On Monday, August 30, over 900 new School of General Studies (GS) students joined faculty, staff, and student leaders on Columbia University’s campus during the New Student Welcome as part of a week’s worth of robust New Student Orientation programming.
While these new students were welcomed to campus for the first time in more than a year, family members of the students were also invited to attend a half-day of virtual Orientation programming. Hosted by the Alumni Relations and Development team, these events were aimed at introducing guests to the Columbia community and to the resources available to their students in support of their transition to Columbia University.
During the New Student Welcome, students and their family members heard remarks from several members of the GS and Columbia community, including Lisa Rosen-Metsch, Dean of the School of General Studies; Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University; Amy Hungerford, Executive Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Marlyn Delva, GS Dean of Students; and many more.
Directly following the livestream of the New Student Welcome, families attended several diverse online programs.
Beginning with welcome remarks from Dean Lisa Rosen-Metsch, Professor Nicole Wallack, Director of Columbia’s Undergraduate Writing Program, treated guests to a sample University Writing course. University Writing is a one-semester seminar designed to facilitate students’ entry into the intellectual life of the university by teaching them to become more capable and independent academic readers and writers. Family members were encouraged to participate in the conversation and think in-depth about writing in an effort to experience what students learn in this popular course.
After Professor Wallack’s interactive presentation, Dean of Students Marlyn Delva hosted a resource presentation featuring members of the advising team from the Dean of Students Office. Guests learned about the many resources available to students and were able to ask questions related to academic courses, registrations, and extracurricular opportunities.
The final event in the series was an engaging Student and Alumni Panel featuring two current GS students and two GS alumni. Rachel Ticotin ‘19GS and Yasmeen Ibrahim ‘19GS reflected on their time as students and spoke about their favorite classes, tips for time management, and also what they found to be the most helpful resources. Two current GS students spoke about their paths to Columbia, advice they would give to new students, and some of the resources they find most helpful during the school year.
