The grand opening ceremony and open house for the new First Year Advising Center kicked off the second day of WOCOU week.

Mary Beth Snyder, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management,, gave opening remarks and commented on the necessity of freshmen involvement.

Sara Webb, director of the first year advising center, said the department has had 867 advising appointments since the center began taking students on Sept. 4.

“That’s about one third of the freshmen class,” she said.

All freshmen are now required to make one advising appointment in the fall and one in the winter with the ultimate goal of every freshman student continuing on to his or her sophomore year at the end of the winter semester, according to Webb.

“We want them to be in a major that makes sense to them as well,” she said.

OU President Gary Russi also spoke at the event, highlighting the importance of this new center.

“The First Year Advising Center promises to be a real resource to students,” he said. “It will help them in all their academic pursuits.”