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90-775: Many residence halls associations are primarily concerned with programming activities for residents and providing financial and planning support to other entities (such as Resident Advisors/Assistants, Hall Councils, or other groups associated with campus housing). Examples of these programs may include orientation week and opening activities, diversity programming and education, educational programming, health and wellness activities and education, hall competitions, and closing week activities. Sometimes RHAs are also involved in resident issues on campuses. Often, RHAs deal with concerns about things such as hall visitation hours, hall security, hall safety, building services (repairs and upgrades), and general hall environment. Some organizations also have

180-491: A butcher's knife (to name a few examples). During the two-week period the tutor group teach and introduce the new students to life on campus, both the social and educational aspects. As it is with the preparation period, festive activities take place after 4 p.m., and educational activities are held during the day. The two-week period ends in a four-day period in which the house will leave campus to varied destinations. During these days mostly social activities are held, including

270-552: A ceremony involving a fancy three-course dinner and much singing. In modern society, student orientation programs are meant to guide and assist students with their transition into post-secondary. Each institution follows different activities to welcome, transition and assist students in their transition to a new educational experience. Although it seems like every institution has some sort of student orientation they were only developed in 1888 at Boston University. They were created by faculty in an attempt to ensure that students understood

360-1039: A combination. The duration and complexity of programs to support the transition for students as they enter post-secondary institutions can vary quite drastically depending on the institution. Below are some examples of the kind of structure and programming provided by some Canadian universities: Orientation programming is often available for all levels of study; it is generally thought of as something primarily for undergraduate students but many institutions will at least provide some kind of informational Orientation for their graduate level students. International students are likely to also have their own Orientation - in addition to general Orientation - where they are provided with information about life in Canada as an international student. At Roskilde University in Denmark, orientation week (in Danish rusvejledning ) normally lasts from one and

450-410: A conversation on a particular issue affecting the residents. These programs can range from a bulletin board that can be casually read in passing, or they can be more interactive like taking a survey, for example. Finally, take programs require the resident assistant to accompany residents to an event which can include an on-campus program such as an institution sponsored event, a basketball game or perhaps

540-419: A cover letters or excel at job interviews. One way many of these elements can be achieved is through programming. This is a major aspect of the job for a resident assistant. Programming can come in three different forms. This includes planned, passive, and take. A planned program is an event created or co-sponsored by the resident assistant. This event is specifically tailored to fit the needs and/or interests of

630-682: A door dec (decoration) representative for that month (bunnies in March, ornaments in December, pumpkins in October), going door to door and handing out candy/ taping candy on their door, an interactive bulletin board where they can write countries they've been or what they're thankful for in November. These duties are designated from the values and goals of the institution. This denotes that the RA should be

720-684: A few days and a week, the orientation is these students' informal introduction and inauguration to the institution. Typically, the first-year students are led by fellow students from upper years over the course of the week through various events ranging from campus tours, games, competitions, and field trips. At smaller liberal arts colleges , the faculty may also play a central role in orientation. In many colleges, incoming freshmen are made to perform activities such as singing of songs, engaging in group physical activities, and playing games. These activities are often done to help freshmen make friends at their new establishment, and also to bond with each other and

810-425: A half weeks to two whole weeks. During the period, approximately 14 teams consisting of 10–16 tutors each take care of an individual house to which the new students have been allocated. There is normally one house of Natural Sciences, four of Social Studies and Economics, four houses of Arts and Language and two of technology and design. Each of the first three houses described has an International version as well, where

900-415: A male freshman who died in this tradition. This news has resulted in people thinking that rapnong should end or, at least, be controlled. In 2016, GMMTV made a television series based on this system, called SOTUS: The Series starring Perawat Sangpotirat and Prachaya Ruangroj . As well as providing a chance to learn about the university, freshers' week allows students to become familiar with

