Orientation & Summer Programs

New Student & Family Programs (NSFP) All first-year students at Carolina must attend one of 20 scheduled orientation sessions during the months of June and July with the last two sessions held the week before the fall semester begins in August. Students register for Orientation after notification of their admission to UNC. Registration begins online in late March and remains open through May. Orientation is organized by the New Student & Family Programs (NSFP) within the Division of Student Affairs. It lasts one and a half days for first-year students and one day for transfer students. See the NSFP website for a detailed schedule. 

Prior to Orientation and before registering for classes, students are required to complete an online advising training module. After completing the advising training module, students are offered a link to schedule a required, virtual one-on-one meeting with an academic advisor prior to attending Orientation. 

At the beginning of May, admitted students also complete an Academic Interest Survey. Based on the results of this survey, the College of Arts and Science Academic Advising Program (AAP) pre-registers all students for one-three courses in the fall semester. 

Once at Orientation, students meet with an advisor from the AAP to go over their schedules and finalize their registration plans. Students also receive their laptop computers, attend seminars on leadership and learning opportunities, and participate in information fairs and community-building events.   NSFP and Admissions share a new student checklist that helps new, first-year students complete tasks that help them start off well at UNC. Orientation programs for students’ families are offered as well. 

Student-athletes attending Orientation, meet with academic counselors from the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes (ASPSA) on the afternoon of Day 1 during the interest sessions. All student-athletes attend a brief presentation and then meet individually or in small groups with their ASPSA academic counselors. 

After completing Orientation, students register for courses during a predetermined date in July grouped by the sessions attended. Students attending the last sessions in August register for courses in late July prior to attending Orientation. Transfer students can register for classes as soon as their enrollment in fall semester is activated. 

Prior to the start of the fall semester, Athletics holds Heel Camp which all student-athletes attend. During Heel Camp, student-athletes receive information from individuals and departments that will work with them throughout the year (ie Nutrition, ASPSA, Honor System, Strength & Conditioning) and additional topics are covered including scooter safety and sexual assault prevention training. 

Like all UNC students, student-athletes are required to attend Orientation and participate in all Orientation activities. The ASPSA works with both coaches and student-athletes to communicate this requirement. Students are placed in Orientation groups based on their intended academic major for advising purposes, not based on their athletics programs. 

The Orientation session that falls just prior to Summer Session II enrolls the largest group of student-athletes because they have recently arrived to take summer classes. The ASPSA contacts the NSFP office in advance of Orientation to hold spots for student-athletes in this session. It is common for student groups, such as the Chancellor’s Science Students (approximately 15-20) and Summer Bridge students (approximately 60) to participate in Orientation together as groups. 

Transfer students attend their own Orientation, held during the summer prior to fall semester. 

Spring admits also attend their own Orientation, held in early January prior to the start of the spring semester. 

The Orientation fee for student-athletes who receive a full athletics grant-in-aid is paid for by the Department of Athletics, and payment is coordinated between the Athletics Department and the NSFP.  Fees associated with attendance by the student-athletes’ parents, guests, or legal guardians are not covered by Athletics grant-in-aid. 

For some sports, ASPSA academic counselors guide student-athletes through the process of signing up for Orientation, including how to have the fee waived. For other sports, an assistant coach may assist in this process. 

Many incoming student-athletes arrive on campus for Summer Session II (late June – late July) to begin their studies. Attending Summer School helps student-athletes adjust to campus and academic life, particularly if their sport has a fall season. Further, enrollment in Summer School often helps students adjust to residence hall life, university level academic work and participating in athletics at the collegiate level all at the same time. By starting their academic work in the summer, student-athletes may be able to take a reduced course load (4 rather than 5 courses) during their competitive season. They also begin earning course credits and making progress toward their degrees. While attending Summer Session II is not a requirement of admission for student-athletes, it is strongly recommended by some coaches and helps some student-athletes maintain both UNC and NCAA eligibility, as well as progress towards graduation. Approximately 75-90 incoming student-athletes attend Summer School each year. 

The NCAA requires student-athletes who receive athletics aid in the summer prior to their initial full-time enrollment to be enrolled in a minimum of three hours of academic course work (other than physical education activity courses) that is acceptable degree credit toward any of the institution’s degree programs. 

The ASPSA provides academic programming for all summer incoming student-athletes during the summer prior to their first semester at Carolina. Students attend one-two days of workshops and work with the ASPSA staff on pre-designated transition skills. Topics covered include effective college communication skills, strengths identification, exposure to campus resources, study skills and student-athlete well-being. Students also take the Focus 2 career and education assessments and attend a meeting to go over their results. 

1. SCORES is a first-year experience workshop for incoming football student-athletes. Programming includes sexual assault prevention, financial education, public safety and community service. SCORES seminars take place on Wednesdays throughout Summer Session II. No course credit is given for participation in SCORES. (See also Process 18.1.1) 
2. In operation since summer 2006, SCORES is designed and implemented by the Department of Athletics Student-Athlete Development office to prepare student-athletes for life at UNC. 

UNC’s Summer Bridge is a six-week academic program available to all entering first-year students, including student-athletes. Summer Bridge aims to help students make the transition from high school to college. Summer Bridge accepts students who have been admitted to UNC and plan to enroll in the fall semester. This program is for NC residents only. Students in the program, offered during Summer Session II, take two or three courses and can earn up to 7.0 hours of credit. Tuition, fees, and housing for Summer Session II are covered by the program and students are provided with a stipend to assist with the cost of books and food.  

Course selections include: 

• ENGL 105 (English Composition and Rhetoric) 
• IDST 101 (College Thriving) – Students in Honors Carolina do not take this course in the summer 

AND one of the following: 

• MATH 110 (College Algebra) 
• MATH 130 (Precalculus Mathematics) 

OR 

• CHEM 100 (Foundations of Chemistry) 

OR 

• EDUC 330 (The Science of Learning) 

Generally, few student-athletes attend Summer Bridge because the lock-step Summer Bridge schedule provides little flexibility and generally does not allow absences. The Summer Bridge schedule frequently conflicts with student-athletes’ summer team activities, which, in turn, would interfere with these student-athletes undertaking the full range of Summer Bridge activities.