About Us

Our orientation staff is here to meet your needs! Whether you will be attending orientation as a freshmen, transfer student, or parent or family member of an incoming student, you will have the opportunity to connect with our staff. We are here to guide you through this transitioning period.

Love your orientation experience? What to learn how you can help incoming students? Each year we hire a new Summer Orientation and Transfer Orientation team. For more information on this process, check out how to become an Orientation Leader here.

The following objectives and outcomes have been designed to uphold the University of St. Thomas’ Orientation and Registration Mission.

Program Objectives

• Facilitate connections between new students, helping them gain confidence in their ability to become a fully functioning member of our university community.
• Provide opportunities to learn about the academic environment.
• Foster an awareness of institutional support services and co-curricular engagement opportunities.
• Serve as an informational and referral resource to new students and their families – attending both to their stated needs and to our specific learning outcomes.
• Utilize student and family evaluations and national survey data to continually improve the program.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Students will learn about academic support resources.
• Students will meet faculty and have a better understanding of their role.
• Students will begin developing connections with other new students.
• Students will gain knowledge about opportunities for campus involvement.
• Students will gain a basic understanding of degree components and will be able to make initial informed decisions about course registration.
• Students will become physically acclimated and able to better navigate the campus.
• Students will leave feeling better prepared to attend UST.

Parent/Guardian Learning Outcomes

• Parents will obtain an increased understanding of the adjustments students face in their transition to college and the importance of establishing appropriate boundaries as a result of attending O&R.
• Parents will have opportunities to connect with other parents and to meet faculty and staff.
• Parents will learn where and how to get support from UST if needed.
• Parents will gain a broader and general understanding of campus policies and procedures, academic expectations and their student’s responsibility to the UST community.
• Parents will become physically acclimated to the campus as a result of attending O&R.
• Parents will feel confident in their student’s ability to succeed at UST.