990-506: A mentor for students, being a familiar first resource for students with academic or institutional questions, and enforcing residence policies. RAs assist residents with problem solving or refer them to counseling resources. Above all, a resident assistant must be an example and uphold professional and personal accountability as outlined by the institution. At post-secondary institutions RAs are often undergraduate or graduate students themselves, and must balance their schedule and priorities with

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1080-459: A movie. All these programs help to develop a community amongst residents and incorporate the core values mentioned above. Active Program Ideas: Mocktails (alcohol safety), Condom Olympics (sex ed), DIY air fresheners with baking soda and essential oils (Hygiene), DIY Tote bags from old t- shirts (Sustainability), Ice-cream Social (Icebreaker), BJ's and PJS- Ben and Jerrys (Sex education), Paint Nite (Alcohol safety). Passive Program Ideas: Making

1170-463: A national conference, and local conferences through eight other regional subsidiaries. Affiliated RHAs have one member who serves as a National Communications Coordinator (NCC), responsible for communication with the regional and national associations as well as other RHAs. A number of sub-regional associations also exist that have no direct association with NACURH, such as IRHA in Illinois, which

1260-585: A parody of the Highland Games called the Lowland Games , including such esoteric events as porridge wrestling. Student pranks were once common during orientation week, but have fallen out of favour in recent years. Until recent years, many halls of residence also inducted new residents with "Initiation" (a form of hazing , though considerably milder than the rituals found among American college fraternities ). Although officially designated as

1350-545: A period before the start of an academic year at a university or tertiary institutions. A variety of events are held to orient and welcome new students during this period. The name of the event differs across institutions. Post-secondary institutions offer a variety of programs to help orient first year students. These programs can range from voluntary community building activities (frosh week) to mandatory credit-based courses designed to support students academically, socially, and emotionally. Some of these programs occur prior to

1440-482: A personal level and try to become a resource to each of them. An RA at Illinois is responsible for a floor of residents, and creates programs and activities for their floor throughout the semester. RAs can point residents in the right direction and help them solve problems by referring them to departments on campus for more extensive help with certain issues. RAs also make sure to address the needs of underrepresented groups of students and work with other staff to incorporate

1530-483: A portion of funds from their housing and dining departments, allocated per student living in the halls. RHAs that are affiliated with NACURH can partner with CampusCube or On Campus Marketing to receive a portion of the profits from their sales to their campus of care packages, linens, and other products. RHA budgets are often spent on "programs", or activities hosted by the RHA intended for the resident student body. RHA money

1620-412: A result but at other institutions RAs are only required to address and document concerns and professional staff such as residence hall directors complete the follow-up for community standard infractions. Monitoring floor activity and helping with conflict resolution between residents is another important security related duty of the RA. As more institutions take on a curricular approach and put learning at

1710-522: A role model by following the regulations. In addition, the RA could be required to disseminate, explain, and uphold these regulations. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign , resident advisors are role models, peer advisors, resource referrals, student advocates, and educators. RAs assume leadership roles in creating a positive and friendly atmosphere for students of varied backgrounds. RAs at Illinois develop relationships with their residents on

1800-439: A safe and healthy environment for the residents to reside in. Many institutions require RAs to participate in a 'on duty' rotation where they actively walk through and monitor communities throughout the night. While completing these nightly rounds, enforcing community standards, such as quiet hours and alcohol and drug policy are frequent occurrences. Fines, bonds, and behavioural contracts can be issued at many universities by RAs as

1890-452: A smooth transition into campus life by getting them involved in traditional activities in their institution such as homecoming events, for example. Many RAs are asked to help first-year residence students transition campus and academic life, providing orientation to campus services and being available for questions and support throughout the academic terms. Further, when residents move out of residence halls RAs help support their integration into

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1980-449: A theatrical manner and often wear sunglasses and some form of weird clothes. Most senior students who are mentors during the nollning wear their student boilersuits or the b-frack (a worn tailcoat ). This kind of organized nollning developed at KTH and Chalmers and spread to the rest of the country. In Thailand, the activity is commonly called rapnong ( รับน้อง ), translated as 'welcoming of freshmen'. It takes place in

