Welcome new Terps!! (note: this entry always remains on top. New entries begin below)

Hello new transfer and commuting Terps!!

My name is Dian Squire and I am the Assistant Director of Orientation. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the University of Maryland. In my time working in Orientation, I have found that transfer and commuter students often have a hard time finding new contacts at the university and sometimes have issues locating important information for their success at the university. That is why I have created this blog. It is my hope that I can provide you with up-to-date information regarding the most important events happening on the Maryland Campus. Once I create a topic, feel free to comment with your experiences related to the topics. If there is something that you want to blog about, please send me an email and I will do my best to post about it so that a comment stream can be created. You may also search for topics in the search bar on the left.

At the end of each blog entry, you will notice a question in red italics. Feel free to answer the question and pose some of your own in a comment (all comments are moderated). 

My email is dsquire@umd.edu and the Orientation website is www.orientation.umd.edu. 

If you find anything offensive on this blog, please contact me immediately.

Enjoy!!

Math Placement Exam- dun dun dun!!

Dun dun dun! Another exam?! Well, kind of.

That Math Placement Exam IS an exam, but, unlike many others, it doesn't determine if you pass or fail or even get into the University of Maryland.

The Math Placement Exam is a tool that we use to place you into the appropriate math courses here at the University. We don't want you to have to take a class that you don't need to or to place you into a math too hard or too easy for you.

It is important that you take the Math Placement Exam before coming to your Orientation so that your advisor has the necessary information to advise you.

Even if you have taken a math class at another university or taken AP exams or have high SAT scores, you should still take the Math Placement Exam. The rigor of another course may not match the level or rigor at the University of Maryland. Or, it could have been many years since you have taken your last math course and you don't really remember as much as you thought you did.

Remember, the Math Placement Exam CANNOT hurt you in any way. It can only HELP YOU. Even if you have a high grade in a calc course, but then score lower on your Math Placement Exam, your high grade in calc will override your low grade on the Math Placement Exam.

It is important to note that some majors and colleges REQUIRE that you take the Math Placement Exam and will never use other courses or test grades. If you are not sure if you fit into that category, please contact your college to find out.

Moral of the story: Take your Math Placement Exam!

What questions do you have about Math at Maryland?!

i-Series Courses: The new generation of general education at Maryland

Hey Terp Transfers!

Sorry I have been missing lately. As we wrap up the end of the semester, it gets busy around here. Meetings, finishing up taking and teaching classes, etc. I hope that you all are having a great end of the semester as well! I wanted to talk about a new series of classes called the iSeries. This is a test-run of a new set of General Education requirements that the university is piloting this semester and open to all students. This will be part of what was formerly called "CORE."

Here is some information from the main website where you can find the actual course offerings. The website is here.

I think this is a great move for the education at our institution and will be a huge advantage for you as students.

Q: What does the "I" in I-Series stand for? 

A: Courses bearing ther University's signature will investigate significant issues with
imagination and intellect with a belief that they will inspire future investigation and
provide concrete mechanisms to implement innovative ideas.  Not surprisingly, the
Committee has tentatively called the courses the "I"-Series: Issues, Imagination, Intellect,
Investigation, Inspiration, and Implementation. They will challenge students to wrestle with the Big Questions and examine the ways in which diverse intellectual traditions address them, offering a students not only new intellectual domains to explore but also new ways to think about contemporary problems like the energy crisis but age old dilemmas like ecological sustainability.


Here are the course offerings. Pretty cool stuff!

Acting Human: Shakespeare and the Drama of Identity 

The Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem: Intersection of Science, Economics, and Policy

Collisions in Space: The Threat of Asteroid Impacts

Cross-Examining Climate Change

Disability: from Stigma and Sideshow to Mainstream and Main Street

Engineering in the Developing World

Engineering Issues in Medicine

Genetically-Modified Humans: Physical Performance in the Post-Genomic Era

Greening Cities: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Who Cares?

HIV/AIDS in a Global Perspective

The [In]Active City: The Physical Cultures of Metropolitan Baltimore

Information 3.0: Exploring Technological Tools

Managing Natural Disasters: Hurricanes, Floods, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Fires

Physics for Decision Makers: The Global Energy Crisis

Playing the Market: Managing Risk and Using Technical Analysis

The Power of Musical Performance in Social Engagement

Race, Genomics, and Human Evolutionary History

Recognizing Homophobia in the New Millennium

Social Networking: Technology and Society

Specialty Crops: Plantation Agriculture to Globalization

The Sustainable City: Opportunities and Challenges

Weather and Climate

What is Religion?

Why Good Managers Make Bad Decisions

Which of these courses appeals to you? Why? What other courses should be offered?

Orientation Time!

It's game time for us here in the Orientation Office. We'll be seeing close to 2,000 new transfer and spring admitted freshmen students over the next two months. We have our first Orientation tomorrow and we'll bring in students in Letters and Science, Behavioral and Social Sciences and Chemical and Life Sciences. It should be a great time!

What questions did you want to have answered while YOU went to Orientation that you didn't have answered? Or, what questions SHOULD you have asked?

Tickets and Parking (also, First Orientation)

Hey Terps! Hope you had a good and safe holiday season!

Good news! We have our first Transfer Orientation this Friday! If you are signed up, we are happy to have you on campus. Remember that check-in begins between 8 and ends at 8:20am in Cole Field House. You want to make sure to park in Lot 1 only. If you park anywhere else, be ready to get a $75 ticket. You can get your temporary Orientation parking pass here.

Speaking of tickets, that is the topic of today's post.

Every lot on campus is assigned some sort of designated letter, number and/or symbol. You'll drive around and see lots like Lot Q, Lot K, Lot Z, Lot 1, Lot 11, etc. You will also see lots like Lot Z* or Lot Q*. They each have their own special meaning and it is important to know where to park. When you register for a parking permit at the Department of Transportation Services website here, you will be assigned a parking lot based on the number of credits you have. The more you have, the better lot you will be in. The "Holy Grail" of spots is in Lot 1. But for the first semester you may get Lot 6, 9 or 11 which are on the outskirts of campus, but still within walking distance to all classes and the campus shuttles drive by often.

There has been a lot of chatter around campus about making the signs more user-friendly. You can read an article here. We'll see what the administration decides to do in the future and I'll keep you updated. But for now, make sure you read your parking permit and also the signs in the lots. If not, you will get a whopping $75 ticket. Never fear! If it's your first time on campus or you just made an honest mistake, you can appeal the ticket at the same website for the Department of Transportation Services. But don't abuse the appeal process because they will only let you off so many times.

Good luck with parking on campus and remember to check the permit and check the signs.

What other ways are you getting to campus besides driving?

Be safe!

As you start to head back to the "DMV" I hope you have safe travels. One tip: Avoid I-95 at all costs.

I'll continue blogging on Monday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Terps!