SU forms Office of Orientation and Off-Campus Programs

SU forms Office of Orientation and Off-Campus ProgramsMarch 29, 2007Matthew R. Snydermrsnyder@syr.edu

Syracuse University’s Division of Student Affairs has announced that, as of July 1, the Office of Orientation and Transitions Services (OTS) and the Office of Off-Campus Student Services (OCSS) will be consolidated into the Office of Orientation and Off-Campus Programs. The unit, housed at 754 Ostrom Ave., will be headed by Laura M. Madelone, who will become director of orientation and off-campus programs.

The combined unit will welcome new students on their arrival and orient them to the University and broader community. It will prepare students for successful transitions in the first year and beyond; help them become members of an evolving local community; and support them throughout their time as student citizens of Syracuse.

The office will coordinate Syracuse Welcome, the University’s award-winning new-student orientation program; facilitate transitions of undergraduate students from enrollment through graduation; support the success of local commuter students; offer programming and services for off-campus students; and continue SU’s collaborative efforts involving students and community constituents. By engaging students throughout their SU experience, the new model will focus and maximize the impact of staffing and other resources while providing infrastructure from which to meet evolving University needs.

“By consolidating these offices, the Division of Student Affairs is strategically focusing the work of staff who have been remarkably successful in supporting students throughout the Syracuse University experience,” says Senior Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Barry L. Wells. “Under the leadership of Laura Madelone, and in partnership with a wide variety of University and community constituents, the new office will provide students with a comprehensive introduction to Scholarship in Action — and help empower students to be engaged, thoughtful members of the off-campus community.”

Madelone is founding director of OCSS, which was recently lauded by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators as one of the top three programs in the country for commuter students. In nearly 12 years as a member of Student Affairs’ professional staff — at the helm of OCSS and prior to that in the Office of Judicial Affairs and the Office of Residence Life — Madelone has distinguished herself through a series of collaborative achievements on behalf of students. She has also been engaged in the community as chair of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Campus Security, co-chair of the Syracuse Area College Community Coalition Against Alcohol Abuse and chair of the Onondaga County Traffic Safety Board.

Since its creation in 2003, OTS has thrived under the leadership of founding director Mariana J. Lebron, whose coalition-building talents have been critical to the creation of a signature, award-winning new student orientation program at SU. This August, Lebron will embark on full-time graduate study, engaging herself in the academy and the community as a Ph.D. candidate in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.