2070-674: A variety of tented areas where clubs display their activities. The Adelaide University Union coordinates a variety of events centering around beer, bands and barbecues on the lawns near the Union complex. A major event for the week is the O-Ball (live entertainment and licensed areas) which takes place in the Cloisters (Union House). The O-Ball attracts many thousands of revellers, not all of whom are Adelaide University students. In recent times Sports and Clubs have sought to distance themselves from

2160-453: A week, in several New Zealand universities and polytechnics orientation week stretches to over ten days. Most Swedish universities have some kind of nollning ('zeroing') or inspark ('kicking-in'). This is most extensive at the technical faculties and at the student nation communities of Uppsala and Lund . Since student union membership was mandatory in Sweden (until July 2010),

2250-552: Is a student body council made up of elected undergraduate students to help plan events and make sure that students within the residence have a say in what happens around them. Within this committee, there are 9 to 11 potential positions for each residence hall. In Mexico, resident assistants are typically called "prefectos". The position has many of the same functions as in the USA, with a few exceptions including taking attendance every night at 11:30pm. The residence halls tend to be mainly of

2340-575: Is also considered important for the new students to participate in the regular activities of the student department organizations. In past years a typical orientation may consist of verbal harassment as well as initiation leading to humiliation. An orientation of freshers in Indonesia is usually called OSPEK ( Orientasi Studi dan Pengenalan Kampus ) for some universities and MOS ( Masa Orientasi Sekolah ) in middle and high school. Orientations in Indonesia have event organizers consisting of seniors and

2430-959: Is also used to finance travel arrangements and fees for attending regional and national conferences (e.g. NACURH), provide stipends or subsidized housing fees to Executives and RHA staff members, and may also be distributed to individual residence halls for hall activities. Most RHAs are considered a part of their school's student government ; however some, such as Arizona State University , Rowan University , Michigan State , Florida Institute of Technology , Fordham University , University of Delaware , University of Florida , University of Wisconsin - River Falls , University of North Dakota , Colorado State University , East Tennessee State University , Ithaca College , Washington University in St. Louis , and Frostburg State University , are fully separate organizations. This can cause overlap between student government's involvement in residential issues or activities, and

2520-527: Is greatly limited to pending applicants or pledges for certain campus organizations. As in Australia, in New Zealand students have a week to orient themselves to university life before the start of formal classes. This orientation week is a time for many social events, and is often a reason for alcohol fests. Flat warmings are often held within the time limit to couple the alcohol oriented event with

2610-571: Is having problems or needs help with something. The job of an RA is to create a community among their residents that is inclusive, welcoming, and comfortable environment for students who are living in university housing. Creating a social and welcoming living space is important for students getting acclimated to a new setting (the college campus) and making sure students feel at home. At the National University of Singapore , there are cluster leaders, resident assistants, and members of

2700-500: Is not only creating a community, but also ensuring safety for all, for example, by participating in nightly community walks. Other duties held by RAs outside of community building and programming can include ordering supplies, managing a budget, and determining need for maintenance, repairs, and furnishings. They may maintain household records and assign rooms. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics ,

2790-421: Is shared at conferences such as CACUSS . Many orientation programs aim to provide students with the tools that they will need to be successful within their academic career, such as acquainting them with their campus and the academic supports available to them, as well as providing them with opportunities to meet their fellow students and build meaningful connections. The overall message of getting familiar with

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2880-569: Is the common phrase in the United States. Some schools use the acronym WOW for Week of Welcome. In Canada, first-year students are called "frosh" or "first-years", although the term frosh has been phased out as orientations have become dry events. The terms freshies and freshers are also emerging. In the United States, first-year university students are typically referred to as freshmen . In Australia and New Zealand, first-year students are known simply as "first-years", although in some

