New, incoming students will be welcomed to Cornell University with a week of activities, events, trips and speakers, tailored just for them.

Approximately 3,300 freshman, 500 transfer students and 1,500 new graduate and professional students will flock to campus beginning Friday, August 21, when residence halls open at 9 a.m. As soon as cars are unloaded and bags unpacked, orientation will begin.

Orientation Week at Cornell is a collaboration among the student-led Orientation Steering Committee (OSC), the Office of the Dean of Students and numerous other offices on campus.

To make the transition to life at Cornell easier, the 11 student volunteers of the OSC have worked hard to provide both the information newcomers will need as new students and an opportunity for them to meet new people and have a good time.

Led by co-chairs Dan Duval '99 and Eric Sullender '99, the OSC includes Melanie Arzt '99, Melissa Astudillo '00, Mike Fietz '00, Anna Gravino '00, Shannon Kessler '99, Nancy Kung '00, Blair Lee '99, Jill Pinkey '99 and K. Ingrid Sprinz '00.

In addition to the OSC, more than 600 students also will be volunteering as either orientation counselors or supervisory orientation counselors to make the week's activities possible.

"I am so impressed by the huge commitment of the student volunteers," said Assistant Dean of Students Rebecca Sparrow. "Their motivation to help new Cornell students and their initiative in planning events is extraordinary."

The first weekend of events is intended to help both students and parents become familiar with the first year of the college experience. The official welcome to new Cornellians and their families begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at Schoellkopf Field at New Student Convocation, featuring an address by Cornell President Hunter Rawlings. Two informal events, Friday's "Welcome Reception" on the Arts Quad and Sunday's "Meet the President" forum, also will provide opportunities for new students to meet and chat with the president.

Student- and family-oriented events during the opening weekend include workshops such as "Family Changes," a discussion panel about implications of the first year of college on the rest of the family; "Money Madness," a how-to discussion on balancing time, a social life and money; and "Student Employment at Cornell," which offers advice on how to manage academics and an on-campus job while at Cornell.

Other highlights of the week's events include the Orientation Lecture Series, featuring talks by Daniel R. Schwarz, professor of English at Cornell; Arthur Levine, president and professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University; and Isaac Kramnick, the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government at Cornell; and an Orientation Concert Series, which features performances by members of the performing music faculty and will give new students an opportunity to hear the 1940 Aeolian-Skinner organ in Sage Chapel.

This year, an effort to coordinate events tying the Cornell campus with the surrounding community has resulted in several exciting opportunities for incoming students. Excursions to the Ithaca Farmer's Market, the Sciencenter and Taughannock Falls State Park are planned to give students a taste of what lies beyond the Cornell campus.

Special receptions also are planned for incoming transfer students, international students, minority students and mature scholars.

A complete schedule of orientation week events is included in the Orientation/Registration brochures mailed to all new undergraduates. Graduate and professional student orientation events can be found on the web at http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/grad/student_life/FaOrient.html.