To help welcome and prepare new students for the fall semester at Newman University, four registration days are planned over the next few months.
Registrations days take place April 27, June 1, June 15 and July 13. They will be held in a variety of locations on campus from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Like other Newman events, several departments work together to make registration days go as smoothly as possible while welcoming new smiling faces to campus.
Graduate Assistant for First Year Experience Jordan Frederking describes registration days as a necessary way to get information to incoming freshman and transfer students while preparing them for the fall semester to come.
“This event takes months to prepare for,” Frederking said. “Admissions takes care of half of the preparation behind the scenes by getting the information out to our students so that they can register and deposit. Then the student life staff plans the coordination of the events of the actual day itself.”
After kicking off registration day with a welcome session for students, rotating sessions are held that allow students and parents to meet individually with advisers. Student Life then hosts a luncheon, the Jet Expo and various educational blocks for students and parents to attend throughout the day.
The educational sessions provide students and parents with information about all things Newman — ranging from student support services, student life, residence life and a variety of other services that Newman has to offer. In addition, staff answer questions about advising, Title IX, the tutoring center, career services, dining, clubs and organizations, leadership opportunities and more.
“There are certain common denominators that everybody needs to know and from an adviser’s standpoint, it’s nice to know that the students are given them,” Academic and International Advisor Ami Larrea said. Some of these topics of discussion involve general education requirements, courses in the Newman Studies Program, the course catalog, services that are available to students and more.
Although admissions and student life play huge roles in the preparation of registration days, Larrea said that the event is really a team effort with several departments.
“We try to get all the departments that would normally work with the students involved so we can make sure that we aren’t missing any major piece,” Larrea said. Admissions, financial aid, the academic departments, student life, athletics and student support services all have a hand in the planning and success of these days, she said.
Larrea said one goal of registration days is to start the conversation of students’ goals and academic requirements.
“The point of you attending Newman is to leave with a degree, so if you don’t know how to do that, then what are we doing for you here? Registration days allow us to start the conversations with students that will help them invest the futures that they want for themselves,” Larrea said.
Another goal of registration days is to kickstart becoming an official Newman student, Frederking said.
“With our events, we want to give them a little bit of a glimpse of what it is like to be a student, what to expect and help prepare them as much as we can before they arrive for orientation in the fall,” she said.
“It is important for students to realize that they are a part of the family now … this is going to be your life for the next however many years as we help get you to the next step.
“I think that whatever we do, we need to make sure to instill the idea that, ‘These people will answer my questions. They will never just send me away to a website or a 1-800 number.’ There are people at Newman who can answer the questions that incoming students have, including the ones they didn’t know they were going to have.”
Frederking said she is excited to meet and get to know the students and parents at the upcoming registration days.
“I love being a part of our orientation days as well because we get to see the students right when they are most excited to be at Newman and really capture that anticipation for the upcoming school year,” she said.