2970-679: Is the last state-wide Residential Organization, hosting their own independent sub-regional conferences and coordinating inter-school communication. Some schools in such areas dual affiliate. Many RHAs receive funds from fees charged to residents every semester . Most schools' RHAs get their money from a university general fund, although some RHAs such as Michigan State University's collect theirs through student-voted taxes . Many also raise their own funds; especially young or small-school RHAs which do not receive adequate or any funds from their school. Some schools such as Colorado State University's RHA and National Residence Hall Honorary chapter receive

3060-645: Is the system for freshmen to bring harmony to their friends and to show their pride through their institute. By seniors, freshmen have to do activities such as singing university songs. Moreover, freshmen are required to do a lot of things, for example, wearing a name tag and showing respect to seniors. These requirements lead seniors to try to make their juniors do what they desire and punish them if they do not follow seniors' orders. Presently, there are adolescents and adults opposing those who had committed unethical or deadly actions to juniors. This group of adolescents has formed an "Anti-SOTUS" group and it has become one of

3150-428: The nollning is usually centrally organized from the student union with support from the universities. At the old universities, these traditions have often turned civilized after a dark history of hazing. Today, many student unions have strict rules against inappropriate drunkenness, sexual harassment and other problematic behaviour. At the technical faculties, the people who organize the nollning play roles in

3240-512: The Canadian Association Colleges and Universities Student Services (CACUSS) , which has Orientation, Transition and Retention Community of Practice. The CACUSS community of practice specifically serves as a network for student affairs professionals to share best practices, research, and trends seen at Canadian institutions. The impact of COVID-19 will need to be addressed when considering orientation programs to support

3330-488: The National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH), an honor society for resident students, as the national NRHH organization is an arm of NACURH. Additional associations may be made with campus programming groups. Orientation week Student orientation or new student orientation (often encapsulated into an orientation week , o-week , frosh week , welcome week or freshers' week ) is

3420-450: The University of Melbourne , University of New South Wales and University of Sydney , the last or second last night is usually celebrated with a large-scale event such as a famous band playing at an entertainment venue on campus. This is generally followed by continued partying and drinking. The University of Adelaide O-Week runs from Monday to Thursday in the week before lectures begin. During O-Week sporting clubs and societies set up

3510-541: The 1960s and 1970s, deans acting in the role in loco parentis , were focused on orientation, transition and retention programs that soon became fundamental to higher education institutions. In 1948, directors, administration, and presidents met for the first time to discuss the student orientation. From this meeting the National Orientation Directors Association (NODA) was developed. In Canada, this shift happened much later due to

3600-478: The 1960s and 1970s, orientation functions were developed and created by student governments. In the 1980s this shift continued to orientation programming being completed by student affairs professionals as a way to eliminate risks associated with students developed practices. Like the United States, orientation programming was used by higher education institutions to focus on transition and retention. In Canada, information, research and data around orientation programming

3690-487: The Junior Common Room Committee (JCRC). Cluster leaders help keep students within their "cluster", which are students on their floor, safe and healthy. They work alongside resident assistants (RAs) to work towards creating a safe and inclusive community for students. RAs are given training in areas such as crisis management, event organization, CPR and AED training, and presentation skills. The JCRC

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3780-612: The US, most call it by the acronym SOAR for Student Orientation And Registration; Freshers' week in the majority of the United Kingdom and Ireland and Orientation week or O-week in countries such as Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and also in many Canadian universities. In Sweden, it is known as nollning (from nolla , 'zero', in this case meaning the students have not earned any credit points yet) or inspark (being 'kicked in' to university life). Orientation week

3870-401: The ability to perform their administrative responsibilities. The RA may also assist with public relations and housing needs such as submitting facilities concerns for review and collecting information about resident move out. The residents and the RA compose a community, simply by living together in a similar location. The RA may be required to foster this community by mentoring and encouraging

3960-642: The academic and social aspects of an institution as they transition from high school. For institutions that have enhanced their orientations to serve as a comprehensive transition program, learning outcomes are developed to assess success. CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education provide objectives for what Orientation programs should aim to accomplish. In North America, organizations exist to share practices that are built upon these outcomes. Two prominent organizations are NODA-Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education and

