New Student Orientation for Freshmen Students

Orientation overview

Phase I, Phase II and Campus Life 101

We look forward to working with you as you begin your student experience at Central Michigan University! New Student Orientation is required for all main campus, first-year, degree-seeking students. 

As a new freshman at CMU, there are three required parts to orientation: 

1. Phase I: Pre-Advising and Preparation (self paced online modules to be completed before your Orientation Day - virtual or in-person)
2. Phase II: Your Orientation Day (virtual or in-person)
3. Campus Life 101

In addition to completing Phase I and Phase II, you'll also complete Campus Life 101 as you move to campus and begin your fall semester. These programs will help you connect to campus life at Central Michigan University and become part of our community. More details are below and will be shared during your Orientation Day and over the summer in Blackboard, the learning management system you will use for many of your classes as a CMU student. 

Space for each session is limited and is assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Once CMU has received and processed your enrollment deposit, you can reserve an orientation date. You will then start to receive information about Phase I and Phase II. Log in to your applicant portal (using the email address and password established with your application for admission) to access the registration system. This reservation process will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.

You must be registered for new student orientation to access Phase I.

If you still need to register, no problem!

Register for Orientation

Phase I: Pre-Advising and Preparation

Phase I is required and should be completed before you attend your Orientation Day (which will be in-person or virtual). 

Some assignments will have specific deadlines and others will need to be done before your Orientation Day.

Phase I will include:

• quick videos and assignments 
• quizzes and assessments
• connecting to campus resources
  

Where will you complete Phase I?

Phase I will be completed in Blackboard. A quick tutorial on how to use Blackboard can be found below. You can also review more specific Blackboard Tutorials for Students here.

Please note: you need your CMU login information (Global ID and password) to access Blackboard.
You should also check if your computer and browser can support the requirements needed. 

Phase II:  Orientation Day

Phase II is required for all new students.

During your Orientation Day (in-person or virtual), you will join your new classmates for sessions introducing you to our CMU community and making the most of your time at Central. You’ll meet with academic advisors, our student mentors, and other CMU staff to learn about academic requirements, campus resources, and how to start building your connection to campus. You’ll also plan and register for your first year of classes (fall and spring semesters) at CMU.

Campus Life 101

Campus Life 101 is required and will be completed during the days before the fall semester begins

Campus Life 101 is your orientation continued as you move to campus and begin settling in as a new student. During the last few days before the fall semester begins, you will be required to complete three different sessions:

1. Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention
2. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
3. Campus Life and the Law

Each of these sessions is in-person and you will be escorted to each session based on your residence hall community. You will receive more information about Campus Life 101 as the semester gets closer. You can also find information about Campus Life 101 on your New Student Blackboard course.

Please note: No Zebras, No Excuses is a scenario-based presentation addressing the issues of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and harassment.

Additional trainings during your first semester

CMU is committed to developing a caring and supportive culture for our students. In order to accomplish that, we want to ensure that you are a part of this dialogue. That conversation starts with two required online training programs which you will complete during your first semester. These trainings include important information regarding diversity, equity and inclusion and sexual assault prevention. You will receive an email notification to access these trainings during your first semester and we encourage you to complete the trainings early so that you can be a part of the continued conversations to foster CMU’s caring and supportive culture. 

Not sure what to do next?

Make sure you are taking care of everything you need with our New Student Checklist.