Orientation should provide better roadmap for UCLA life
By Kevin Mosby
March 3, 2011 10:37 p.m.
At orientation this past summer, various school officials told me not to cheat or engage in unscrupulous behaviors like unprotected sex or illicit drug use.
These presentations, intended to be informative, merely repeated warnings I had heard many times before.
Though orientation dedicates several fruitless hours to lecturing students, it fails to introduce new Bruins to major student groups. As New Student & Transition Programs plans the next orientation, it should consider that presentations from student organizations would give incoming undergraduates useful information about getting involved on campus.
Presentations on topics like cheating eat up precious time from the three-day orientation sessions. They are also ineffective. A one-hour presentation on the dangers of alcohol consumption, for instance, will have little effect on a group of undergraduates excited by the novelty of fraternity and apartment parties.
Presentations on these issues are mandated by the California Education Code, which requires public universities to teach students about drug, alcohol and sex awareness. But orientation ““ often a student’s first in-depth look at UCLA ““ is not the place for these warnings.
They would be far more appropriate in the smaller setting of floor meetings at the beginning of the fall quarter, when resident assistants could have meaningful discussions with students about the dangers of such activities.
Orientation should focus on painting a comprehensive picture of UCLA life. Many new students do not know much about important groups on campus, such as the Undergraduate Students Association Council, Covel tutoring programs or Greek organizations.
Although only a small fraction of the more than 900 campus organizations would be able to speak, groups that do present would still provide students with more useful information than the current presentations do.
For example, USAC is the undergraduate governmental body, with funding from student fees. If USAC can reach out to students early on, it can increase its generally poor visibility and boost interest in its activities.
Roxanne Neal, director of New Student & Transition Programs, said student groups already have a major presence at orientation. The activities fair, which often includes numerous club booths, is the best way to give students a glimpse of campus life, she said.
But the fair only provides a superficial glance at many of the activities available and is not enough to give students a firm grasp on what to expect when they return to UCLA in the fall.
Further, USAC and other well-established groups would be only a handful of booths out of many. It is important for students to recognize the organizations that can have a large part in shaping the undergraduate experience.
According to Neal, few student groups have talked with the orientation planning committees to discuss the possibility of speaking at orientation. Though these groups might consider approaching these committees, it falls on the shoulders of New Student & Transition Programs to introduce incoming students to UCLA and actively work on collaborating with student organizations.
Even though the orientation “sex talks” can be amusing, the time would be better spent telling students about the political, social and academic opportunities newly available to them.
Does orientation need to be restructured? E-mail Mosby at [email protected]. Send general comments to [email protected].