4050-414: The alcohol policies of the university. Because of this policy, most daily activity is spent planning and preparing activities for the new students. When the students arrive all tutor groups welcome the rusling s with the infamous Marbjergmark show – usually a display of wacky sketches such as naked people playing chess, smashing rotten eggs at bystanders or themselves or men chasing midgets with

4140-499: The annual Burgmann Toga Party held at Burgmann College open to students from all residential colleges. Burgmann Toga is the largest party held at a university residence in the Southern Hemisphere. In Canada, there is a large variety of student orientation programming offered by Canadian institutions. Some institutions have their Orientation programming run by the student union, by student groups, by university staff, or

4230-415: The authority to vote on legislative policy changes on their campuses while other organizations remain in advisory, support, or non-involvement capacities regarding campus and housing policies. RHAs are generally structured with an executive board that leads the organization and a general assembly of hall councils and occasionally other hall-based groups. Each hall council is considered the hall government for

4320-672: The broader campus community. This refers to academic development and social awareness. Resident assistants are there to promote the well-being of residents in university housing, and to make sure that residents feel like they have enough resources available to them and know how to use them. RAs may try to teach students about social justice and inclusivity, and take students to places on campus where they can learn more about social justice and groups with differing identities. RAs can show students where to go when they need academic help or advice, and can even offer advice of their own as they are often older students with more experience. This refers to

4410-429: The colleges of the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney they are also called "freshers". In the U.K. and Ireland, first-year students are known as freshers or first-years . Freshies is also an emerging term in New Zealand. In Sweden, the student is a nolla (a 'zero') during the orientation period and usually upgraded to the status of an etta (student who is in her/his first college term) at

4500-503: The courses are taught in English instead of Danish. Each tutor group spends roughly fourteen days (and three to five days of pre-education in the spring semester) living on campus before the arrival of the new students (also called rusling s ). These periods usually involve heavy amounts of drinking, partying and sexual activity among the tutors themselves. However most festive activities including alcohol only occur after 4 p.m. due to

4590-457: The efforts of the RHA. Cross-representation, such as a special RHA seat in student government, may exist. In addition, members of the university's residence/residential life staff ( resident assistants and resident directors ) may also become involved in membership and in leadership in different Residence Hall Associations, causing conflict of interest at times, as residents of residential communities try to voice their opinions regarding members of

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4680-406: The events also depends on the school. Many colleges encourage parents to come to the first day to help new students move into their dormitory , fill out paper work, and get situated. Some schools view their week as an initiation or rite of passage while others view it as a time to build school spirit and pride. In towns with more than one university, there may be a school rivalry that is reflected in

4770-430: The events throughout the week. At most schools, incoming freshmen arrive at the school for a couple of days during the summer and are put into orientation groups led by an upperclassman trained for the position. Their orientation leader will take them around campus, do activities with them, have discussions with them, help them register for the next semester's classes and make them feel comfortable about coming to school in

4860-421: The fall. Resident assistant A resident assistant ( RA ), also known by a variety of other names, is a trained peer leader who coordinates activities in residence halls in colleges and universities , mental health and substance abuse residential facilities, or similar establishments. An RA has many roles and responsibilities, including building a residential community through programming, acting as

4950-443: The first few weeks of university. Although called freshers' flu , it is often not a flu at all. Freshmen is the traditional term for first-year students arriving at school in the United States, but the slang term frosh is also used. Due to the perceived gender exclusiveness of the term, some institutions including the University of North Carolina have adopted first-year student as the preferred nomenclature. Lasting between

5040-451: The first week or month of the academic year at universities and some high schools. The purpose is to adapt new students to university culture. Activities include games, entertainment and recreation. These let the newcomers get to know other members of the university and reduce tension in the changing environment. It sometimes includes alcohol. The main object is to let juniors carry on the universities' tradition and identity and to bind together

