Freshmen move-in can be one of the most hectic and traumatizing times of a student’s first year at college.
At the University, freshmen were previously offered four days on the campus grounds before attending their first day of classes. This time gave them the chance to become acquainted with other students, professors and the buildings at the University through the nationally-renowned program, BGeXperience.
Next year’s incoming freshmen will have to do without the extra days spent getting to know the campus.
According to Undergraduate Student Government Senator Liesl Dye, the BGX program has been shortened to only one day from its previous four.
‘Currently, the move-in has been scheduled for Saturday and the BGX program has been moved to Sunday,’ she said. ‘Freshmen will then be forced to start classes on Monday after spending the whole weekend frantically rushing about trying to get set up at the University.’
According to an Undergraduate Student Government survey completed by 346 students, most freshmen enjoyed and benefited from the program and the time spent learning about the University before classes began on Monday.
Regardless of the positive feedback, the decision to shorten the program still stands. The changes were made by Vice President of Student Affairs Ed Whipple, along with Provost Shirley Baugher.
Although unclear of the actual reasons for the change, Dye said financial issues probably play a key role in the decision. Along with freshmen students, bookstore workers and dining services workers must also be brought in as well, making early move-in quite expensive, she said.
According to previous statements made by Whipple and Baugher, other reasons include a lack of evaluation data, overall costs, the sudden change from the end of the summer session and the start of orientation and a number of behavioral problems in the residence halls.
Another reason for the change was due to the fact that until three years ago, incoming freshmen were always moved in on Saturday while upperclassmen were moved in Sunday.
‘I feel a Saturday move-in is a great disadvantage to the new students moving in,’ Senator Rahul Guha said. ‘By changing this, we are taking away the ease of move-in that is associated with BG.’
As a result, a resolution was discussed by USG last night to both change the date of the move-in and allow student and staff volunteers to help ease freshmen into the process.
Currently, student volunteers are not allowed to move in until Saturday, which would make it extremely difficult for them to assist incoming freshmen when they’re unpacking their own belongings, Dye said.
‘Even if we are not able to get the BGX date changed back to Thursday, I have high hopes that we will at least be able to allow student volunteers to move in earlier than allotted right now,’ she said.
USG President Johnnie Lewis said he will not settle for anything less than an updated program.
‘Dr. Whipple himself has told me that there is no conclusive data that says this program does not work,’ he said. ‘We need to revamp the program from right now and start collecting more data that will serve to make this program better than it was.’
Lewis hopes the resolution will work to retain the program, as he feels that the change will eventually lead to the disposal of the program from the University.
‘We should be using BGX to sell BGSU,’ he said. ‘This program is different. It is recognized as something exclusive to our school. It makes a difference, and we should never give up on something that only makes us better.’
