The GSP Freshman Orientation brings together new students, returning students, faculty and staff for three days before classes begin to prepare students for the academic year. Orientation provides the opportunity for freshmen to meet one another and to become familiar with the various services of the program and the University. The concepts and goals of GSP are identified and explained by faculty and administrators, and these concepts and goals provide the basis for small discussion groups and informal seminars. Students are required to meet with an academic adviser at least once each semester, but those students who prefer more frequent contact with an adviser are encouraged to meet more often to discuss academic progress and to have registration plans for the following semester confirmed and approved. During these advisement meetings, students are reminded of the academic requirements necessary for the completion of the Associate in Arts degree and for the internal transfer from GSP to another division of NYU after two years.
Students also have an opportunity to ask questions and to discuss problems.
Advisers can be helpful to students in choosing electives and in making plans for selecting a major. Advisers sometimes recommend that students who are experiencing academic problems and difficulties seek tutoring assistance, and they can point the student in the direction of a tutor. Students with serious adjustment problems or personal issues that are getting in the way of successful academic performance are sometimes referred to counselors for professional assistance. Advisers can sometimes be helpful to students in distress in identifying a particular problem and in recommending a course of action to remedy the situation. Advisers can point students in the right direction when questions arise about other divisions of the University.