Transfer Communications

As an incoming transfer student, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the items to do on the checklist, the email coming into your inbox, and the excitement of coming to campus and starting this new adventure. Our Summer Webinar Series will introduce you to a variety of campus resources, provide support on things that will be helpful before arrival, and introduce you to campus partners and administrators who will be instrumental in your transition and success. 

Summer Schedule

REGISTER HERE for any or all of the webinars this summer!

Office of the First-Year Experience Welcome & Summer Webinar Kick-Off, Tuesday, May 14 at 7:00 P.M. EDT

Completing your Housing Contract, Wednesday, May 15 at 7:00 P.M. EDT

Accommodations 101: Successfully Navigating the Transition for Students with Disabilities, Monday, June 3 at 11:00 A.M. EDT

It’s Roommate Selection Time, Wednesday, June 5 at 7:00 P.M. EDT

Academic Advising & Support for Students, Thursday, June 13  at 7:00 P.M. EDT

Tech Talk for First-Year Students and Families, Wednesday, June 26 at 7:00 P.M. EDT

Understanding your Housing, Wednesday, July 3 at 7:00 P.M. EDT

Lehigh University Campus Safety Information and Resources, Tuesday, July 9 at 6:00 P.M. EDT

Fraternity & Sorority 101, Wednesday, July 17 at 6:00 P.M. EDT

Are you Move-In Ready?, Monday, July 22 at 7:00 P.M. EDT

Bursting the Lehigh Bubble: Getting to Know South Bethlehem, Your New Home, Tuesday, July 30 at 6:30 P.M. EDT

We hope you will join us! Sessions will be recorded as appropriate and posted on our summer webinar webpage one week after each session.

Course registration can be both exciting and stressful as you transfer. We gathered some information and resources below to assist you as you move forward.

Advising

A Lehigh staff member in your advising unit will reach out to you via your Lehigh email address. They will remind you of resources available to you and offer to assist you as you explore and decide which courses you should register for. If you were not able to attend, please check out the recording of the webinar hosted last week, Academic Support for Students.

Trasnfer Credits

Please be sure to visit this Transfer Credit website on fysenroll.lehigh.edu. There you will find specific instructions regarding the transfer credit process including options for sending your official transcripts to Lehigh and how to see your transfer credit.

Preparing for Registration

Registration will start between July 15-17 and will close on July 26. You will receive an email in early July with your exact day and time. To prepare for the process, check out the following resources:

• First-Year Student Enrollment Website - for general registration information, how-to videos, and sample schedules. We highly recommend looking at their How to Register page!

• Check your Portal for the link to your course packet and helpful information from your college

• Attend a session with your academic unit or program, or reach out to them if you have questions!

What To Do When...

Deciding which courses to take in fall? Review your course packet, check the portal and your email for additional information, see the first-year enrollment website for sample schedules, and contact your academic unit.

Have questions about utilizing the registration system? Review the First-Year Enrollment website for videos on how to utilize the registration system and contact Registration & Academic Services.

Having trouble during the registration period? Use the Live Chat on the Registration & Academic Services webpage to talk with someone in the moment.

Schedule Changes

Still feeling nervous even after you’ve registered? Don’t worry! You will have the opportunity to meet with a college representative on Friday, August 23 during Orientation for any last-minute questions and course changes. Students can continue making schedule changes through the first week of the semester, so there’s plenty of time to ensure that you have an appropriate course schedule.

Disability Support Services

Students with disabilities who would like to apply for reasonable accommodations and services should begin the interactive process today to ensure that all reasonable accommodations are in place by the start of the fall semester. Students who wait to apply for accommodations until just prior to the start of the fall semester may experience delays, so it is recommended that students begin the process and submit documentation as soon as possible. 

To get started, students should register with Disability Support Services by completing the Disability Support Services Registration form. This form allows students to upload documentation with initial registration if they would like, but documentation can also be submitted afterwards. Next, students should submit a copy of their current disability documentation from their physician, clinician, or diagnostician.More information about documentation guidelines can be found on the Disability Support Services website. DSS engages in an interactive process and reviews requests for reasonable accommodations on a case-by-case and class-by-class basis, so after the initial documentation evaluation is complete, DSS will reach out during the summer to schedule an appointment to discuss next steps. 

If you have questions about how Disability Support Services assists students or about the interactive process, please call them at 610-758-4152 for more information.

Orientation is just two months away! Don’t forget to continue to revisit the Summer Checklist on the portal for important links, surveys, and contracts.

Orientation Registration Due June 30!

Orientation is required for all incoming students and will provide you with opportunities to meet your peers, learn about campus and academic resources, and settle in at campus. Registration gives us some additional information to make your experience the best it can be. If you have not already filled out this form in the June section of your Summer Checklist, please do so as soon as possible! Don’t forget to also use the signup genius within the form to select your Faux Friday restaurant.

Attend a Sendoff Near You!

