think a lot of the board asked for a bigger break, like at least a day in between move-in and when we start orientation,” Lewars said. “But I think there are reasons as to why NSFP didn't do that, and I understand those.”
Welcome Weeks
NSFP is partnering with Duke Student Involvement and Leadership to host five “Welcome Weeks” throughout August and September.
“Collectively, we recognize that an effective orientation and welcome to Duke requires more time than a single week,” Adams wrote.
NSFP hopes to introduce students to the resources, clubs and organizations on campus relevant to each week’s theme. For example, Arts Week will showcase various fine and performing arts resources, while Cultural, Identity and Religion Week will highlight affinity groups on campus.
“Our hope in piloting Welcome Weeks this fall is that it makes it easier for new-to-Duke students to find the resources and opportunities they’re seeking, and helps the various clubs, organizations, and offices across campus connect with the students they hope to serve,” Adams wrote.
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Mia Penner is a Trinity junior and an audience engagement editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.