5130-427: The forefront of their practice, many RAs are encouraged to have an educational-based conversation with students and focus on restoration and not reprimand them. Finally, while completing their nightly walk throughs RAs are often asked to check on the physical security of residence halls, ensuring doors are locked and there are no facilities concerns that need to be addressed. This refers to assisting residents in making

5220-510: The general party week. In New Zealand's main university towns such as Dunedin and Palmerston North (where students make up around one fifth of the population) orientation week leads a wide range of events. Many top overseas and local bands tour the country at this time, and the orientation tour is one of the highlights of the year's music calendar. The University of Otago in the Scottish-settled city of Dunedin traditionally holds

5310-490: The hall they represent. In most cases there is one hall council per residence hall , however smaller halls are sometimes joined together to serve as one unified body and larger halls are sometimes broken down into smaller units. Many RHAs are affiliated with the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH), a student-run nonprofit which coordinates communication among RHAs and hosts

5400-688: The highest levels of employment in this occupation: Top paying industries for this occupation: Each institution has its own duties and requirements for an RA. The following are the more common responsibilities of an RA. An RA is often asked to be a liaison between the resident community of which they are a part and the residence hall director of the building. This often requires writing reports, keeping accurate records, completing timely follow-up, and maintaining good communication. RAs are usually required to meet with their building coordinator weekly or bi-weekly to discuss their residents, planned programming, and any other issues or subjects that could affect

5490-434: The introduction of the campus sexual assault policy. In Australia, some universities require students to arrive at university a week before classes start in order to gain course approval. This also allows students a chance to orient themselves to student life without the pressure of lectures—hence the term Orientation week is used to describe this week of induction into university life. In Australian universities, such as

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5580-578: The learning environment and institution has remained the same. The goals of the orientation programs are to create student's familiarity with the institution's regulations and academic standards, acquaint the students with their classmates and to learn about the other institutional members that will help students succeed. Orientation programs also serve the purpose of introducing students to rules and policies that can help keep them safe. Legislation in different North American states and provinces has led to programming that addresses consent, gendered violence, and

5670-929: The main issues in Thailand recently. They consider the SOTUS system to be "old-fashioned and a source of brutality". Since it was established, this has become a group of people who share their opinions about the SOTUS system based on their experiences. On the other hand, some seniors who support this system resist the anti-SOTUS attitude. They tend to say that SOTUS makes them get along together and feel proud of themselves by becoming part of their institute. Some seniors, however, coerce their freshmen to attend every activity held by them as part of preparing them to be able to live happily in university. This becomes worse when some freshmen suffer from what their senior has done to them. In Thai society, news related to this system has been reported almost every year, for example, recent news about

5760-488: The more secret hazing rituals of the university. The tutors uphold a strict set of rules to maintain a safe and pleasant tutorship to prevent harmful and humiliating hazing rituals. Examples are the presence of minimum two sober tutors at each party (in Danish ædruvagter ). Engaging in sexual relations with new students is also strongly discouraged. Also, it is generally not seen as appropriate to force people to drink alcohol through various games and activities. Furthermore,

5850-426: The national mean hourly wage of an RA was $ 13.87 in 2017, and the national mean average annual wage was $ 28,850. An RA at a college or university does not typically receive an hourly wage, but is compensated in other ways. Common compensations are price-adjusted or free room, free board, and/or stipends. Listed below are two tables of RA hourly and annual mean wage, broken down by individual industries. Industries with

5940-444: The needs and wishes of these student groups into the community model. At Illinois, RAs are compensated with waived fees for housing and meal plans, and are given a monthly stipend of roughly $ 105.00. RAs have nights where they are on duty, and must complete procedures such as checking the security of the building, making sure residents in the residence halls are safe and don’t have any unaddressed concerns, and be available to anyone who

6030-469: The needs of the students they are supporting. RAs must balance their own personal and academic needs while ensuring they are supporting and fostering community among residents, connecting residents with resources, and providing enriching programming. RAs will often report to a residence hall director , or another professional staff member within the Residence Life unit. A major component of the job

