Orientation

The First-Year Student Checklist is open to all incoming first-year students who have claimed their NetID. It can take up to 48 hours after submitting your deposit for an email telling you to claim your NetID to be generated, and another 48 hours after claiming your NetID for the checklist to be accessible. If it has been more than 48 hours since claiming your NetID and you still aren’t able to access the checklist, please contact the Orientation Team at orientation@fairfield.edu for assistance.

Some checklist items are automatically updated while some need to be manually updated, so it is important to review the “Updated Within” information for each action item. If it has been more than 10 days and an item you completed is still not checked off, please contact the Orientation Team at orientation@fairfield.edu for assistance.

Students are allowed to have one guest accompany them to their in-person orientation session in June. Guests who plan to attend must register ahead of time using the Parent/Guardian Orientation Registration Form, which can be found on the Parent/Guardian Checklist and First-Year Student Checklist (see fairfield.edu/orientation for more information). Parent/Guardian attendance is optional and highly encouraged.

Face masks are required for all individuals on-campus and must be worn at all times with the exception of eating. All attendees will be asked to provide proof of vaccination and/or a negative result for a Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of their session. Students must upload proof of vaccination to their Student Health Portal or email testing/exemption documentation to covidhealth@fairfield.edu prior to getting to campus. More information about submitting documentation will be shared in early June.

Students are highly encouraged to attend an in-person orientation session, however, if they cannot make it due to extenuating circumstances they still need to complete the Orientation Registration Form on the First-Year Student Checklist. Information collected on this form is used in the creation of FYE seminar groups and provides valuable information to the Orientation and FYE teams. All in-person presentations will be recorded and available to view in July. Students will also meet with their New Student Leader and a group of peers throughout the summer to start building connections and prepare for their transition to Fairfield.

Detailed schedules will be shared in early June, however attendees should expect to be on-campus 8 a.m.-6 p.m. the day of their session. The goals of the sessions are to support community building, introduce students and their families to campus, and develop face-to-face connections with key campus partners. Students and their guests will be together for some informational presentations and have their own small-group experiences throughout the day.

The orientation fee is charged to all new undergraduates students. The fee covers the costs for the new students' orientation and transitional experience. These experiences include Summer Orientation (Virtual/In-person), Fall Welcome (Move-In experience, activities throughout the initial week of the semester), New Student Guidebook and Checklist, First-Year Experience Seminar (Seminar within the first Fall Semester), and Parent/Guardian Webinar experiences. More specifically, the fee goes towards the overhead costs, including work orders, rental equipment, student leader stipends, catering, marketing materials, etc.

Our students utilize both Apple and PC based laptops for the majority of schools/majors. The exception is the School of Engineering, where we recommend our students use/purchase a PC based laptop. All students should download Microsoft Office 365, which is available at office365.fairfield.edu for no additional cost.

Students entering Fairfield University may be eligible to receive college credits for work previously completed in several ways: through Advanced Placement exams, through high-level international baccalaureate courses, or through college courses completed while in high school. More information about the awarding of credits can be found on the New Student Checklist and in the New Student Guide. New students should make sure that official results or transcripts are sent to the Office of Academic Support and Retention (asr@fairfield.edu) as soon as possible in order to have more options in course planning.

During the summer, students will be pre-registered for five academic courses that count toward degree completion within your selected major. Before fall classes begin, there will be opportunities for you to meet with an advisor to make potential changes to this provided schedule. Sample schedules can be found in the First-Year Student Guide.