» Admissions » First Year Experience » SOAR
The summer online orientation series below is from summer 2020.
New schedule will be revised summer 2021.
*The SOAR schedule below is tentative and may be adjusted. The final SOAR schedule will be included in your SOAR confirmation packet and upon check-in on your SOAR day.
Once your schedule is complete, your advisor will email your Northwest email account with a link to set up a Zoom advising appointment.
To access the email and create an appointment, you will need to know your email username and password. If you have not accessed this before, your username and password can be found in CATPAWS.
Reminder: Northwest email accounts are completed after students submit their orientation registration
Prior to your advisement appointment, please take some time to prepare by reviewing the following:
We register new freshman when they compete their orientation registration and advising intake survey through CATPAWS. This is in April, May and early June for Summer and Fall students, and November and December for Spring students. Students and families often have question about our registration process, so here is a quick overview.
How we register students: We start with our advisors reviewing Optimal Course Schedules (OCS) for each major, which are recommendations from each department regarding classes students should take as a first-year student. We also have a good deal of information about each student including test scores, self-reported dual credit and tests by exam, course preferences, subjects the students enjoy or anticipate needing assistance in, whether they plan to participate in sports, music, National Guard, or other activities that may impact their schedule, and more. This combination of information provides us with a student profile, and gives us a good idea of both what the student needs and will be successful in first semester. We register the student ahead of meeting with them in preparation for orientation.
Why we schedule students before we meet with them: Scheduling students ahead of orientation allows us to work with departments to add seats to courses as needed and give each student’s academic profile the time it deserves. It also means that the students who attend orientation later in the summer are not disadvantaged because they may live far away, be studying abroad, participating in military training, or involved in other activities preventing them from coming to campus for orientation. Although it may seem unconventional to schedule students ahead of their attending orientation, Northwest has done this for more than 20 years with great success, and has in fact been benchmarked by other institutions who are interested in doing the same. It alleviates a significant amount of stress from students who worry about getting a full schedule of classes they need and advisors who want to get each student the best schedule they can. Student success is our priority!
Students are in control: Students are ultimately in the driver’s seat and in control of their own educational experience. Each student meets with an advisor about their schedule to make any adjustments they choose, for whatever reason. This typically happens at orientation; however, Covid-19 forced us to adapt this year. While we have added online orientation options, and pushed in-person orientation to the end of July, we do not want students to wait until July to get their fall course schedule or meet with an advisor, which is why our advisors are spending June and the first part of July holding individual advising meetings with our new students via Zoom.
I hope that you have been able to join us on some of our Zoom sessions. We are enjoying connecting with students and parents! If you would like to hear more about advising, please take time to watch our video overview, linked below. You can also find the department specific SOAR Leader/Advisor sessions on our YouTube channel that were held during week 2, also linked below.
We look forward to meeting with each of you and engaging even more throughout the next two months!
For an overview of first-year advising and registration, as well as specifics of your department, please review the orientation videos from Week 2 – May 25-29.
Your schedule is available in CATPAWS under the "Student" tab, the "Registration" box, and then the "Student Detail Schedule" box.
You will be enrolled in major courses and classes in the Northwest Core. You can view core classes and course descriptions through your degree audit in CATPAWS or in the academic catalog.
University Seminar is a one credit hour course in which first time, full time freshmen must enroll during their first semester. During your online advising appointment, you may indicate your preference for enrollment in a traditional, Leadership Development or Global Perspectives themed section.
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The "Traditional" theme of University Seminar is designed to help students transition to college and achieve success. Topics of exploration will include the privileges, rights and responsibilities associated with a university education, skills necessary for success, assuming responsibility for one’s own university experience, and available resources. |
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The "Leadership Development" theme of University Seminar encourages students to enhance their leadership skills. Through leadership discussions and experiential learning projects, you and your peers will practice leadership on campus and in the community while developing academic success strategies. |
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The "Global Perspective" theme of University Seminar will help you cultivate the skills needed to be successful in your higher education journey in addition to analyzing the impact of global challenges. You and your peers will discuss and document your learning centered on global population issues, resource management, technology, and more. |
If you recently signed up for orientation, your schedule may not be ready, however, advisors will work quickly to prepare it and notify you.
If you have other questions about advising, registration, or orientation, you can reach out to any of our Student Success Team:
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Wednesday, May 20 |
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Thursday, May 21 |
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Tuesday, May 26 |
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Tuesday, May 26 |
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Wednesday, May 27 |
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Thursday, May 28 |
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Thursday, May 28 |
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Friday, May 29 |
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Monday, June 1 |
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Tuesday, June 2 |
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Tuesday, June 2 |
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Wednesday, June 3 |
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Thursday, June 4 |
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Thursday, June 4 |
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Friday, June 5 |
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Monday, June 8 |
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Tuesday, June 9 |
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Tuesday, June 9 |
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Wednesday, June 10 |
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Thursday, June 11 |
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Thursday, June 11 |
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Friday, June 12 |
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Friday, June 12 |
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Monday, June 15 |
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Tuesday, June 16 |
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Tuesday, June 16 |
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Wednesday, June 17 |
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Thursday, June 18 |
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Thursday, June 18 |
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Friday, June 19 |
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Friday, June 19 |
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Monday, June 22 |
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Tuesday, June 23 |
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Tuesday, June 23 |
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Wednesday, June 24 |
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Thursday, June 25 |
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Thursday, June 25 |
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Friday, June 26 |
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Friday, June 26 |
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Monday, July 6 |
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Tuesday, July 7 |
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Tuesday, July 7 |
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Wednesday, July 8 |
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Thursday, July 9 |
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Thursday, July 9 |
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Friday, July 10 |
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Friday, July 10 |
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Monday, July 6 |
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Tuesday, July 7 |
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Tuesday, July 7 |
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Wednesday, July 8 |
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Thursday, July 9 |
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Thursday, July 9 |
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Friday, July 10 |
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