On Monday, January 8, over 200 new Columbia School of General Studies (GS) students joined faculty, staff, and student leaders on Columbia University’s Morningside campus for New Student Convocation as part of a week’s worth of robust New Student Orientation programming.
Parents and family members of the new students were also invited to attend a half-day of orientation programming themselves. Hosted by the GS Office of Development and Alumni Relations, these events introduced guests to the Columbia community and the resources available to support their GS students.
During the Convocation, students and their family members heard remarks from members of the GS and Columbia communities, including Lisa Rosen-Metsch, Dean of the Columbia School of General Studies; Marlyn Delva, Dean of Students; James Colgrove, Dean of the Postbaccalaureate Premedical program; and Christopher Riano ’07GS, the President/CEO of the nation's Center for Civic Education.
After Convocation, families attended several programs on campus. Following welcome remarks from Dean Lisa Rosen-Metsch, GS Dean of Academic Affairs Caroline Marvin ’16GSAS, presented a lecture to family members on the subject of “Curiosity and Learning.” Dean Marvin is part of the Columbia University Department of Psychology and Dean Marvin’s research and scholarship focuses on curiosity, including what motivates people to seek and learn new information, an apt topic for the day.
After Dean Marvin’s interactive presentation, Dean of Students Marlyn Delva hosted a resource presentation featuring members of the advising team from the Dean of Students Office. Guests learned about the many resources available to students and were able to ask questions related to academic support, student life, wellness, and extracurricular opportunities.
The final event in the series was an engaging Student and Alumni Panel featuring two current GS students and two GS alumni. Serengeti Timungwa ’22GS and Peter Trevino ’22GS reflected on their time as students and spoke about their favorite classes and memories from GS, advice they would like the families to take away with them, and also what they found to be the most helpful resources. Jill Galas Hickey, Associate Dean for Development and Alumni Relations, served as moderator. Robert Mulvey and Montana Roesch, two current GS students, spoke about their paths to Columbia, advice they would give to new students, and some of the resources they find most helpful during the school year.
Later in the week, GS hosted special orientation events including a tailored event geared towards the Postbac Premed community, a student and alumni panel, as well as an event for students from the Veteran Community.
