Orientation Engineer Program

Contribute to the campus community by helping us welcome our new students to campus!

Orientation Engineer Application

If you are interested in volunteering for this year's Welcome Day and Welcome Month, please fill out this application by June 30th.

Apply here

We need your help!

Every August, Columbia Engineering welcomes a little under 1,900 new Graduate students through a comprehensive orientation program that includes Welcome Day, The Professional Development and Leadership Program (PDL), Department Orientations, and Engineering Your PhD Week. In addition, new students are invited to various Welcome Month events (Broadway Shows, US Open, Yankees game, etc).

This year, the Office of Graduate Student Affairs would like to incorporate a peer-to-peer component to our programming for interested students. If you're interested in helping with Welcome Day, supporting any of our events, or creating any workshops of your own, please apply to be an Orientation Volunteer!

This is your chance to welcome new students to campus, help them acclimate to Columbia, and offer some peer mentoring for your fellow Lions. If you have questions, please send them to seas_gsa@columbia.edu.

Welcome Day (August 17th, 2019)

This year's SEAS Welcome Day will be on Saturday, August 17th. Our morning sessions will once again be in Lerner Auditorium and Miller Theater. This will be followed by lunch in Pupin Plaza, and then concurrent sessions in the afternoon- including Scavenger Hunt tours of Columbia's campus, Wellness workshops, EGSC Info sessions, and more.

Responsibilites for Welcome Day could include:

Checking students in to Lerner Auditorium or Miller Theater
Handing out new student lanyards
Greeting students around campus
Facilitate conversation during lunch
Guiding students to the various afternoon sessions

Volunteers for Welcome Day will be given 2 AMC Movie tickets as a token of appreciation!

Welcome Month

The fun isn't over after Welcome Day! There will also be numerous Welcome Month events throughout the end of August, leading into early September. We need your helping in making these run smoothly as well- students that volunteer for at least one event will also be given a pair of AMC Movie tickets as a token of appreciation.

Possible opportunities for Welcome Month volunteers:

Participate on a student panel
Lead a board game night or other mix & mingle socials
Assist with new student backpack distribution
Create your own innovative events for our new students

Peer Mentor Program

A special group of this year's Orientation Engineers have also been chosen to be Peer Mentors for the incoming graduate student population. Learn more about them below!