UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Following a summer of near record-high participation in New Student Orientation (NSO) at University Park campus, plans are underway to revamp the program for 2025. The updated program will reflect a more modernized program to onboard new students at the University Park campus.

At the foundation of the changes will be separating the academic advising and course registration processes from the in-person orientation program. This restructuring of the in-person programs allows Penn State to offer a reduced number of programs to a larger number of students while putting an emphasis on community-building for students.

“Transforming the New Student Orientation program comes at a critical time at Penn State as we plan to grow our future enrollments,” said Tracy Langkilde, interim executive vice president and provost. “Reimagining the student experience during NSO will help best prepare our students for success at Penn State,” she said.

The current NSO program at University Park was designed to serve an incoming class of approximately 8,000 students and recent NSO numbers the past few years have eclipsed 9,500 students. With future enrollment goals projected to number 10,000 incoming students, the existing program does not have capacity in terms of resources, staffing and facility space.

The new program is the culmination of more than a year of work assessing the current program, including consulting with academic advisers, benchmarking with peer institutions and surveying students. In spring 2024 a Steering Committee was formed to assess the feedback and make recommendations to create this new program; they recommended creating the new blended format program, which will allow Penn State to meet enrollment goals while still delivering a robust, in-person, onboarding experience to students.

In the updated program, students will complete online modules, meet with an academic adviser and register for their courses before coming to University Park campus for the in-person orientation. The in-person orientation will still contain programs for both students and families, college meetings and include an overnight stay in a residence hall. Scheduling courses is a priority for students during orientation; moving this to earlier in the process will allow them to fully engage in their in-person NSO visit. The in-person program will be reimagined to include some of the current NSO curriculum and will put a new emphasis on community-building with other new students, faculty, staff and the physical campus.

The new program format will be designed to meet the needs of this current generation of students and includes online learning, virtual meetings and an in-person program. The mixed-mode offering will introduce students to navigating a variety of systems, provide additional time with key Penn State staff and open time in the in-person visit for making connections. Additionally, the format is designed to provide more flexibility to the faculty and staff delivering programs to students.

The steering committee who participated in NSO program assessment included:

• Jennifer Garvin, director of ancillary services, Auxiliary and Business Services
• Alex Gentry, facilities management, Office of Physical Plant​
• Cyndy Hill, director of parents program, Student Affairs​
• Hilleary Himes, director of academic advising and DUS programs coordinator, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
• Chris Masters, assistant dean, College of Engineering
• Jim Meinecke, director of residential dining, Auxiliary and Business Services
• Tryphena Miska, associate registrar, University Registrar​
• Katie Motycki, director of student orientation and transition programs, Student Affairs and Undergraduate Education​
• Dan Murphy, director for commonwealth campus support, Student Affairs
• Greg Nolan, director of academic advising, College of the Liberal Arts
• Mark Rameker, senior director of residence Life, Student Affairs
• George Zimmerman, assistant vice president and executive director of undergraduate admissions, Enrollment Management

This fall, the steering committee and Student Orientation and Transition Programs team will be working in partnership with the academic colleges; Housing, Dining, and Residence Life; Enrollment Management; Student Affairs and Undergraduate Education to develop the new online components of NSO. The team plans to prepare regular community updates and will have information on the new program available in November 2024 to support students who are making early decision commitments to attend Penn State. 

Student Orientation and Transition Programs is part of Penn State Student Affairs and Penn State Undergraduate Education.