NSO changes allow frosh time to adjust

So much to do, so little time. That's often been the case for freshmen during New Student Orientation. Not so this year, as members of the Class of 2004 will have three extra days to get acquainted with Penn. The week-long orientation is intended to provide new students with more time to adjust to college life, with an added emphasis on academic advising and community building. "We felt it was important to put some emphasis on community," Deputy Provost Peter Conn said. While much of NSO -- such as the safety workshops and campus tours -- will remain unchanged, several events have been added to the agenda or expanded to meet the new goals of orientation. These new events enhance the academic portion of orientation, and also teach students more about the city. Modeled after the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education's preceptorials, NSO will offer small, non-credit group discussions with faculty, graduate students and other members of the Penn community on topics ranging from telling lies to Woody Allen. Discussions will last one to two hours with an average class size of 25. Though these sessions are optional, Conn noted that 90 percent of them were already full. Provost Robert Barchi said he hopes these activities will make freshmen feel at home at Penn by establishing themselves as part of the Penn community. "We certainly hope they will leave this experience with [a] much better feeling about what it means to be a student at Penn," Barchi said. "Not just what we expect from them, but what they should expect from each other." Existing components of NSO -- such as the Penn Reading Project and tours of Philadelphia -- have also been modified. For the past 10 years, students have been assigned a book, which they read over the summer and then discuss with their peers in small groups when they arrive for orientation. The Class of 2004's assignment is Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. But this year, prominent faculty members -- History Professor Warren Breckman, English Professor Al Filreis and Annenberg School for Communication Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson -- will lecture students on the novel before they discuss the book in smaller groups. "The lectures will give the students the opportunity to have it both ways," Conn said. "To have the individual small group experienceS but also then to turn it into a common experience." Most students will also be able to meet their advisors to discuss academic options. The longer time period might prove most beneficial to College freshmen, who in past years could not all meet with advisors because of the school's size. Academic integrity workshops have also been added to the agenda. Offered by the Honor Council, the workshops will emphasize academic integrity in the Internet world. While adding three days onto NSO will undoubtedly involve significant financial costs, Barchi and Conn would not disclose figures for the extension. "We're investing a significant amount of money to make this right," Barchi said. "It is not inexpensive, but it is probably worth every penny of it."

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