A program of new-student orientation was begun in 1965. Sixteen orientation assistants were employed, and entering freshmen spent one night in a dorm, met with faculty advisers to discuss curricula, filled out class schedules, met deans and administrators, and had their ID cards made. The program, which included three meals in a dorm, cost $12.
Orientation expanded in the 1970s to a two-day program and added a “parents” component. In 1985 a special Summer Minority Orientation Program was instituted, through which the dean of students and vice chancellor for student affairs traveled to Memphis and held a reception for incoming minority students and their parents, followed by a question and answer session. The next morning, students took buses to Knoxville and joined the regular Summer Orientation. The program was discontinued in 1991 because of lack of funding and reinstituted at the request of the Student Government Association in summer 1994.
Summer Orientation is a function of the Office of the Provost and the Division of Student Life. Current students serve as Orientation Leaders (formerly, Student Orientation Assistants [SOAs]) during the summerlong series of orientation programs.