Week 16: Welcome from the PAL Program

Issue #16

PAL Program Overview

The Peer Advising Leaders (PAL) program’s goal is to support all incoming students in building community and preparing to make the most of their first-year experience, inside and outside the classroom. New students will join their cohorts even before they get to campus, in order to grow the roots that will allow them to succeed during their first semester at Oberlin and beyond.

Peer Advising Leaders (PALs) are second-, third-, and fourth-year students who are trained to support incoming Arts and Sciences and Double Degree students as they navigate the transition to Oberlin life and learning throughout New Student Orientation and the fall semester. Each PAL leads a cohort of 15 new students who also share a class through the First-Year Seminar program (FYSP). In this way, each cohort shares academic, co-curricular, and social experiences throughout their first semester, forming bonds that will last through the rest of their time at Oberlin and beyond.

During all PAL sessions, as well as in opportunities for students to gather socially, the ethos of “Obies helping Obies” remains at the program’s core. This is why we are proud to say that, at Oberlin, every new student has a PAL!

New Student Orientation

During the week of August 19th, the PAL experience will begin with remote meetings. In these meetings, incoming students will have a chance to start building relationships with their peers, articulate their goals and aspirations for their first semester, and plan for their arrival to campus.

PAL meetings will continue once students have arrived in Oberlin. During this in-person portion of the Orientation experience, students will build on connections initiated during their remote cohort sessions. Together, cohorts will develop organizational strategies for academic success, discuss how to create inclusive and equitable communities, get their bearings on campus, and venture into Cleveland for a day of fun and exploration.

LEAD 050

The PAL cohort experience continues into the semester through the co-curricular LEAD 050 course. As students settle into their first semester at Oberlin, PAL's will convene regular meetings to help students understand important campus policies like the Honor Code, prepare to participate in their first winter term, connect with important campus resources inside and outside the classroom, and prepare students for appointments with their academic advisors to plan for future semesters. 

ConPAL

The Conservatory Peer Advising Leaders (ConPAL) program breaks down barriers between conservatory majors, creates opportunities for social bonding, and connects incoming first-year students in the Bachelor of Music program with upper-class mentors.

Like the PALs, Conservatory Peer Advising Leaders are students in their second, third, fourth, or fifth year of Oberlin’s B.M. program. They meet with incoming students in cohorts of eight to ten that are designed to include a diverse range of instruments and majors; incoming students should expect to meet jazz performance students, piano performance students, TIMARA students, and others in their cohorts.

The ConPAL program begins once students arrive on campus at Oberlin, on your first day of orientation. You’ll meet in your cohorts several times over the course of orientation to discuss course selection and the conservatory core curriculum, navigating conservatory resources, and you’ll also meet several times during the first month of the semester to talk about issues of racial, gender, and social justice in music education. The program culminates in a night of games, bowling, trivia, and prizes at Hales Gymnasium at the end of September, and a group meal with your ConPAL cohort at any restaurant in town.