As an incoming first-year or transfer student, orientation is an important time to get your bearings and start your life-changing university experience. During the orientation experience, you'll get moved in, meet other members of your class, sit down with an academic advisor, and explore our beautiful region.
What to Expect at Passages Orientation
You’ll receive your orientation schedule and more information about the programs and events planned for your first week at Puget Sound from the Orientation office, but here’s what you can expect when you arrive on campus for the first time:
Move-In
On Day One, you’ll move into your on-campus housing. Residence Life staff will be available to help you navigate to your new room. You will also be able to check-in for your passages orientation experience. Passages student leaders will be available to answer any questions you have in addition to programs and events for students and parents about life a Puget Sound.
Advising
During Passages, you’ll have a chance to meet one-on-one with your academic advisor and peer advisor to review the courses you preregistered and discuss your academic plan.
Academic Fair
At the Academic Fair, you’ll explore all the fields of study offered at Puget Sound, talk with professors, and learn more about the programs that interest you.
Immersive Experiences
Our campus sits in the middle of one of the most exciting and dynamic regions in the United States. During Passages, you’ll have the opportunity to see more of Tacoma and the Pacific Northwest as part of an immersive experience. Past experiences have included an ethnographic food tour of Tacoma, an overnight canoe trip on the Hood Canal, an expedition to local art museums, and volunteering at an urban farm.
Campus Resource Sessions
When it comes to being a successful student, there are plenty of tools and resources at your fingertips. In these sessions, you’ll become familiar with how to do research in the library and how to make the best use of student technology like Canvas, Google Suite, myPugetSound, networking, and printing options.
Music Ensemble Placement
If you’re interested in performing as part of a music ensemble, you’ll be able to audition during orientation for one the many groups offered by the School of Music.
Campus Employment
Career and Employment Services will be available to help you navigate working on campus, including setting up interviews for student jobs and an orientation meeting for work-study programs.
Campus Responsibilities
We’re all members of a community. During your Passages experience, you’ll learn more about the responsibilities we have to each other through workshops on sexual assault prevention, consent, safe use of alcohol, and how to engage with cultures and perspectives different from your own.
LogJam!
Together, we’ll celebrate the start of the fall semester with LogJam!, an annual festival, which includes a campus activities fair, food, games, and music performances.