Wittenberg students are welcomed to campus with a range of academic and social opportunities and activities intended to help with the transition to college life.

The First Year Seminar (FYS) is a fall semester 4-credit class that provides an introduction to Wittenberg, to campus resources, and the foundational skills and expectations of college level courses. FYS also engages students in thinking about a problem facing society. Each enduring problem is based on content specific to the instructor of the course. Students will work with peers, faculty, and campus resources to engage meaningfully with the problem and society as a whole. 

The First Year Seminar is taught by a three-person team: faculty, co-facilitator, and student peer mentor. The faculty member leads the academic curriculum and evaluation for the course content. Co-facilitators are specialists from campus life who offer a range of advice and resources for co-curricular issues. The Peer Mentor is a student leader selected to ease transitions and offer on-the-ground advice and counsel.

Orientation is a chance for you to visit campus and get acquainted with the place you will call home for the next four years. At Summer Orientation you will tour your residence hall, view your class schedule, attend informative sessions about life at Witt, talk to current students as well as other incoming First-Years, and learn what it means to be a Wittenberg Student.

Welcome Week is a required four-day orientation program for first-year students that takes place immediately before classes begin each fall semester.

Emerging Leaders Program is a leadership development program for first-year students that meets weekly from October-December each year. Through the program, students develop the skills, personal qualities and knowledge they will need to be effective leaders at Wittenberg. Students will also have the opportunity to work with mentors to plan an event or program for the campus in the second semester.

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