Each year, alumni and parents across the country host student Sendoff to welcome incoming students and families to Lehigh. These informal gatherings are a chance to learn more about Lehigh, meet your fellow classmates, and get tips on campus, classes, and more from the Mountain Hawks that came before you. Find the nearest Sendoff to you and register to attend!

Campus Mail Reminder

For students living on campus, check out the following packing list for things to bring and things not to bring. We wanted to highlight that packages will not be accepted at the Mail Center until August 1. You will be able to pick up packages on the day you arrive. The mail center does not accept packages over 70 lbs. Please see the mail center webpage or call (610) 758-4193 with additional questions.

Summer Webinars

Don’t forget to register for future sessions or watch recordings of the Summer Webinar Series this summer! Sessions will introduce you to a variety of campus resources, provide support on things that will be helpful before arrival, and introduce you to campus partners and administrators who will be instrumental in your transition and success. 

The Health & Wellness Center’s mission is to provide high quality, compassionate medical care, respect individual differences in a confidential environment, and give students the knowledge and ability to treat themselves for minor illnesses and injuries. Our dedicated, professional staff provides acute and ongoing care to approximately 6,000 undergraduate students and more than 2,000 graduate students. 

We offer a host of services, including acute care, routine examinations, lab services and reproductive and sexual health services. To learn more , please visit our Services.

Lehigh University requires that  undergraduate and graduate students be covered by adequate medical insurance or enroll in the university-sponsored plan. The Health & Wellness Center does not directly bill, nor receive payment from any insurance company. Most Health & Wellness Center services including office visits are provided at no charge. For services that do have an associated charge, students may pay cash or bill their bursar account. It is the student's responsibility to submit a claim to their health insurance company for reimbursement if applicable. Supporting documentation that may be required by insurance including receipts and encounter summaries are available on the Student Health Portal. 

Students can make appointments by calling the Health & Wellness Center, or through our online chat forum. For more information, please visit Making an Appointment.

Step by step instructions for incoming student paperwork are provided on our website. Healthcare providers must fill out and sign the paperwork sent home in the Welcome Kits. Students must complete all electronic forms in their student health portal. Students will enroll in or waive the Student Health Insurance plan. Finally, students should provide pictures of their insurance card in their student health portal.

Have additional questions? Check out the Health & Wellness Center incoming student FAQs.

Orientation

You’ll say farewell to your family after the welcome lunch at 1:30pm, because Orientation will start at 2:00 on Thursday, August 22 and will run through Sunday, August 25. It is mandatory and will be helpful for your transition to familiarize you with campus resources, make connections and get you ready for a successful year. The official schedule will be available on our website in August and you will be able to follow along and create your own schedule in the guidebook app once you’ve received your Orientation group information. Please review the schedule on page 16 in the Welcome Kit if you are looking for more details about each day.

You will learn more about the Lehigh community and begin Crafting our Communities with Care, our theme for the year. We’ll talk a lot about this during Orientation as you begin to form relationships and think about how you will play a role in the Lehigh community. We are all here to support you and hope you will also do that for yourself and uplift others. 

Live the excitement from Move-In to Orientation before you arrive. Check out the OFYE youtube page to see what to expect!

Faux Friday & Reading is cLUtch!

We are also a part of the larger Bethlehem community and you’ll learn more about our home, South Bethlehem, and even hear from our mayor at your University Convocation. In the evening, you will be eating in a local restaurant (you should have selected one when you completed your Orientation Registration). You can take your food to go or pop over after your meal on the local greenway for some free ice cream and a relaxing and fun atmosphere. Don’t forget to bring a new (or gently used) copy of your favorite book from their childhood or adolescence for Reading is cLUtch! Write an inspirational message inside the front cover and we will collect these at the Greenway to share with the South Bethlehem kiddos.

The Rally

Dating back to 1945, when the Class of 1899 adopted the Class of 1949, each new class is presented with a class flag that shares the design and colors of their adopting class. Your class will be “adopted” by the alumni Class of 1978 and presented with your official class flag!  The flag is a symbol of the bond you’ll share with both your classmates and the alumni community.

Parent & Family Orientation

If you have visitors coming with you to campus, we hope they will join us! We will have a Family Welcome tent with information and refreshments outside of the Orientation Check-In at Iacocca Hall. We encourage families to stay and join us for Family Orientation that afternoon. Please see the Family Orientation Schedule for additional details. 

Are you attending an early arrival program? Don’t worry! We host the same Family Orientation on Monday, August 19. The times will vary slightly, but the schedule is available on our website.

Summer Webinar Series

You can still register for the remainder of the Summer Webinar Series to find out more about the following topics:

• Lehigh University Campus Safety Information and Resources, Tuesday, July 9 at 6:00 P.M. EDT
• Pursuing the Pre-Health Track: Meet the Pre-Health Director & Med Mentors, Thursday, July 11, 2024 at 5:30 P.M. EDT
• Fraternity & Sorority 101, Wednesday, July 17 at 6:00 P.M. EDT
• Are you Move-In Ready?, Monday, July 22 at 7:00 P.M. EDT
• Bursting the Lehigh Bubble: Getting to Know South Bethlehem, Your New Home, Tuesday, July 30 at 6:30 P.M. EDT

Don’t forget to continue to revisit the Summer Checklist on the portal for May, June and July!

