For the nearly 575 new University of the Sciences in Philadelphia students, Friday, Aug. 22, marks an annual rite of passage: college move-in day. The University will receive the new students and kick off “Adventure USP: Explore, Experience, Excel,” with a special Welcome Week program. After move-in, a convocation ceremony on Friday will feature an address by Philadelphia community icon Jim Murray (pictured left) of Ronald McDonald House Charities and president of Jim Murray, Ltd.
The classes of 2012, 2013, and 2014 represent a diverse, dynamic group of aspiring healthcare professionals and leaders who will take on sophisticated disciplines such as bioinformatics, physical therapy, and pharmacy. For the 2008-09 school year, University of the Sciences receives approximately 348 students into its Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, 76 into its College of Health Sciences, 136 into the Misher College of Arts and Sciences, and 11 into the new Mayes College of Healthcare Business and Policy.
· A busy move-in day begins with “luggers and tuggers,” current University of the Sciences’ upperclassmen, greeting the first-year and transfer students as they arrive on campus between 9-11 a.m. While 9 a.m. is the official start time, a line traditionally has formed as early as 7 a.m. in anticipation. The luggers and tuggers will assist the students and their parents in unpacking cars and getting settled into their dorm rooms.
· At 1:45 p.m., new and returning students, and faculty will assemble in the Athletic/Recreation Center (ARC) for the sixth annual convocation ceremony. Jim Murray will address the students on the importance of how decisions impact their lives. Murray, a former Philadelphia Eagles’ general manager, became a founder of the first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia in 1974.
· As part of the ceremony, the students will wear red convocation t-shirts in honor of the Ronald McDonald House. They will process into the ARC for the event that features a pinning ceremony officially marking the end of the convocation and the start of the students’ collegiate experience.
· Adventure USP includes on-campus orientations, activities, and trips around the Philadelphia area, including an event at The Franklin.
· As part of a community service project, students will decorate t-shirts that will then be donated for children staying at the Ronald McDonald House.
At University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, students embark on a challenging learning experience in a proving ground for successful professionals in the healthcare-related fields. A private, coeducational institution dedicated to education, research, and service, and distinguished as the nation’s first college of pharmacy, the University has produced leaders in the healthcare marketplace since its founding in 1821, including founders of six of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world. With undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs in such disciplines as pharmacy, bioinformatics, physical therapy, healthcare business, and health policy, the 2,800 students in the University of the Sciences' five colleges learn to excel in scientific analysis and to apply their skills to improving healthcare in their communities and in the lives of people worldwide.