For many future first-year students, a typical summer day in the months prior to arriving at Duke includes sifting feverishly through the mail, looking for large envelopes with a Durham, N.C., return address printed in the top left corner.
In the past, these envelopes-whether from the Office of the Registrar or the marching band-arrived on an almost weekly basis, and provided reassurance for students that the University really was expecting them in late August.
However, beginning this summer with the class of 2005, first-year students will receive only four mailings in the months prior to orientation, as the University attempts to consolidate the process.
"We hope to make the mailings much more efficient and effective," said Judith Ruderman, vice provost for academic and administrative services and chair of the task force that was set up to facilitate the changes. "We have made enormous progress in a short period of time."
The mailing task force, formed in January, devised basic principles by which the mailings would be grouped, Ruderman said. After admitted students have sent in their deposits, the University will mail them an academic packet that will include, among other items, information on Curriculum 2000 and the FOCUS program.
In early May, the first student life mailing will go out, and will include housing and DukeCard forms. In June, a second student life mailing will arrive with housing assignments and DukeCards. Finally, in July, a mailing detailing the various student organizations on campus will be sent.
"[The mailings are currently] too frequent and from too many departments," said freshman Taylor Collison, a member of the task force. "It was fun to get something every day, but it also got really annoying."
Collison said the task force's objective was to consolidate the mailings and make it easier on the students. "It is too confusing. You have a multitude of due dates for things, but every time you send something back, you send it to a different place. There is also no organized, centralized department that you can call and get feedback from."
In previous years, campus departments acquired mailing labels from the Office of the Registrar and mailed their own materials at free will. These departments will no longer have this service, Ruderman said.
Besides the consolidation, the mailings will also have a new design that is more attractive and comprehensive. "The mailings, especially the first and second one, will look much more professional," Ruderman said.
Drawing from their own experiences last summer, current freshmen seem enthusiastic about the changes.
"I definitely thought that they could have consolidated it," said freshman Robin Wood, "rather than us getting 50 different envelopes."
Some students, like freshman Mike Adams, see the changes as beneficial in terms of organization.
"It's a good idea because when they come less frequently you pay more attention to them and keep better track of them," Adams said.
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