Orientation activities were in full swing on Memorial’s St. John’s campus earlier this week—but there were no students in sight.

The late-summer welcome event was for new academic staff members who are about to begin, or have recently started, in their new roles at the university.

Individuals from across disciplines participated in the annual half-day session. The event featured presentations by guest speakers intended to ease new faculty members’ transition to the university community and to give them an overview of relevant resources available at Memorial.

“When people think of orientation in the university context, their minds most often jump to students,” said Dr. Noreen Golfman, provost and vice-president (academic) and a presenter at the event. “Giving those new to the Memorial community the chance to learn about our history, our multi-campus model and our teaching, learning and research supports, enables them to jump in prepared, knowing what’s available to them to excel in their roles as educators.”

The orientation day also gives participants the chance to network and meet new colleagues from across academic units at Memorial.

The annual event is part of a comprehensive orientation program for new academics presented by the Office of Faculty Relations, which includes a brown bag lunch series that expands on the topics and introduced during the session.