UNE welcomes new students on campus

This number is expected to grow as enrolments will remain open until classes start in early March.

College applications for Trimester 1 are also comparable to 2023 with about 520 new students, or freshers, settling into residential living.

New students make up 48% of UNE's total college applications with returning students accounting for the remainder. In total, almost a 1000 new and returning students will be housed in the UNE residential system this trimester.

UNE's Director of Residential, Leah Cook, said she and her team are very excited to have the colleges filling up with students.

"My team and I are ready to welcome the freshers as they settle down to college life," Leah said. "We have also trained 70 residential leaders to support our new students and ensure expectations are met."

"Residential leaders are an especially important cog in college life," Leah explains. "In addition to helping heads of college welcome students, they are often the first point of contact for new students and are trained to offer academic as well as non-academic and social support.

They are also very good at navigating UNE's teaching and learning systems and will provide guidance to students as required."

O-Week activities for on-campus students will run from 19 February - 22 February. All activies are designed to familiarise and ease students into their education journey.

On Monday, 19 February, the UNE Chancellor Mr James Harris will host a formal commencement ceremony to welcome the new students to UNE.

He will be joined on stage by Armidale Regional Council mayor, Sam Coupland, and other dignitaries such as the Head of Academic Board and UNE's Deputy Chancellor, Ms Jan McClelland.

This year's top O-Week activities include an O-Mazing race, Lifesaver Day and a Sports Olympiad.

For the O-Mazing race students will step inside Dixson Library and into the past with the objective to explore the UNE of days gone by, uncover clues, and solve puzzles that will help them escape the library.

Lifesaver Day (Thursday, 22 February) is O-Week's flagship event and promises to be the biggest in many years. Community groups, clubs and societies and local businesses will be running 96 stalls showcasing their services on the day.

O-Week concludes with a Sports Olympiad with colleges competing to see who has the ultimate athletes.

The full O-Week program can be viewed here: https://www.une.edu.au/current-students/get-started/orientation