This fall, the Institute plans to welcome the largest first-year class size in its history. The Office of Undergraduate Admission targeted a class size of 3,900 students, expecting just under half of the admission offers they sent to be accepted. In addition to the thousands of first-year students, Tech welcomes exchange and transfer students to the university every fall.
Welcoming these new students to the Institute rests on the shoulders of FASET leaders, the group of almost 100 students who work throughout the summer to introduce every new student to the Tech community and help them prepare for campus life.
The FASET program, officially the Familiarization and Adaptation to the Surroundings and Environs of Tech program, is the first experience many students will have on campus after accepting their admission offer. During FASET, new students will learn about Tech traditions, meet other students, learn about campus resources and register for their first semester of classes.
FASET leaders are students who use their spare summer hours to welcome students to the campus they already call home. They begin their journey in early spring when they undergo a competitive interview process where leadership selects candidates.
After being selected, FASET leaders undergo weeks of training to prepare to host their first orientation for summer transfer students in late spring.
For the FASET cabinet, the student leadership team that plans and oversees the FASET program, work begins even earlier. Cabinet members, like Omkar Tamhane, a second-year BIOL, start their work in January before the upcoming FASET season to prepare the schedule and train leaders.
Tamhane and his cabinet partner oversee the programming of FASET sessions, including planning the activities in FASET orientation.
Each FASET orientation begins with an opening performance, where FASET leaders take to the stage in front of all the incoming students in attendance to perform a rehearsed dance skit. Tamhane explained the importance of starting each FASET session with an opening number.
“Planning that dance, that skit. It is so silly and goofy, but I really think it breaks the ice. And [new students] are more comfortable. They see people dancing, running on stage, throwing a ball, doing silly, goofy dances, and they think, Wow, this place is this, which is
interesting,” Tamhane said.
In previous years, only a select few FASET leaders were part of the opening number, but this year, every FASET leader plays a role in the opening number — a change that Tamhane says helps leaders make better connections with new students during the small group time after the opening number and welcoming speakers.
Small groups are the first chance that new students have to talk to their potential classmates. During small group time, leaders encourage new students to get to know each other, play games and ask any questions the students may have about the university.
After small groups, new students receive more programming about campus resources and opportunities, including a talk on Tech’s historical traditions led by Tamhane and his partner.
“We also try to put emphasis on football games and get leaders on stage to perform the fight songs,” Tamhane said.
After lunch and college-specific advising sessions, FASET leaders help new students register for classes online before closing the day. Tamhane hopes that everything that he and his team put into FASET makes a lasting impression on new students so they will remember their first day at the Institute for years to come.
“We also try to make sure that the whole FASET session is very warm and welcoming. It fosters a spirit of camaraderie and the sense that everyone is here together. We’re all in this together. That’s how we try to create that lasting impression because I remember my FASET very clearly. So that’s why we try to make sure that FASET is something new students also really want to remember,” Tamhane said.
Tamhane believes that one way to provide the best experience for incoming students to ensure that the FASET team is by creating bonds within the team. One way they do this is by inviting leaders to a retreat camp to meet and connect with their future colleagues.
“The goal is that when summer starts all the FASET leaders are good friends with each other. Because an efficient, happy, friendly team makes a really good team,” Tamhane said.
Tamhane also said that the team has implemented a new system called “accountabilibuddies,” where each FASET leader is paired with a partner who keeps them engaged and focuesed on their duties. Tamhane believes that the FASET leaders are who make the orientation program a success.
“And it amazes me each and every time that I walk around. [The leaders] are so insanely good at what they do. They’re good at communication and making sure every student is welcome and every student is heard. I actually tell my partner every single day these people are amazing. They are so good at their jobs. They’re so warm, they’re so welcoming,” Tamhane said.
Tamhane adds that besides being a part of such a great staff environment, what he enjoys most about FASET is interacting with new students and welcoming them to their new home.
“[Our students] all come from such different backgrounds. They have a different story about themselves. They are from different areas of Georgia and around the world. And I get to learn more about these different things. I like learning about these things and different people,” Tamhane said.