6120-543: The new generation into one. Long-term activity often includes seniors taking freshman or older years to meals and meetings; usually the most senior pays for it all. Hazing is a concern in this activity, as many students have been humiliated, abused, and dehumanized by their upperclassmen. For over 50 years, SOTUS – a hazing-based system used for college initiation in Thailand – has been involved in Thai universities. It stands for Seniority, Order, Tradition, Unity, and Spirit. It

6210-462: The opportunity to promote safe sex to their students and sometimes offer leaflets on the subject and free condoms , as well as promoting the Drinksafe campaign. The aim is to lower the rate of sexually transmitted disease and to reduce the level of intoxication commonly witnessed in freshers' week. Freshers' flu is a predominately British term which describes the increased rates of illness during

6300-552: The personal development of residents that enables them to gain a level of self-awareness. This can be fostered through student development theory frameworks such as Sanford's theory of challenge and support and Kolb's theory of experiential learning. Resident assistants must encourage the development of life skills and personal accountability amongst the residents. This may be through RAs teaching skills such as how to do laundry or cook, or bringing in additional resources such as career centres to support residents in learning how to make

6390-521: The presidium of universities. The most basic form of orientation in Indonesia consists of an educational board run and introduction to campus cultural behavior. What makes orientation in Indonesia (for some universities and schools) distinctive to other countries would arguably be the freshmens' requirement to wear unusual accessories or hairstyles (i.e. freshmen were asked to wear hats made of bird's nests, neckties made of folded paper, military hairstyles for male students or intricate braids for females, and

6480-499: The program, at Chalmers ). The length of the week is often affected by each university's tradition as well as financial and physical constraints. Additionally, institutions may include programming in the summer months before the first-year to aid in the transition. Some programs may be audience-specific, such as international orientation , transfer student orientation, graduate student orientation. Orientation programming, regardless of length or format, aims to introduce students to both

6570-509: The representatives of their Student Union and to get to know the city or town which is home to the university, often through some form of pub crawl . Live music is also common, as are a number of organized social gatherings especially designed to allow freshers to make new friends and to get to know their course colleagues. Because of the intensity of activities, there are often many new friendships made, especially in group accommodation, some not lasting past Freshers' Week and others lasting for

6660-404: The residential life program while the members of the accused party are present. In some cases, Resident Assistants and other professional staff are barred from serving in an RHA position, though they may have options to voice their opinions through RHA or a staff council. RHAs may be directly associated with student government, as noted above. In addition, many RHAs also sponsor a school chapter of

6750-494: The residents be tolerant and respectful of the other residents and their property. They often facilitate programming to create a sense of community and belonging on the floor or in the building. This programming is meant to bring a greater sense of community, with many institutions having strong community pride within residence halls in the form of mascots and traditions. Further, RAs are often expected to be positive role models within their communities. They are to act as role models of

6840-427: The residents. Sometimes RAs are required to have one planned event for their residents a month, as well as contribute to a building program once a semester in which they work with other RAs to create a meaningful program for the whole building. A passive program is one that is completed without assembling or direct interaction between the residents and/or the resident assistant. Passive programs are generally used to start

6930-475: The role of a student in academia. These faculty members were predominantly the driving force behind student orientation programs until the 1920s. From 1920-onwards a shift in the development of these orientation practices occurred. Administration at the institutions began to work towards the development. In Canada, this shift happened much later due to the 1960s and 1970s as orientation functions were developed and created by student governments. Specifically, between

7020-448: The same sex; therefore attendance is taken every night by a resident assistant to ensure opposite sex guests are no longer in the building. Positions similar to resident assistants are much rarer in the UK than the USA, reflecting British universities taking much less direct interest in their student's personal, social and sporting life than their American equivalents. It is more common to have

