I want to stress the importance of providing a welcome packet of info for new students. I have helped coordinate many orientation sessions at our institute. This was the first orientation in which we implemented the welcome packets. Of course, all new students probably receive a dictionary sized stack of paperwork at any orientation. However, when we PERSONALIZED these stacks into a concise and neat folder, I noticed a couple of things. First, a greater percentage of the required forms to be filled out by the students were returned properly and promptly. Second, it seemed to reinforce the students sense of "belonging" as a first time student. It is a good looking folder with the student's name printed on the front as well as a copy of the student's schedule and other documents in the folder. I also included personalized instructions on how to access the particular student's e-mail and online records account. This will now be a permanent fixture at all of our future orientation sessions.