Principal Daniel Woolf announced today that a working group will be formed to conduct a review of undergraduate orientation. The review will seek ways of making undergraduate orientation more welcoming and inclusive for all members of the Queen’s community. The working group will be chaired by Deputy Provost (Academic Operations and Inclusion) Teri Shearer.

“Queen’s University and the Alma Mater Society (AMS) are committed to the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion,” says Daniel Woolf, Principal. “Through this review, we aim to strengthen the student transition experience by ensuring that it respects and reflects the diversity of the student population, is welcoming and accessible for all students, and fosters, for all members of the incoming class, a sense of belonging at Queen’s.”

The 19-member Undergraduate Orientation Review Working Group, which includes students, staff, faculty, and alumni, will examine all aspects of Queen’s direct-entry undergraduate student orientation experience, including university orientation and the student society orientation activities. The working group will consult with the Queen’s community, look to best practices at other institutions, and articulate a vision for orientation that achieves shared goals around community building, inclusivity, accessibility, safety, and responsibility.

“Over the next six months, the working group will meet regularly and seek opportunities for feedback from the Queen’s community – culminating in a final report this winter,” says Dr. Shearer. “We will collaborate with the AMS and with students in a consultative and respectful manner which recognizes the value of both peer-involved and peer-led orientation activities. We will use this opportunity to build a cooperative framework between Queen’s, the AMS, and student societies that supports our shared vision of a safe, fun, inclusive, and accessible Orientation program.”

The working group’s recommendations will be captured in a report to the Principal to be presented no later than March 1, 2018. Further details about the review, the members of the working group, and opportunities to participate in consultations will be posted to the Principal's website in the near future, and promoted in The Gazette. To view the working group's terms of reference, click here.

Undergraduate Orientation Review Working Group Membership

Deputy Provost – Chair
AMS President, or designate
Vice-Provost and Dean of Student Affairs, or designate
One faculty or staff representative from each of the following direct entry-undergraduate programs as follows:

• Dean of Arts & Science, or designate
• Dean of Engineering & Applied Science, or designate
• Dean of the Faculty of Education, or designate
• Director of the School of Nursing, or designate
• Executive Director of the Commerce Program, or designate
• Director of the School of Computing, or designate
• Director of the School of Kinesiology, or designate

One student representative from, and selected by the Presidents of, the undergraduate society of each of the following direct-entry undergraduate programs:

• Arts & Science
• Engineering & Applied Science
• Concurrent Education
• Nursing
• Commerce
• Computing
• Kinesiology

AMS Social Issues Commissioner
Manager, Student Experience Office

Advisory members (non-voting)
Director of the Human Rights Office, or designate
Director of Four Directions Aboriginal Student Centre, or designate
Director of Queen’s University International Centre, or designate
President, Queen’s University Alumni Association
1 member of University Council

Support (non-voting)

Associate Secretary of the University
Director of Communications, or designate