Florida Polytechnic University welcomed students to Orientation Week on Wednesday Aug. 19, a series of social and academic activities that will lead up to the start of the 2015-16 school year on Monday, Aug. 24.
Orientation Week is designed to introduce first-time students to staff and faculty, fellow classmates and campus life. Activities include a presentation by President Dr. Randy K. Avent (Aug. 19), a College Scene Discussion (Aug. 20), Club Row (Aug. 21) and Wacky Water Saturday (Aug. 22). On Sunday, there will be a day of rest before classes start on Monday.
Wednesday morning, vehicles lined up outside the Residence Hall, where parents helped freshmen lug their belongings into their dorm rooms, marking the start of their academic adventure. Not surprisingly, along with the bedding, suitcases and snacks in tow were copious numbers of hard drives, mega-sized monitors, cables and other high-tech hardware.
“My son is so happy to be joining a lot of other students who are just like him,” said one pleased parent who had driven from West Palm to Lakeland with her husband and their newly minted freshman. Likewise, faculty and staff were in high spirits, as a day of activities and introductions started to unfold. Even the staff at Starbucks seemed giddy, noting that the popular Pumpkin Spice Latte had been added to the menu, just in time for the Fall semester.
For the 2015-16 academic year – the new University’s second year of classes – Florida Poly will double in size to more than 1,000 students. The University expects to add about 500 students per year, as it continues to develop the campus, which is dedicated to educating students in the core subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As students and their families poured into campus Wednesday, construction was under way on a second residence hall that will open in 2016.