Welcome Week Staff

It takes a lot of people to make the hundreds of events run smoothly during Welcome Week! Our staff is comprised of a number of professional staff and two groups of student leaders who work in planning and implementing programs to ensure our students feel welcomed to Hofstra University.

Welcome Week Coordinators (WWC) are the heart and soul of our program. They are students who have had prior leadership experience and help plan and implement the program. Welcome Week Coordinators serve in conjunction with the Orientation Staff. The WWC role mirrors the overall new Student Orientation program in that it is two parts: summer orientation and welcome week. During summer orientation, Welcome Week Coordinators have overlapping responsibilities with Orientation Leaders. In addition to planning the Welcome Week Program, WWC's are expected to provide support and serve as a resource to incoming students. WWC's are also expected to facilitate evening programs and morning check in during summer orientation, and interact with our new incoming students.

Welcome Week Coordinators Summer 2020

Kassandra Goodniss ('22) is a junior psychology major, with a Spanish minor, and a pre-veterinary concentration from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. From her own orientation experience she knew she wanted to help continue making the incoming first-year student experience positive and engaging, and joined the staff in the summer of 2019 as an orientation leader. She is excited to continue to learn more about all the back-end work that goes into making an orientation program run, and is hopeful that this experience will better prepare her for life after Hofstra. Her role this summer is to ensure that students have an incredible Welcome Week regardless of the limitations brought by COVID-19. This includes creating new virtual programming to enhance student bonding as well as educating  students on the changes being made to campus life, managing Guidebook, selecting and training welcome week staff, and running the club carnival, with her fellow WWC. 

Madison Snuffer is a Biochemistry major Beckley, West Virginia with a dream to become a physician. The journey from Beckley, West Virginia to Hofstra University was not an easy transition, but attending Welcome Week last year in 2019 made her feel excited and included. As a rising sophomore, her memories of Welcome Week are still fond. Her personal experience of transitioning to the university inspires her to plan an engaging, informational, and fun Welcome Week! Madison is excited to watch incoming students become a part of the Pride!

Welcome Week Leaders

Welcome Week Leaders are student volunteers who run our planned events and programs, workshops, tours and ensure that students feel comfortable at their new home away from home. You’ll meet your WWLs in person at check in (if you are a residential student) or on campus for our in-person events like the outdoor movies and socially distant tie-dye session. In the meantime, go here https://flipgrid.com/edac9136 to get a preview!