New Student Orientation plans for anniversary year

Next fall, New Student Orientation (NSO) will tribute the college's 150th birthday in its 2010 program NSO: The Anniversary Edition.

NSO Committee Co-Chair and junior Lizzy Reid said the NSO Central Committee intentionally chose the anniversary theme because it was relevant.

''We wanted a theme that would incorporate the sequicentennial yet still would be a fun theme to incorporate into the NSO activities,'' Reid said. ''Each group will have a board game name as well as the different activities. For example, the activitiy known last year as the Elmen Wipeout will most likely be called Elmen Fit, after the Wii Fit game.''

But the committee does more than that, according to Director of Student Activities and NSO adviser Jeff Venekamp.

''The [NSO] Central Committee does all the planning,'' Venekamp said. ''They do the creation, development, planning and implementation of the program.''

Students plan and lead the orientation, Reid said.

''We do divvy up some of the tasks,'' Reid said. ''The NSO Central Committee is in charge of planning the entire NSO process, such as selecting group leaders, planning activities and setting up training for the NSO leaders.''

Reid said the committee's members were selected at the end of January and have been planning since the beginning of the spring semester to ensure a positive experience.

''We can't plan up until the time of, because it's a full year's work for us,'' Reid said. ''NSO comes at a very crucial time. Freshmen are developing relationships with their peers.''

Sophomore Joshua Belville will serve as a NSO leader for the first time next fall and hopes to establish a feeling of comfort and community for freshman.

''I want to stress that the transition will be easier than you think,'' Belville said. ''There are a lot of people here to help.''

Sophomore Hannah Miller will return as a NSO leader next year. She believes that the orientation experience enables freshmen to become a part of the campus community.

''You can see the definition of community in NSO, and that's something Augie really values,'' Miller said. ''NSO helps you feel like you belong and see how great of an experience Augustana is.''

Classes start in just a few months, and freshman Brian Stjernholm is excited about what he hopes to accomplish as a NSO leader in conjunction with his NSO partner and cousin freshman Megan Johnson.

''The more I think about it, the more I'm looking forward to it,'' Stjernholm said. ''I'll get to be one of the first faces to the freshmen—the welcome mat.''

Even though there is no stipend for NSO Committee members or NSO leaders, many students apply for the positions and have varying ideas about the direction NSO should be headed.

Stjernholm and Johnson aspire to make a positive, long-term impact in their first year as NSO leaders by offering their friendship to freshmen.

''We don't just leave after scheduled activities—one of our goals is to make it more of a friendship than an obligation,'' Stjernholm said.

According to Reid, the program has yet to be planned, though the general program will be similar. Reid also spoke about how the role of group leaders can be improved even more.

''NSO doesn't change a whole lot fundamentally, but we're trying to make it more interactive so group leaders are even more creative and effective,'' Reid said.

Venekamp said that the freshmen will read Ken Robinson's The Element for their class sessions instead of reading over the summer like last year. Reid suggested that the book ''could be used in advising'' because of the book's content.

''It's all about finding your passion, how do you find your passion and what to do when you find it,'' Venekamp said.

 He added that this year's New Student Seminar (NSS) is geared toward ''knowing your strengths'' for freshmen and NSO group leaders, who will take the StrengthsFinder assessment.

''StrengthsFinder is an assessment tool used to find out what your strengths are and how those talents can be leveraged into strengths,'' Venekamp said.

Before any of that, NSO leaders must undergo three days of training before freshmen arrive.

''It definitely involves going over the program and getting support of the program,''

Venekamp said. ''The training entails some personal awareness, some teamwork building between you and your partner and some diversity work.''

Despite the day-long training sessions and influx of freshmen, Belville remains optimistic.

''Gosh, I'm way excited,'' Belville said. ''I get to come here early. I'm looking forward to hanging out with 15 new people, because if you don't know everybody, then you don't know anybody.''