Let’s Create

a Unified Freshmen Welcoming Program

By Lim Seon-hye, Tribune Reporter

   Before the first semester of this year started, new students were able to gain valuable experience by participating in a variety of Freshmen Welcoming Programs (FWPs) including orientation programs like Newly Learning Field and Membership Training organized by various authorities of the university such as the University Administration and the General Students Council. Participating in those programs, freshmen met their seniors and other fellow students and were offered useful information about campus life, and then they enjoyed university culture for the first time as a university student. Chonnam Tribune examined this year’s FWPs focusing on orientation programs operated by the student councils of the university, colleges and departments to promote a desirable freshmen welcoming culture at CNU.


Freshmen Welcoming Programs

FWPs were composed of various programs. At the First Meeting, freshmen met their seniors and other fellow students. Last year, some colleges and departments like Law and Economics organized the First Meeting between freshmen and seniors at a meeting ceremony on a particular day. However, this year the meeting ceremony was held after the semester started. In case of large colleges or departments with many freshmen, they operated the first meeting in teams.

For example, the School of Applied Chemical Engineering and the College of Business Administration divided freshmen and seniors into several teams for the FWPs. Second, for advising curricula activities in detail, seniors gave important information and tips to freshmen about how to register for classes. Seniors recommended particular subjects and sometimes made a timetable for freshmen. Third, some colleges and departments held an athletic meet to tie a closer relationship to each other. Besides, freshmen also went around the campus to explore CNU. It was called Hakgalgi in Korean.

Freshmen’s Good Start

    The organizers of the FWPs from each college and department choose to carry out the programs befitting their characteristics and purposes. “We, the student council organize programs for freshmen considering some basic points. We value friendship between freshmen and seniors. By making close and direct contact with senior students, freshmen can adapt to new university life more easily. We also offer information that freshmen need to know regarding university life and political consciousness,” Kim Yu-ri (Senior, Dept. of Home Economics Education), a head student of the College of Education said.

Freshmen can gain many advantages out of FWPs upon entering university life. As university life means that students have to organize their own timetable and register for the courses on their own based on

their preferences and tastes, freshmen are apt to attend classes without any background information or references. But through these FWPs, they can get on well with their seniors and fellow students and receive valuable advice and favors from them. Ultimately, freshmen can take more interest in campus life. Furthermore, the FWPs offer the chance for students to interact with other students of other departments from the same college. “The athletic event remains in my memory because I could get closer to friends and seniors in my department as well as others from other departments in the same college,” Jo Yong-gi (Freshman, Dept. of Education) said.


Some Improvement Needed

To improve FWPs and increase the participation of students, FWPs need to present more interesting and enlightening programs reflecting concerns and interests of freshmen as already registered students. One freshman said, “I am fed up with the programs performed in FWPs. They are boring and have no interesting sides. I don’t know why I attended these programs.” FWPs should introduce more unique characteristic programs having their basis on creativeness to attract students’ attention and induce their positive reaction. For efficient execution of FWPs, it may be more helpful and constructive when organizers of FWPs and the student council are well-informed and instructed to operate the FWPs and guide the students in advance through the sponsorship of the university administration.

In relation to this, Lee Kye-han, a Vice-Dean of Student Affairs, said that the Division of Student Affairs has a plan to engage more in the FWPs from next year. “We aim to inform new students of CNU how to lead a campus life with fun and make them feel proud and more self-confident as CNUians. Some students among the freshmen being admitted into the CNU may have known about CNU, but a lot of students do not know CNU very well.

For this reason, freshmen need to learn the historical meaning, tradition, and distinctive qualities of CNU. By knowing those, freshmen can have more affection for their school and pride as one of the CNU constituents. It is true that there are some different points of view between the student council and college administration when preparing FWPs because the General Student Council and the university administration may have their own goals and objectives, respectively. Therefore, we need to bury the differences and gaps and create more unified FWPs. We will prepare more thoroughly taking into consideration this point and lessons learned from the past mistakes of FWPs.”