TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – New students at The University of Alabama this fall can look forward to a variety of activities to welcome them to campus. Events include Bama Blast, a day-long orientation session and pep rally; Get On Board Day to introduce them to campus organizations, and rush activities for campus Greek organizations.
The activities, scheduled during the first few weeks of the semester, are aimed at helping freshmen adjust to college, make friends and become involved in campus life, according to University student affairs’ officials.
The schedule for “delayed” rush, a plan implemented last year to move fraternity and sorority rush from before the start of classes until two to three weeks into the semester, has been adjusted to accommodate students’ academic concerns, said Dr. Sybil Todd, vice president for student affairs.
“Overall, we were pleased with the results of delayed rush. More students participated in rush and more joined sororities and fraternities than in recent years. As we had hoped, general friendliness and interaction among students improved as freshmen had opportunities to make friends before getting involved with their Greek affiliation; however, students did have some legitimate concerns about conflicts with classes,” Todd said.
“This coming fall, we’ve adjusted the schedule so that rush activities fall primarily on weekends. We are also working with the Greek organizations to simplify preparations for rush parties and format so that they will be less demanding in terms of time for current chapter members.”
University officials worked closely with student leaders to come up with the revised plan, Todd said.
The new schedule is among a number of recommendations made by the University’s Early Academic Initiatives Committee, a 28-member group composed of administrators, staff and students. The committee was charged with improving coordination of programs and services to engage students in the campus environment at the beginning of the academic year, considering strategies to enhance the sense of community on campus, and monitoring and evaluating the impact of programs and activities during the first six weeks of fall semester 2000.
Committee recommendations included a variety of efforts to help new students adjust to college life, such as providing midterm progress reports to parents of first year students enrolled in lower level classes; providing an events calendar for the first few weeks of the semester; broad distribution of Campus Adjustment Awareness information; and encouraging enrollment in first-year life skills courses. In addition, a permanent date – the Wednesday after Labor Day — has been set for Get On Board Day, an annual opportunity for students to learn more about and join some of the 275 student organizations on campus.
A “student involvement” survey conducted of 250 first-year students in late fall 2000 indicated that almost 85 percent of UA students polled said that they “experienced a sense of belonging at UA” to either some extent or a great extent. Almost 97 percent of students said they were either very content or somewhat content with their overall experience at the University.
New Student Events
The University of Alabama
Fall 2001
Saturday, Aug. 18 Residence halls open
Sunday, Aug. 19 Campus Ministers’ event
Monday, Aug. 20 Bama Blast
Wednesday, Aug. 22 First day of classes
Friday, Aug. 24 Welcome back concert
Friday, Aug. 31 Pep rally for UA vs. UCLA football game
Saturday, Sept. 1 UA vs. UCLA game – Kickoff on the Quad
Wednesday, Sept. 5 Get On Board Day
Sept. 28-29 Family Weekend
Panhellenic (Sorority) Rush Schedule
Sunday, Sept. 2 Ice Water Teas – noon-8 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 3 Philanthropy Day – 1-7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 8 Skit Parties – 12:30-6:15 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 9 Serious Night – 2-5 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 10 Bids distributed – 4 p.m.
IFC (Fraternity) Rush Schedule
Tuesday, Aug. 28 Rush Convocation
Wednesday, Aug. 29 Open Houses – 7-9:30 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 30 Open Houses – 7-9:30 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 31 Band Parties
Saturday, Sept. 1 UCLA game and Band Parties
Tuesday, Sept. 4 Bids extended
Tuesday, Sept. 11 Last day to accept bids
Thursday, Sept. 13 Pledge period begins
Contact
Cathy Andreen, Director of Media Relations, 205/348-8322