Until now, your journey may have been outlined for you. You may have taken a predetermined path to arrive here at Lehigh. But this journey is different. This journey is directed by you. The path is yours to create, a blank page full of countless possibilities. You decide who you want to be, what kind of relationships you’ll build, and how you will make an impact in the community. And we hope bLUeprint will be a tool for you in that journey.

bLUeprint is all about making the most of your experiences. Just like your faculty have syllabi and goals for your classes, bLUeprint is like that for your learning outside of the classroom. We know that so much of our learning comes from those everyday moments and experiences in college – the conversations over dinner; interacting with your hallmates; your involvement in students clubs, research, internships; and everything in between. It is so easy to run from one thing to the next - to go four years without articulating exactly how you’ve grown and in what specific ways those moments have impacted you, your identity, and your trajectory. bLUeprint is meant to encourage those moments of pause and reflection. It is meant to encourage and challenge you to think deeply about where you come from, who you are and who you want to be. This is your opportunity to create your experience. 

The Five Foundations are the goals we want you to explore and question. 

• Creative Curiosity encourages the exploration of new ideas and concepts. We want you to develop the skills necessary to be lifelong learners and innovative problem solvers. 
• Self Concept encourages you to strengthen your self-worth by understanding your identities and values and expressing yourself authentically. 
• Healthy Connections begin with taking care of yourself. It pushes you to reflect on your healthy and unhealthy connections, identify your personal needs and boundaries, and navigate relationships with empathy for yourself and others.
• Critical Consciousness is the ability to understand and analyze societal structures and systems of oppression, and to take action towards social change. We challenge you to see the ways in which systems can perpetuate inequality, injustice and oppression. 
• Strategic Adaptability recognizes that we are all navigating in constantly changing environments. We want you to build skills in problem-solving, flexibility, and decision-making by learning from failures and taking risks.

We want you to DISCOVER the Five Foundations and EXPLORE what they mean to you. We want you to CONNECT your ideas and experiences, and APPLY what you learn to real world issues and situations, but you won’t have to do that alone. There are people here to help you design the best possible college and post-college experience. They are all around you - at your orientation, in the residence halls, in offices and student organizations across campus. 

We’re excited to be a part of this journey with you!

We know coming to a new campus can bring ALL of the feelings – exciting, nerve-racking, challenging, and we hope…amazing!

We created a Transfer GroupMe for you all to connect with each other before Orientation. The OFYE will not monitor it - it’s meant to be a place for you. We will add your Orientation Leaders to it when Orientation starts, but for now use it to make a new friend, ask a question of each other etc. 

Join the GroupMe here!

Please don’t hesitate to contact us directly with any questions or suggestions so we can make your transition the best it can be! Can’t wait to connect soon.

With move-in dates approaching, we are getting excited to welcome you to campus in less than 1 month! 

Move-In

Move-In day is Thursday, August 22, unless you are signed up for an early arrival program or varsity sport. These include programs like preLUsion, Marching 97, ROTC, LUSSI, RARE, Eco-Reps and International Student Orientation.

For those arriving for our traditional move-in day, there will be a team of volunteers to assist you! Please follow these directions when you arrive to assist us with traffic flow. You’ll check-in at Iacocca Hall on the Mountaintop campus between 8am and 11:30am to receive your parking pass and Orientation materials. Please note that if you arrive right at 8:00am it may take some time to get you processed. Your patience is appreciated. You will follow color-coded directional signage down the mountain to your students’ residence hall to pick up your keys and unload your belongings. 

Commuter student families are welcome to park at check-in and take a Lehigh Bus down to the Asa Packer Campus for Orientation.

All student health forms and paperwork must be complete before students can move in. You can see additional instructions about this process on the Health & Wellness Center website.

Packing

Packing can be made a lot easier when you know what to bring and what to leave at home. Use this packing list to help you make some of those decisions and check out the housing website if you need specifics on your residence hall room.  Please make sure all boxes, suitcases, bags, and other items are clearly labeled with your students’ name, building, and room number.

Parking

Your parking pass must remain displayed in your vehicle during the move-in process. Someone must stay with your car when you arrive at your residence hall. Staff, faculty and student volunteers will assist in unloading your car. Once your car is unloaded, you will move it to your designated campus parking garage to allow others to unload (follow the directional signage to the closest parking location).

MOOV Shuttles

Shuttles will be available on Asa Packer campus going from the parking garages up to the residence halls. These shuttle stops can be identified by large yellow Orientation flags. If parking is full on the Asa Packer campus, there is additional parking up at Mountaintop campus where you will check-in and shuttles that can transport you back down the mountain.

Summer Checklist Highlights

You should continue to return to your Summer Checklist on the portal for important links and reminders for each July and August!