Beginning next fall, the university will be offering a new program called Student Days that is designed to help make new students feel more at home at Iowa State.

Student Days will take orientation a step further; the program will include sample lecture classes and social activities to introduce students to the faculty.

Dale Rush, graduate assistant and assistant to the program, said this new program is intended to help ease the transition from high school to college.

“The purpose of this program is to guide students around the Iowa State campus to various programs and introduce them to the university,” he said.

Student Days will be held Aug. 19-22 and is geared mainly toward freshmen.

“The program will consist of a committee called Together Everyone Achieves More [TEAM],” Rush said. “Two hundred upperclassmen members will make up the committee who will run the program.”

Rush said each TEAM member will be assigned to about 15 to 20 students.

The program also will include a Student Leader Committee made up of 12 students and two co-chairs. They will conduct weekly meetings and help brainstorm new ideas.

“Some of the activities will include scavenger hunts, time management and safety seminars,” Rush said.

Angie Genkinger, co-chairwoman of Student Days, said it will give freshmen an opportunity to get to know the ISU and Ames communities.

The program also will include more practical information for new students.

“One day we’ll go to the Armory to show the students where to get a parking permit, and another day we’ll be going to Beardshear [Hall] to show the students where to drop off their U-Bills,” Genkinger said.

She said the TEAM members will have two meetings this semester and will arrive next fall a few days early for training.

Genkinger; Matt Ostanik, Student Days co-chairman; Liz Kurt, Student Days program coordinator; and Rush coordinators currently are in the midst of planning a guideline training book for the program’s members.

Students interested in applying for a leadership position can pick up an application at residence hall desks, Office of Admissions, Alumni Hall, the Student Activities Center or at www.iastate.edu/~studays. All applications are due Jan. 25.