Is orientation still going on?
Most Duke students are familiar with Duke’s Experiential Orientation program, where incoming first-years and transfers are welcomed to campus a week before the rest of the student body to participate in one of 22 projects centered around a theme.
Lesser known are the six additional Welcome Weeks organized by the Office of New Student and Family Programs.
NSFP hosts six weeks of activities in collaboration with University partners to help new students make the adjustment to college by familiarizing them with campus and institutional resources.
In addition to orientation week, this year’s offerings include “Involvement and Leadership Week,” “Arts Week,” “Identity, Culture and Religion Week,” “Academic Resources Week,” “Recreation and Wellness Week” and the newly-introduced “Tech Week,” each featuring different campus groups and events.
Six additional weeks of orientation activities may seem extensive. But according to Duke’s Office of Student Affairs, with the vast quantity of resources and experiences available to Duke students, these six weeks may not even be enough.
“Even if Orientation programming communicated everything a student needs to know in their four years, we know that students can't absorb all of it at once,” wrote Grace Sullivan Zirkle, associate dean of students and director of New Student and Family Programs, in an Aug. 28 email to The Chronicle. “The motto ‘Orientation is more than a week’ attempts to normalize the idea that it takes time to learn campus and its resources.”
Welcome Weeks were introduced following the University’s transition to ExO in 2022, when NSFP hosted one Welcome Week to connect new students with departments, clubs, organizations and other opportunities on campus. In fall 2023, the University expanded the program to six weeks to allow students more time to learn about Duke’s campus and resources.
According to Sullivan Zirkle, the themes of the weeks were selected to reflect students’ needs and interests, as well as the University's values. Each week would include a few signature events hosted by one or two on-campus partners to align with the theme of the week.
The partner organizations involved in Welcome Week programming this fall include Student Involvement and Leadership, DukeArts, the Identity and Cultural Centers, Religious Life groups, Student Success, Duke Recreation and Physical Education, DuWell and the Office of Information Technology.
The program’s schedule is designed to introduce students to campus resources and opportunities when they are most useful, such as by holding Academic Resources Week close to midterms.
“All students will hear during ExO that Duke has academic resources, but it's another thing for a student to start classes and suddenly realize that they could benefit from tutoring,” Sullivan Zirkle wrote.
She believes that Welcome Weeks are also beneficial to departments, clubs and organizations, which will have a chance to promote their opportunities to a wider audience.
More information about the activities and calendar of events each week can be found on Duke Groups, NSFP’s Instagram page and the Duke Student Affairs website.
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Lucas Lin is a Trinity sophomore and a university news editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.