Orientation

The Fall 2024 New Graduate Student Orientation for main campus students will be held in person on August 22 and 23, 2024.  This is a required event for main campus PhD students, and strongly encouraged for main campus MS students.  Please make sure that you arrive in Tucson in time to make it to orientation.   

The in-person orientation agenda will be posted a few days before the Fall 2024 orientation.  It will be similar to the Fall 2021 agenda, which can be downloaded as a PDF here and is reproduced below: https://www.optics.arizona.edu/sites/optics.arizona.edu/files/pdf/2021%20Orientation%20Agenda%20%28final%29_0.pdf

This was the 2021 (not 2024!) New Graduate Student Orientation Agenda

Thursday

8:00 a.m. Light Breakfast & Check-in 3rd Floor Lobby

8:30 a.m. Welcome from the Dean Meinel 307

• Thomas L. Koch, Dean of the Wyant College of Optical Sciences
  
  

9:00 a.m. Academic Programs Introductions

• Brian Anderson, John Koshel, Jini Kandyil, Ruth Corcoran, Katherine Schumann, Amber Soergel, Hillary Mathis, Mark Rodriguez, Michael Nofziger and Cindy Robertson

9:15 a.m. New Student Introductions

10:00 a.m. Curriculum, Degree Requirements & To Do List

• Brian Anderson, Associate Dean for Graduate Academic Affairs and Jini Kandyil, Senior Graduate Academic Advisor

11:00 a.m.   Lunch (will be provided) 3rd Floor Lobby

12:30 p.m. Funding Overview

• Mark Rodriguez, Manager, Academic Program Finance & Operations, Academic Programs

1:00 p.m. Student Resources Meinel 307

• Facilities: Matt Grogan, Facilities Coordinator

• Lab Safety Training: Hillary Mathis, Manger Instructional Laboratories

• Cubicles & Key Access: Jini Kandyil, Senior Graduate Academic Advisor

2:00 p.m. Break 3rd Floor Lobby

2:15 p.m. Graduate Student Panel Discussion Meinel 307

• Current Students and Representatives from the Student Optics Chapter, Women in Optics

• Topics to include finding a research group, outreach opportunities, student groups and social activities, living in the desert, reserving a cubicle and more

Friday

8:30 a.m. Light Breakfast 3rd Floor Lobby

9:00 a.m. - 4:30pm (see schedule, to be provided) Open Lab Visits & Open Faculty Office Hours

12:00 p.m. Lunch with Faculty 3rd Floor Lobby 

2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. New Student Photos 3rd Floor Lobby 

• Amee Hennig, Media Content Manager

3:00 p.m. Break

4:30 p.m. Meet in 3rd Floor Lobby for Walk to Gentle Ben’s

5:00 p.m.-  7:00 p.m.      New Student Happy Hour at Gentle Ben’s (RSVP required) 

• 865 E University Blvd, Tucson, AZ, 85719

• second floor outdoor patio