Sociology Department Orientation

August 24 & 25 (Wed-Thurs), 2011

Orientation Leaders: Karina Havrilla and Jenelle Clark

Congratulations on your acceptance to the University of Maryland's graduate program in Sociology and welcome to College Park!
 

Prior to the start of the Fall semester, we hold a two-day series of orientation meetings for new graduate students. We will be assisting you in your transition to the Sociology department this Fall and hope that we can answer any questions you may have about the upcoming school year.
 

To get you acquainted with the layout of the department, the graduate program, and different faculty members, a Departmental Orientation is scheduled on Wednesday, August 24, and Thursday, August 25, 2011. Besides finding out about courses and registration, there are presentations by faculty and students about the structure of the program, specialty area information, and opportunities to meet many people in the Department as well as to socialize with other new students! All students receiving funding are required to attend, and it is strongly recommended that others plan to attend as well.

The schedule of events will soon be available below. Please keep in mind that other helpful orientation events hosted by the Center for Teaching Excellence and The Graduate School are also included on this schedule. These events are optional but recommended for most new graduate students.

Registering for Classes

Do not worry about course registration yet. You can do it on-line on TESTUDO if you wish, but you can just as well wait till you are here. You will not be closed out of Sociology graduate courses. At the Departmental orientation we will provide some guidelines for selecting classes and then help you register. Be aware, however, that you should be registered for your courses by September 1, after which late fees come into play. A summary of courses offered this Fall in Sociology is available on the Testudo website: http://www.testudo.umd.edu/ScheduleOfClasses.html.

Generally, graduate classes in our program start at the 600 level; 400 level classes are primarily for undergraduates, though they can be taken for graduate credit. Also note that most sociology grad courses require an electronic clearance before you can register. This encourages discussion with advisors and also allows us to reserve most of the seats for our own students. For the required clearance, please contact Karina at gradsoc@socy.umd.edu.

Housing Information

The following links contains links to useful topics such as typical area rents, apartment search agencies, commuting information and most importantly a searchable database of rooms for rent.

Graduate Hills and Gardens: http://www.smc-grad-housing.com/

Grad Student Life Handbook: http://www.union.umd.edu/GH/new_grads/housing.html
Off Campus Housing Services: http://www.och.umd.edu/

Parking

Before coming to the Orientation (and keeping in mind your parking needs for the coming academic year), we strongly encourage you to register for a parking permit, as space is limited and permits are allotted on a first come, first served basis.  Call 301-314-7275 or go to http://www.transportation.umd.edu/student.html.  We recommend trying to get a Lot 1 permit because other options are a considerable distance from the Art-Socy building.  Parking restrictions will be relaxed during orientation so you will not need to have your permit already, but again, we strongly recommend that you register for a permit BEFORE coming to campus.

Computing on Campus

The Office of Academic Computing Services (OACS) has an online PDF presentation that gives an overview of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS) Computing Network. This document informs new students what computing resources are available to graduate students (labs, grad computers), software, e-mail, dial-in, and other relevant information. Please review it prior to the orientation. http://www.oacs.umd.edu/AccountInfo/BSOS_IT_Grad_Orientation.pdf

Enjoy the remainder of your summer, and we look forward to meeting you soon.