In consultation with Orientation Services staff who are organizing the 2016 On Iowa! programming for incoming students, we have made an important change to this year’s CLAS Open House.

In past years, our Open House for our new students has occurred in early afternoon on the Friday before classes start. In 2016, the Open House will take place a day earlier, on late Thursday afternoon. 

The 2016 CLAS On Iowa! Open House will take place from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Thursday, August 18, in Hubbard Park.

There are several benefits to this time change:

• Easier scheduling: We have heard from many departments that they have internal faculty/staff meetings on the Friday before classes start, so we hope that this Thursday time will be easier to schedule around.

• Student volunteers: The change enables us to use On Iowa! student leader volunteers at the Open House, to engage with the new students as needed. These leaders will have undergone extensive training from On Iowa! and will have a training session with us.

• Welcome event: Per the Orientation Services staff, the vast majority of new students will have moved in to the dorms by this time. Our Open House will provide—in addition to a sampling of CLAS academic opportunities—a welcoming event for students at a time when many don’t have much to do or people that they know.

• Fewer conflicts: The Open House has often competed with other On Iowa! events on Friday, and can get lost in the day’s shuffle. This new time will help relieve that situation.

We will be in touch directly with departments with more information. For now, please save the date for the CLAS On Iowa! Open House on Thursday, August 18, from 4-6 pm in Hubbard Park!

Please contact Nic Arp (nic-arp@uiowa.edu), Lisa Gray (lisa-gray@uiowa.edu), or Liz Tjaden (elizabeth-tjaden@uiowa.edu) with questions.