Students who participate can help with FYE, Welcome Weekend, other freshmen events

The Student Success Program, aimed at helping students transition successfully to college, is looking for students to assist with Destination Kent, the university’s orientation program for first-year students.

Recently, Destination Kent has been revamped. The program will consist of the Placement Advising and Scheduling System, freshman Welcome Weekend and the First-Year Experience course, said Eboni Pringle, associate director for the Student Success Program.

Instead of starting in the winter, PASS will begin in early June and run through July and has been changed to an overnight experience as well.

Week of Welcome has also been shortened, becoming Welcome Weekend, a mandatory three-day orientation before the start of fall classes, Pringle said.

The First-Year Experience course, aimed at delivering important information to first-year students, will remain essentially the same and will complete the orientation process.

Students who agree to assist with freshman orientation, known as “student success leaders,” can earn up to four credit hours, and some will be paid, Pringle said.

To become a student success leader, students need to register for the student training class, which will start Feb. 2 and will last 11 weeks.

The class, which counts for two credit hours, will focus on “leadership training and student development theories,” Pringle said.

The registration deadline for the course is Jan. 30.

Once students have taken the class, they can choose to assist with PASS or Welcome Weekend and the First-Year Experience course. They may also choose to participate in both programs, Pringle said.

Students who opt to just help with PASS will not receive additional credit hours, nor will they be paid, but those who choose to work during Welcome Weekend and assist a professor in the First-Year Experience course will receive an additional two credit hours and will be paid for their assistance, Pringle said.

For more information about becoming a student success leader, students can contact the Office of First Year Experience at 330-672-2220.

Contact news correspondent Sara Scanes at [email protected].