Newsroom

CSE’s Inaugural WoW Event a Success

August 31, 2018

The Computer Science and Engineering Department held its inaugural Week of Welcome event on August 22, 2018 with close to 100 attendees. The event was a student mixer for incoming students to interact with CSE student organizations, faculty members, and academic advisors. Students who attended the event received a scavenger hunt card and went around the room in search of four different signatures from faculty, staff, advisors, and student leaders. Once complete, the cards were exchanged for t-shirts, bags, and a chance to win a Raspberry Pi, Arduino kit, or an external hard drive. We also included a crypto quote challenge on the card as an added bonus for a chance to have lunch with Dr. Sarkar, Department Chair. With students lined up outside the doors before we officially started, this was solved within the first 30 minutes of our event. Students also had the opportunity to demo Assistant Professor Marvin Andujar's drones using brain-drone interaction.

We wanted to provide an open environment for new students to feel welcomed by their future department, and provide them with social and academic support as they transition into USF. Several students were pleased with the event, especially freshmen and newly admitted transfer students. They were excited to know that they could become involved while still working on their entry into the CSE Department. We're hoping that events like these will motivate our Pre-CSE students to work hard, enjoy what they do, and become future CSE leaders. After the positive feedback, Dr. Sarkar, Department Chair, has decided that this will be an annual event. Establishing a sense of community is what this is all about.