INCOGNITO-WEEK:
Let the Mystery Begin!
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What is O-Week?
Hey new students… shhh! O-Week is one of Rice’s best-kept secrets (but not really, it’s ranked one of the best orientation weeks in the country) and it could possibly be one of the greatest weeks of your Rice career. O-Week is short for Orientation Week but not short of anything else. It’s a week dedicated to you and your smooth transition to college and focuses on introducing you to the best four years of your life.
O-Week is six days of a jam-packed schedule of 50% academics and 50% fun (not that academics aren’t fun). We know your friends at other universities have probably started navigating class-scheduling systems and selecting their courses they’re going to take in the fall. However, all the course selection occurs here at Rice with the guidance of your student advisors, peer academic advisors (PAAs are specifically trained to know all requirements and best route to graduation!), faculty divisional advisors, and other adult support team members to help you talk your way through what you want from your Rice degree. Don’t worry, whether you’re set in what you want to do when you grow up or if you have no idea what you are interested in majoring in, there are plenty of resources and time dedicated to helping you figure academics out.
In addition to figuring out your fall semester schedule, O-Week is about integrating you into Rice University, and more specifically Will Rice College. You have the opportunity to meet all the new students in your home college and a select number of upperclassmen, as well as begin living with a college roommate! Organized by First Year Programs, O-Week involves the coordinated efforts of hundreds of students, faculty members and staff across campus, including us, your very own O-Week Coordinators, as well as a group of upperclassmen you are about to meet. You will be assigned to a specific group of 8-9 new students with three “advisors.” Advisors were carefully chosen and offer a plethora of different perspectives and experiences. Ask them anything - they’re your own personal guides to life at Rice. If they don’t know the answer, they know someone that does and will point you in the right direction!
Caution (tape): O-Week is exhausting, but well worth the many late nights. You will journey through O-Week and college alongside your O-Week groups and your advisors. Lucky for you, your advisors will be your advisors for the rest of your college career and will always be there for you whenever you need them. The upperclassmen, your fellow Will Ricers, are here to help too. O-Week is the beginning of these valuable and lasting relationships. Basically, the key takeaway of O-Week is that you have plenty of resources for whatever you need from the moment you step foot onto campus.
You have been assigned three fantastic individuals who are determined to make sure that your O-Week is literally the best week of your life. These people are your advisors! Your O-Week group consists of you, about 7 other new students, two advisors from Will Rice, one co-advisor from a different residential college, and an affiliate. Regardless of their residential college origin, your advisors are insanely dedicated to you, not just during O-Week or your first year, but for your ENTIRE time at Rice. They are your friends, mentors, and the people you go to when you are having a bad day. They are your biggest cheerleaders during your time at Rice. They make your O-Week experience the greatest it can possibly be, which is why we as coordinators have spent weeks and weeks selecting them. They competed against many others to be in their position and they strive to be a constant source of support during your first year. While your advisors all have different talents, resources, and personalities, they are unanimous in their motivation to assist you throughout O-Week and your time at Rice.
Before, during, and after O-Week, you will get to know and interact with a number of students and professionals who will help with your transition to Rice. Many have put in a great deal of extra time to ensure that your experience at the university is memorable and successful, and they’ll be available to support you through your time here as well. Among these students, three act as the foundation on which O-Week is built around. Each college has 2 or 3 student leaders chosen to oversee the preparation and execution of O-Week for the College as well as collaborating on certain aspects of the overall experience. These three, selected in January, have spent the last 7 months, including their summer in Houston, planning your first week at Rice. From choosing the theme to interviewing and selecting the advising team to rooming new students, your coordinators have spent a lot of time trying to get to know you and working with others to make sure your first year at Rice sets the right foundation for your experience.
An affiliate is a person who has been chosen to help out throughout O-Week, and guide new students through their transition into Rice. One will be with your group throughout O-Week, attending many of the planned events and activities. However, at certain points during the week, he/she will leave temporarily so that they may attend to their designated affiliate duties. These duties vary based on the affiliate position. On the following page we have listed the affiliates and their respective roles.