Seattle University teaches the value of community as one of its fundamental lessons, yet it is not conveyed as evenly to each student as one might think.
Specifically, the discrepancy between transfer student orientation and standard freshman orientation is alarming.
Freshmen receive the luxury of a two-day overnight orientation, complete with a trial run of a dorm room, a roommate and a free breakfast in the morning. This is not even mentioning the multitude of orientation lectures and friendship-building activities offered in the 48-hour span. Free food is always good, also.
Additionally, when freshmen begin life at Seattle U in the fall, an entire week is dedicated to orientation services and events. Students are shown a movie and are thrown the annual '80s Dance.
What do transfers get? During fall quarter, transfer students get a whopping three-hour orientation session. It includes a partial tour of the school, the highlights being the bookstore and one of the five collegiums on campus.
Transfer students are then given a map of the campus in a folder with some colorful paperwork. This is not an adequate way to convey the great sense of care this university has for its students.
Worse yet, this already meager orientation period is cut in half in winter and spring quarters.
During those two quarters, transfers get a total of 90 minutes of student orientation, just half an hour longer than the hour dedicated to campus tours. That is simply ridiculous.
A full year's $36,000 tuition check therefore buys an hour and a half of orientation time in the spring. A prospective student gets a free hour-long tour from the school, and he or she doesn't have to pay a dime.
For thousands of dollars more, transfer students are given slightly more time and attention than those who might never be students at all.
Transfer students are still students. Indeed, the timing of their arrival to Seattle U is so different they deserve special attention in making an already-difficult transition.
Students transfer here for a reason, and they can always decide to transfer out. Let's give them a reason to stay.
Reach the editorial board at opinion@su-spectator.com.
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