The 2013 Welcome Week kicks off on Sunday, August 18 with freshmen moving into their residence halls and a new way of getting them there.
This year’s Move-In Day is split into two groups, one from 8 a.m. to noon and the second from noon to 4 p.m. The first group includes freshmen moving into Baridon, Bear, Carmichael, Conway, and Hughes halls and the second group includes freshmen moving into Arkansas, Bernard, Farris, Short-Denney, and State halls.
“Last year, we had a bit of trouble getting people unloaded and moved in as quickly as we would have liked,” said Colin Stanton, director of new student programs. “This year, by splitting up the campus and extending our hours to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. We hope to alleviate some of that stress and make things run smoothly as possible for our incoming students and their families.”
Stanton said that Housing and Residence Life, UCA Police, and the Student Orientation Staff decided to split the residence halls because of the opening of Bear Hall in Fall 2012 and Baridon Hall becoming a primarily freshman hall this year.
Maps with directions to the residence halls can be found at https://uca.edu/orientation/move-in-day/.
On Move-In Day, 80 Student Orientation Staff (SOS) volunteers will assist freshmen as they move into their residence halls. In addition, a group of UCA faculty and staff will serve as Faculty and Administration Support Team (FAST) Movers and help freshmen bring belongings to their dorm rooms. The SOS staff will also accompany freshmen from their halls to the Welcome Week events.
Not including the SOS staff, more than 700 volunteers from 40 different registered student organizations, campus departments, and community organizations will participate in the various activities during Welcome Week.
Welcome Week events include Midnight Madness, illusionist Mike Super, Battle of the Halls, and a closing ceremony on Wednesday, August 21, when the Battle of the Halls trophy will be presented. The ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. on the Student Center Courtyard.
Events are subject to change, and the full Welcome Week schedule can be found at https://uca.edu/orientation/welcome-week/.
Students also can download the Welcome Week schedule with a free app called Guidebook. Using the Guidebook app, freshmen can add events to their personal calendars, provide feedback for events, and post directly to Twitter and Facebook.
– – Paige Murphy
