Two students test their rock-climbing skills at Campus Extravaganza, an event held during Orientation Week 2006.
As first-year Durham College students gear up for the start of the new academic year, the college is busy making preparations for its head start day at the Whitby campus and family orientation and Orientation Week 2007at the Oshawa campus.
On Tuesday, August 28, first-year students are invited to the Whitby campus to purchase books, obtain their parking passes and student IDs and meet representatives from Your Student Association. The campus is also hosting a barbecue between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
On Wednesday, August 29 at 9:30 a.m., the Oshawa campus will host family orientation for first-year students and their families from the schools of Health & Community Services, Integrated Studies and Justice. The day will begin with an official welcome in the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre followed by formal program information sessions with faculty and a free barbecue for new students and their guests.
Later, students will be encouraged to visit campus services to complete tasks including paying tuition, purchasing books, picking up laptops and taking campus and library tours. Thursday, August 30 will see the same activities take place for students from the schools of Applied Sciences, Apprenticeship, Skilled Trades & Technology, Business, Communication Arts, Design and Information Technology.
Tuesday, September 4 will kick off Orientation Week 2007 at the Oshawa campus with first-year students invited to meet faculty and upper-year students beginning at 9 a.m. They will receive an orientation T-shirt, learn about program expectations for the upcoming academic year and meet fellow classmates and faculty.
Later, they can visit the Polonsky Commons to participate in the largest event on campus - the Campus Extravaganza. Students will enjoy music, a free barbecue and carnival games, visit a student services fair and learn about the wide variety of on-campus clubs.
A mature/transfer student social, a Staff-to-Student Mentoring social and two off-campus student socials will also enable new students to connect with other first-year students who may encounter similar experiences during their transition to post-secondary education.
At dusk, the Polonsky Commons will come to life as an outdoor movie theatre that enables all members of the campus community to view two DVDs and two pre-release movies. Students, faculty and staff are invited to bring their lawn chairs and kick back and relax. In the event of inclement weather, rain dates have been selected throughout the month of September.
Visit www.durhamcollege.ca/orientation for additional orientation information.