7110-465: The skills to either assist the resident, or know of a resource that the resident can use to solve their problem. A large portion of an RA's role is not to be the expert in supporting students with all of their needs, but rather to have the knowledge and ability to identify when a resident is in need of support and refer residents to other resources that can support them such as counselling services , academic advising , etc. These duties involve creating

7200-528: The standards put in place by the institution by demonstrating: academic integrity, respect for diversity and inclusion, and prioritizing community integration or participation. These duties deal with directly helping the residents as individuals. This requires the RA to know all the residents and be able to help each resident if they run into any problems with each other as well as with other things that may follow. Some problems could pertain to relationships, classwork, or institutional questions. The RA should have

7290-451: The start of classes while other programs are offered throughout the school year. A number of research studies have been done to determine the factors to be considered when designing orientation/transition programs. Although usually described as a week , the length of this period varies widely from university to university and country to country, ranging from about three days to a month or even more (e.g. four or five weeks, depending on

7380-636: The student organizations for each department independently organize orientation activities for the new students in their respective departments. New students are often assigned in groups to an upperclassman tutor and participate in many activities with their tutoring group. New students may be referred to as piltti ('child'), fuksi ('freshman'), fetus or other names according to their major subject. Activities for new students may include "orienteering", pub crawls, sporting events, swimming in fountains or other forms of "baptism", sitsit parties and saunas, often done wearing homemade fancy-dress costumes. It

7470-611: The student union and student association controlled activities and have set themselves up on the Maths lawns. The Australian National University has a full week (Sunday to Sunday) of events, parties and social activities open to all students of the university, organised by the Australian National University Students Association . The residential colleges often have their own O-week activities catered primarily for residents as well as

7560-408: The students. Most programs have one final party on the final night to finish off the week of celebrating, in which the organizers join in. Although it has been officially banned at many schools, hazing is not uncommon during the week. This can be anywhere from the organizers treating the first-year students in a playfully discouraging manner to forcing them to endure rigorous trials. The attitude of

7650-462: The transition for students moving from high school to post-secondary institutions. Because of the pandemic, there has been little to no opportunity for students to access the same supports they have accessed in previous years. Many of the programs to support transition to post-secondary have been cancelled or modified significantly. The week before the term starts is known as: Frosh (or frosh week ) in some colleges and universities in Canada. In

7740-434: The university dictates that each tutor must be taught basic first aid, as well as a couple of courses in conflict management and basic education psychology. At DTU (Danish Faculty of Technology and Engineering), Copenhagen Business School and Copenhagen University , similar periods are held. They however vary, and are significantly shorter than the overall orientation period at Roskilde University. In Finnish universities,

7830-410: The upperclassmen. Despite the fact that most first-year students are below the legal drinking age (currently 21 years in all states), heavy drinking and binge drinking may occur outside the orientation curriculum. Some programs require their organizers to sign waivers stating they will not be under the influence of any substances over the course of the week as they are responsible for the well-being of

7920-499: The usage of a sack instead of a rucksack). Harsh physical punishments were not uncommon during the Suharto era, and mass media continues to report inhumane activities during those orientations that led to a few cases of death. Nowadays, however, orientation is more tolerable as physical abuse is now forbidden by law; however, it is still criticized by many psychologists and people as 'too much' because of excessive verbal harassment and

8010-690: The use of unusual and humiliating attributes typically found in orientations in junior high and high schools. As well, it is also criticized by many parents for being economically inconvenient. The reason cited by psychologists is that orientation is often used as a tool of revenge by the board of organizers for what the seniors did to them during their freshman year. Because of this, there are many people who believe that MOS or OSPEK are useless traditions that need to be erased. The cruelty of MOS and OSPEK varies between universities and schools in Indonesia, although in (most) major universities and institutes, that kind of humiliation and harassment no longer exists, or

8100-399: The whole University career and longer. Typically a freshers' fair for student clubs and societies is included as part of the activities to introduce new students to facilities on offer, typically outside their course of study, such as societies, clubs and sports. The various societies and clubs available within the university have stalls and aim to entice freshers to join. Most campuses take

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