Northern Michigan University will transition all of its on-campus summer orientation sessions to an online format and suspend all related fees for those who register by May 31, in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
NMU will increase the number of first-year student and simultaneous parent sessions and offer others relevant to commuter and transfer students. The online format also applies to the final orientation scheduled Aug. 19-21, shortly before the fall semester kicks off.
Students and parents who have already made orientation deposits will be contacted by orientation staff via email. They will have the choice of whether to apply the amount to the fall tuition bill or receive a refund.
“The orientation staff is still working on creating their new online programming,” NMU President Fritz Erickson said in a campus-wide email. “The plan is to provide as many live panel discussions as we can during the online sessions to replicate as much of the on-campus orientation experience as possible. Some asynchronous web materials will supplement what does not transfer well to interactive online events. Portions of the parent orientation are tentatively planned to be offered in an interactive, town hall format.”
Erickson said the prospect of large-group gatherings on campus does not appear likely until closer to fall.
“Making these decisions now gives people the time they need to plan appropriately for course design, travel, time off work, etc., and eliminates at least a few of the big questions from the list we continue to work on,” he wrote.
More decisions and information related to other activities scheduled to be held on campus later in the summer will be released in the near future.