Northwestern welcomes new students with freshman, transfer orientation

The 2016-17 school year is underway, beginning with a successful freshman and transfer student orientation at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva with more than 427 students attending orientation.

Gathered in Herod Hall Auditorium, incoming freshmen experienced a tradition of Northwestern as the "Ride, Rangers, Ride" fight song rang out. The fight song was played by Northwestern's Band and the Ranger Cheerleaders welcomed the new Rangers.

Calleb Mosburg, dean of student affairs and enrollment management, said that approximately 352 students attended Freshman Orientation, and 75 attended Transfer Orientation.

Orientation opened in Herod Hall Auditorium where members of the Northwestern staff, Ranger Connectors and Northwestern Student Ambassadors were introduced. After introductions Dr. Janet Cunningham, university president; Mosburg; and Kelly Parker, Alva mayor, spoke to students.

"It's always exciting to meet the newest Rangers and welcome them to Northwestern," Cunningham said. "This year's freshmen were enthusiastic and excited about becoming the next generation of outstanding students who later become successful leaders."

Each student had the opportunity to receive their official Northwestern student IDs. Students also were able to visit with staff members about the differences between high school and college along with what to expect from their college professors and classes. Freshmen talked with current Northwestern students to ask questions about college life. Financial aid, registry and the business office were open to assist students with final payments and questions. Freshmen students also toured the campus to see buildings such as the Academic Success Center and the J.R. Holder Wellness Center.

Bailey Trammell, director of student success and counseling, took charge organizing the event to make sure new Rangers received a great welcome.

"For my first year of organizing Freshman Orientation, I thought it was a very successful event for our new Rangers," Trammell said. "I could have not done this without Kaylyn Hansen's knowledge from previous years and the rest of the faculty and staff that volunteered their time to be a part of such a great event."

Campus clubs and organizations had booths set up in the Student Center Ballroom so all students were able to see many of the organizations they will have a chance to join.

Transfer students attended their orientation session in the afternoon and were given information about receiving their Northwestern e-mail accounts, the Student Information System, transcripts, IDs and parking decals, and a short wellness center orientation, among other topics.

"We are tossing around a few new ideas for next year's Freshman Orientation. This year was a great learning tool for me and I honestly cannot wait to do it again," Trammell said.

For more information on Northwestern and how to get enrolled contact the Alva registrar's office at 580-327-8550; the Enid registration office at 580-213-3102; the main office in Woodward at 580-256-0047 or 580-254-2500; or visit http://www.nwosu.edu and find Northwestern on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/nwosu.rangers, Twitter at @NWOSU" and Instagram at "nwosurangers."