It’s no secret that incoming students can find college intimidating. However, New Student Programs has come together to provide a smoother transition.

“We’ve taken the collective wisdom of generations of successful seniors and we give it to them as freshman,” said Mark Amos, director of Saluki First Year. “We’re not teaching them any secret tricks on what gets them through college. We’re teaching tips that students have learned and give it to them early, which results in less wondering.”

Amos said the university has in recent years to implement new programs that could help students adjust to college life, such as New Student Orientation and Saluki First Year.

He said these programs are important so first-year students can have their questions answered before they come to the university.

Steven Adams, a senior at Egyptian High School, participated in a journalism camp this summer at SIUC. He said he has questions about college, but his biggest concern with the transition is that the classes would be more difficult than high school.

“In some cases you have to adapt to a whole new society and an environment you’re not used to,” Adams said.

Amos said Saluki Startup, an extra day of orientation to help students understand expectations in college, was implemented in the 2010-2011 school year and continued this year.

Saluki Startup gives students the day to meet and become familiar with the expectations of advisers and faculty in their specific college.

Amos said the general feedback comes from alumni, some who are parents, wishing a program of this magnitude had been available to them as a resource coming into college.

“From the understandings of the surveys, students didn’t understand what college was about,” Amos said. “They didn’t understand what the academic expectations were and what we as instructors expect of them in the classroom.”

Saluki First Year began in 2008-2009 after a self-study was conducted to find out what programs the university could design to enhance the effectiveness of welcoming students and their success during their first year, Amos said.

Amos said the Saluki First Year website lists an executive summary with 14 recommendations on how to improve services for students. He said two focuses are excellence and holistic approaches.

Amos said the program focuses on the student as a whole.

“It’s not just how do we make our students academically successful, but how do we make our students more successful as students on campus and as human beings during their early years on campus,” Amos said.

Haley Atwell, a senior from Farmer City studying speech communication, said she worked as an orientation leader and student life adviser for New Student Programming.

Atwell said the orientation leaders set up in the Student Center where students were able to walk booth-to-booth and ask faculty members specific questions.

This gave students an opportunity to get information they may not have otherwise, she said.

Atwell said the leaders give tours and take students to their specific colleges, where they can meet with academic advisers and see what types of classes they will take.

As a former participant in New Student Orientation when she was a freshman, Atwell said the encounter with her orientation leader was great and one she won’t forget.

“My orientation leader was awesome. He convinced me to join marching band,” Atwell said. “It was really sad when I went to his graduation; he was my best friend on campus.”

Bryanna Kemper, a junior at Coulterville High School who may attend SIUC for college, said her concerns revolve around the balance between classes and studies.

Adams said having a friend who had the college experience provides insight on what to expect as a new student on campus and gives a more relaxed feeling for new students who feel also uneasy about transitioning.

“I had a friend who went to Southern, and he told me at first it was hard and adjusting can be a burden, but as the year went on life became easier,” Adams said.