Notre Dame welcomed 190 transfer students to campus Thursday. This year’s transfer class will participate in Welcome Weekend alongside first-year and international students.
Director of recruitment and strategic partnerships Erin Camilleri said the University received a total of 1,881 transfer applications and accepted only 211 students, putting the transfer acceptance rate at 11%. Of the 190 students making up this year’s transfer class, 108 students were female and 82 were male.
Another aspect Camilleri noted was this year’s transfer class is made up of 95 students in the Holy Cross Gateway program.
The Gateway students had a turbulent year, as they were notified in the fall of 2021 that they would not be receiving guaranteed housing from the University. The cohort rallied the Notre Dame student body before the issue was eventually picked up by the Notre Dame student senate. The students were notified in the spring that they would be receiving dorm placements in the same manner as all of the other Gateway cohorts before them.
Program director for new student engagement and formation Emily Orsini, who previously served as the rector of Pasquerilla West Hall, has been in her current role for three months. This is her first Welcome Weekend as director of the program. She said the process of planning Welcome Weekend is a year-long endeavor that takes the work of lots of dedicated staff members.
“[Planning for Welcome Weekend] is definitely a year-long process,” she wrote in an email. “There is a lot of intentional planning around all the programs and events, many listening sessions and so much more that goes into Welcome Weekend. There are many moving parts to Welcome Weekend and preparing for it.”
The incoming transfer students will participate in Welcome Weekend with first-year and international students. According to Orsini, previous transfer classes had separate welcoming orientations, but this year the students will take part in a new hybrid version of Welcome Weekend.
“This year's transfer welcome goes back to the model we used in 2019. We invite transfers to come back a day early, so we are able to welcome them in a special way. One of the big programs that will happen on Thursday, Aug. 18 is the Transfer Welcome Dinner and Reception where [University president] Fr. Jenkins and [vice president for student affairs] Fr. Gerry will have the opportunity to welcome the incoming Transfer class,” she wrote in an email.
Orsini emphasized that the transfer students will have ample resources and programming to assimilate them into the University. Specific transfer student programming includes the welcome dinner and reception and a transfer resource session.
There are also aspects of Welcome Weekend that are individualized to the first-year students such as the Moreau first-year course, the class photo and the First-Year Lecture series.
Orsini noted the transfer class should feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.
“We will encourage the incoming transfer students to connect with the Transfer Welcome Team if they have any questions or need to be pointed in the right direction for whatever resources they may need,” she wrote in the email. “We also encourage them to reach out to the departments and offices they interacted with during Welcome Weekend.”
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