UW-Madison consolidates orientation programs

UW–Madison will merge two student orientation offices into a single unit in a reorganization plan announced by Paul Barrows, vice chancellor for student affairs.

The office of Orientation and New Student Programs will combine the Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR) program with the office of Orientation Programs, a dean of students unit responsible for portions of SOAR, Wisconsin Welcome and other new-student initiatives. The Admissions office had managed SOAR.

Wren Singer, who previously served as director of the Campus Information and Visitor Center, will head the office. She will report directly to Barrows.

“The office will consolidate all of our orientation programs under one roof,” Barrows says. “Wren will be instrumental in providing leadership to create, strengthen and expand our efforts to enhance the first-year experience for all students.”

The reorganized office will be staffed without the addition of any new full-time-equivalent positions, Barrows adds.

Although changes in the orientation experience won’t be immediately apparent, the new office will streamline the planning and coordination of SOAR and Wisconsin Welcome, and connect these programs with other first-year initiatives. The overall goal is to improve student retention, says Singer, who adds that student input will be crucial.

Singer holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, all from UW–Madison. She wrote her doctoral dissertation on how orientation programs modify student expectations of college life

“My own orientation experience helped dispel myths I had heard about the university, which made me more comfortable about coming to college,” she says. “That really fueled my interest in the field.”

Prior to her new role, Singer served in various capacities with the Campus Information and Visitor Center, and its predecessor, the Office of Visitor Services. In addition, she served as acting director of Student Orientation Programs from 1995-98. She is also a strategic planning and process improvement facilitator in the Office of Quality Improvement.

Singer begins her new duties on Saturday, March 1.