The University of Michigan's annual summer orientation started last week and will continue until August 3. 

There will be 34, three-day sessions offered for freshman and transfer students planning to attend U-M this fall. During the orientation, students are housed on campus in the East Quadrangle on East University Avenue. An additional session is offered in the fall for international students.

Each session exposes students to the different aspects of their transition into the U-M, said assistant director of the Office of New Student Programming, Erika Johnson. Current U-M students go through an application process to become orientation leaders who guide the incoming students through each day.

“The orientation leaders present what you need to know in a manner you can relate to as a student,” said Adam Davidson, an incoming College of Literature, Science & the Arts freshman from Bloomfield Hills.

According to Johnson and her department's website, on day one, the orientation leaders discuss community life at U-M with the students. Issues are raised such as how to live with a roommate, how to use campus and city transportation, the dangers of alcohol and money management skills. Placement exams are also administered to those students entering at various levels in studies such as language. The night is concluded by a show from the UM Educational Theater Co. The show offers advice to students on how to get the most out of their time at U-M.

Jennifer Ragnoni, an incoming nursing freshman from Troy, enjoyed meeting other students during activities at orientation. 

“I like that they balance educational presentations with fun activities, such as the icebreakers and the theatrical performance.  It keeps the experience interesting," Ragnoni said. After completing the first day of orientation, her favorite activity was the performance by the UM Educational Theater Co. Most of her free time was spent exploring U-M campus. 

Day two is academically focused. First, the students are addressed by current U-M professors and graduate student instructors on what to expect academically at U-M. Academic support services are presented to the students and issues of academic integrity are explained. Presentations are also given on how to use the campus computing sites and library resources. Next, opportunities such as study abroad and student organizations are explained. Lastly, the orientation group is divided into colleges and students receive an orientation from their respective advising departments on distribution requirements, how to register for classes and how to plan their college academic careers.

On day three the students complete the registration process for their fall 2010 classes.

An optional 2-day parent orientation is offered during the first two days of each session.

U-M offers the orientation process in small intimate group settings in hope that a smaller student-to-leader ratio will facilitate communication and personal connections between incoming students, leaders and the campus community, Johnson said. 

The advice, information and campus services addressed during summer orientation are reviewed throughout the students’ years at U-M. For example, each student is given an M planner that contains dates, numbers and lists of many U-M services and events in the coming academic year. 

In addition, students living in dorms are assigned a Residential Assistant. RAs are further trained on each of the issues addressed at orientation. RAs live in each dorm hallway at U-M and are therefore easily accessed by any student at any time. Also, the student organizations of U-M put on an annual fall fair called ‘Festifall’ where the students can explore and talk to current members of each organization on campus.

Katherine Axelsen is a senior at the University of Michigan double majoring in English and Comparative Religion. She covers U-M campus, Faith and neighborhood stories for AnnArbor.com. For further questions, email her at kaxe@umich.edu.