Colorado State University - Pueblo opens fall semester with Convocation activities

Pueblo- The fall semester at Colorado State University – Pueblo will get a jump start next week at a variety of orientation and convocation activities throughout campus. Fall classes begin on Monday, August 29.

As part of the university’s back-to-school events, CSU-Pueblo President Ron Applbaum will present his annual report on the University’s progress during the 2005 State of the University Address, “The Education Imperative: Creating a Foundation for Success,” at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, August 22 in the Occhiato University Center Ballroom.

Following new staff and faculty introductions, Roger Bowen, General Secretary of the Association of University Professors will present, “ Academic Freedom and the AAUP,” beginning at 9:45 a.m. sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the CSU-Pueblo AAUP Campus Advocacy Chapter. Faculty Senate and Classified Staff Council will meet from 11 a.m.-noon to plan the year’s agenda. Before becoming General Secretary of the AAUP in 2004, Bowen served as President/CEO of the Milwaukee Public Museum and as president of the State University of New York at New Paltz from 1996-2001. He was instrumental in creating a federal bill law that provides grants for international study to lower income students. He has received numerous awards for his defense of academic freedom.

Tuesday, August 23 will be dedicated to departmental and college faculty meetings as faculty gear up for the new year. Students may begin moving into the Belmont Residence Hall at noon on Wednesday, August 24. Also on Wednesday, senior administrators will herald in the fall semester at a faculty/staff ice cream social and Classified Staff Council Cake Walk Scholarship Fundraiser from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on the OUC Patio.

On Thursday, August 25, a four-day orientation program for new students begins at 9 a.m. to help first-year students make the transition to CSU-Pueblo through meetings with advisors, a club bazaar, and a campus-based “Amazing Race,” a strategic tour of campus. Orientation continues throughout the weekend with a dance academy, casino night, and a series of seminars on survival skills like managing money, setting goals, and juggling priorities.

Open registration for the fall semester will be held on Friday, August 26 with the offices of Admissions, Records, Financial Aid, Student Academic Services, and the Academic Advising Center assisting students through the enrollment process.

New and continuing students not yet enrolled for the fall semester are encouraged to attend the
August 26 enrollment day, or to call to make other arrangements. For more information about Open Registration day, please contact Sharon Hatton-Montoya, Director, Student Academic Services, 719-549-2225.

Orientation week activities reach their peak at the second annual Wolf Fest, a family-focused community celebration featuring a farmer's market, arts fair, and sports garden, to be held from
8 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27 at locations across campus. In addition to farmers selling their tomatoes and melons, artisans peddling their wares, kids bouncing off the walls of the inflatable tyrannosaurus rex, and jocks smashing volleyballs and paddling their kayaks, there will be food vendors and entertainers. Wolf Fest is open to the public at no charge.

On Sunday, August 28, new students, faculty and staff and their families will gather for food, fun and river rafting on the Arkansas River at the Nature Center Wolf Pack Picnic from noon to
6 p.m. sponsored in part by the Colorado State Employees Credit Union.

Colorado State University - Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students.