The Office of Residence Life and Housing at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs was charged with planning and completing weeks of programs to Welcome students to campus. In past years, these programs were not planned in advanced and left up to student staff to plan during training. We wanted to put more time and effort into it so our office took over preperations. After attending the NACURH 2008 conference in Oklahoma, where the theme was Rock n Roll and backstage passes were given out, I got the idea to center our events around a Rock Tour and handing out backstage passes to all students.

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The Rockin' Welcome Tour were 10 days full of evening programs beginning at 9pm in the UCCS Housing Village. Also, the entire campus came together to support our theme. The bookstore and parking decorated their respective areas in rock n roll themes. As students arrived on campus, a large cardboard black guitar was hung from a skywalk with a banner that said Rockin' Welcome Tour greeted them. As students were greeted by Tour Crew members, they received their keys etc but also their very own backstage pass which listed all events. Students walked on to their floors, the walls and common areas were decked out with rock n roll decorations galore too. August 19th and 20th were the first 2 big days of Move-in for students, we provided music and food on the quad, like Ice Cream & Popsicles. Students played games, hung out and met new people while enjoying frozen treats. On August 22 30 roommates and suitemates participated in "Roomie Weds", where the game similar to newly weds was played. Teams were asked questions about others' roommates etc, just like on the show newlyweds. On August 23, students were invited to play a game of Giant Sized Life. The event was modeled off the "game of life" but in this game, you might be sent to jail for getting an alcohol violation. In addition, students got to experience life events in a fun way and learn about UCCS resources too! On August 24 our RHA hosted Volleyball Night! RHA had VB nets in the quad and residents competed in a tournament for prizes! On August 25, we hosted the annual Alpine BBQ for upper class Alpine Village residents. They played Ultimate Frisbee and Kickball in courtyard too. Later that evening, Glow in the dark Capture the Flag was played. Residents got glow necklaces & found flags hidden around campus. This was the most popular event w/ over 300 who came to play. On Aug. 27 residents laughed hysterically as Brian Bushwood a Magician performed for them. Aug. 28th 15 teams played in a new game, Corn Hole (bean bag toss)for free certificates to Cold Stone! Aug 29, our annual flicks/floats program occured w/ students playing dodgeball, watching the movie dodgeball and eating rootbeer floats! The final event was a retro video game night where students go to various lounges in their buildings and play old school ninetendo or sega.

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The goals of the program were to welcome students to campus and to introduce them to the "life" aspect of campus. Students were given ample opportunity to meet new people, participate in social activities and help create a sense of excitement in the village about what types of activities housing staff will offer in future months.

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Students were able to meet new people in a fun and relaxed enviroment. The first few weeks of college before classes get tough, can be a difficult time for many students as they face homesickness issues and having to make all new friends. By providing this series of "rockin welcome tour" we had activities that would appeal to almost any interest group so we could appeal to a larger mass. In addition, this helped students feel comfortable participating and we saw that many students towards the end of the tour, students came as a floor which thus furthered the development of the communities in the various buildings.

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The Rockin' Welcome Tour was an outstanding success. At least a 100 to 150 students showed up to each tour event and as the week progressed entire floors began to show up together which increased the community in the building and village overall. We provided students a social outlet and abilty to have fun before classes start. Students loved the variety of events. One student shared with his RA that "he had never had so much fun in two weeks and he was looking forward to future events".

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Other campuses can easily adapt this program by creating a theme and centering events to occur in the first few weeks of the school year. Most schools offer events anyways during the first few weeks, so it would be an easy adaption to center those events around a common theme. Schools could also seek support in taking on the theme in their respective areas.

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