Some incoming students’ first steps onto campus might not occur until move-in day if Ohio University moves Bobcat Student Orientation online.
Like most spring and summer events this year, the fate of an in-person orientation for incoming students is still up in the air because of the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many universities across the country have already made the decision to move their student orientations online, including Ohio State University and West Virginia University
OU has not yet announced its decision, but whether online or in-person, incoming students will be provided an orientation experience, according to the university’s website.
“We are committed to providing an orientation experience this summer and will share more details about that as soon as we are able to do so,” Director of Undergraduate Orientation Programs Vincent Prior said in an email.
Even so, many incoming students feel that an online orientation would lack many of the experiences they’ve been looking forward to.
“I'd be pretty sad because … being a senior in high school like … prom is canceled, and graduation is up in the air,” Luke Ritzler, an incoming freshman studying psychology, said. “It's one thing to miss out on some of those high school memories, but then to miss the college ones too, that would be kind of sad.”
Doing student orientation online would make Ritzler worry more about talking to his advisor about the credits he earned in high school and how they will change his class schedule, he said.
“I'm kind of like more nervous, because I don't know how that's going to work online,” Ritzler said.
Other students, like Chelsea Tano, an incoming freshman studying psychology, are trying to stay positive about the possibility of online orientation.
“I'm just being very optimistic about what's going to come in the future. I'll know anything that they'll do will benefit the students,” Tano said, “I know that everything will be made up once I get on campus and get to interact with everyone.”
Tano would be especially excited for an in-person orientation though, as it would be her first time visiting campus.
“I actually haven't been on the campus before, so going to the orientation will definitely help me make friends and stuff like that,” Tano said.
Other students are also looking forward to seeing more of the campus, like Maddi Raisch, an incoming freshman in the Honors Tutorial college studying business administration.
“I was really disappointed because I've only visited campus one time and that was for my interview for the Honors Tutorial College. I feel like I haven't really had a chance to see the whole campus and to really interact with a lot of people,” Raisch said.
Although she is hopeful, Raisch doesn’t feel as though an online orientation will be a proper introduction to college.
“I don't feel that it would be sufficient. I guess I'm basing that on the fact that I'm taking online school right now and I don't think that's been sufficient in helping me understand the curricula that I'm supposed to for the current classes that I'm taking,” Raisch said.
Gabriella Lindsey, an incoming freshman in the Honors Tutorial College studying environmental studies, said she is hopeful she will get to meet the other students in her program in-person and is greatly looking forward to staying on campus for the first time.
“I know we're all really excited to get to know each other. We did a Zoom meeting yesterday just to kind of be able to talk face to face,” Lindsey said, “I know I'm really looking forward to being able to stay on campus for the first time and get to know some of my other classmates, you know, so it maybe being online is a little bit disappointing. … I would definitely love it if it was in-person.”
