The Pointer UW-Stevens Point Student Newspaper
In order to engage thousands of new University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point students in campus life as soon as they arrived, UWSP hosted Welcome Week events to help smooth the transition into college.
Events varied from a movie night in the Laird Room to a dance at Debot Field.
Not only were there fun events this week, but there are also events in the coming weeks that can help students find on and off-campus jobs and volunteer opportunities. Sunday, Aug. 31, the Student Involvement and Employment Office hosted an open house where students participated in games and discovered the services provided to them.
“We have a whole schedule of activities for everybody,” said SIEO assistant director Susan LeBow. “On our Facebook page we are doing a tag and share promotion. If you come to one of our events, there will be a camera taking pictures of people, and for folks who tag and share, we will put their names in a hat and win some prizes.”
SIEO offers resource fairs each semester to assist students in getting acquainted with what they can do on campus, and in the community. For example, the fall job fair is Sept. 9, the student organization fair is Sept. 11 and the volunteer fair is Sept. 16.
There are over 150 student organizations, making it easy for students to find an organization that will suit their interests. Student organizations vary from belly dancing to political or religious groups. If students cannot find an organization to their liking, they are able to start a student organization.
One of the bigger student organizations on campus is the Hmong and South East Asian American Club. During Welcome Week, Cheefeng Lee, the HaSeaac president, said they dedicated one day to knocking on doors in the residence hall where the new Hmong students reside. They wanted to introduce themselves and invite the new students to the HaSeaac picnic later in the week.
“Personally, I plan to meet each and every new student in person and get them to come out and meet new people and show them what HaSeaac has to offer,” Lee said.
Even though Welcome Week activities are coming to a close, LeBow said events are constantly taking place on campus and urges students to become involved.
Gaonou Lo
glo483@uwsp.edu
