There are many ways to integrate yourself into the campus community, meet friends and have fun. Attend an orientation and take part in one of Loyola's First-Year Programs, specifically designed to enhance your first-year experience. All incoming first-year students are encouraged to attend Summer Orientation, a 1.5 day session for students and parents. The programs include student development programming, course registration, housing preregistration, and a variety of sessions designed specifically for parents. The dates for 2009 Summer Orientation are June 22-23, June 25-26, July 6-7 and July 9-10. Loyola understands that the transition to college brings challenges for many students as they adapt to a new learning and living environment, and we offer many resources to make this transition a smooth one. The Academic Advising and Support Center offers services for all aspects of the undergraduate academic experience by providing learning resources and academic advising to guide students in the development of their fullest intellectual and personal potential. All first-year students are assigned to work with a faculty advisor, who will assist them in navigating the core curriculum, selecting courses, and adjusting to college life. The Academic Advising and Support Center administers "The Study," which offers free individual tutoring and academic skills enhancement workshops. First-year students also have the option of working with an upperclassman mentor who offers advice and guidance on a variety of academic issues including major selection, strategies for academic success, and working with professors. Read more about the Academic Advising and Support Center here. Making the transition to college can be a challenging time, but with Loyola’s First-Year Programs we provide you with the resources and guidance to help you get adjusted to your new environment and to the demands of college-level study. These programs are a comfortable way for first-year students to meet other new students, get to know faculty and to learn about Loyola's offerings, both social and academic. You will receive more information on these programs in the coming months and will be able to register for these programs after May 15. Loyola offers 3 First-Year Programs: The Alpha Program offers interested first-year students seminars that cultivate four critical habits: careful reading, academic writing, scholastic conversation and living the examined life while weaving together the heritage of the liberal arts and the Jesuit tradition. Small in size, these seminars are taught by members of the Alpha faculty in a format designed to expand your intellectual horizons through lively discussion, academic reading and writing, extra class meetings, off-campus and interdisciplinary activities and participation in a campus program of Alpha lectures. back to top Collegium gives you the opportunity to meet other new students by going to class and living with other students in the program. The 72 first-year students who participate in Collegium are housed together on the eighth floor of Campion Tower. These students are divided into three groups with the members of each group enrolled in two of their five regular first-year courses together. Members of Collegium are also enrolled in First-Year Experience (FE 100). An important goal of Collegium is to create an environment that is conducive to learning, encourages academic discussions, helps you feel a sense of “belonging” at Loyola and facilitates an enjoyable social and co-curricular life. back to top The First-Year Experience Seminar is designed to help students get the most out of their college experience and make a smooth and successful transition to college. Informal and lively class discussions, group interactions, field trips and presentations by instructors and guests help introduce you to the expectations of college instructors and the values inherent in the mission and core of the University; inform you of the services available to support your academic and co-curricular experiences; prepare you for social and personal issues you might face as a college student; and provide opportunities for critical thinking, community service and community building in an enjoyable setting. Many of the class meetings take place outside of the classroom and include excursions into Baltimore. Classes are team-taught by a faculty member, administrator and upperclassman. For more information on First-Year Programs visit this site. Each year, Loyola's incoming class is responsible for reading a book that is chosen by the University. They then discuss the book in their classes and relate it to their course material. Toward the end of the semester, the author or an expert on the related topic delivers a keynote address to the University. Most recently, the incoming class read When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka. The book describes the struggles of Japanese-Americans during World War II, following the personal tale of woman who is left in an internment camp with her two young children after her husband is taken away in handcuffs following the attack on Pearl Harbor. In 2008, the incoming class read Eboo Patel's Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation and, in 2007, Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. back to top | 
