Orientation at Gulf Park

• Complete your SOAR activity guide to remove the registration hold on your student account. SOAR is the university's student portal. Each semester, you are required to log into your SOAR account and complete the activity guide. The activity guide will ask you to verify or update your contact information, and most importantly, it will require you to indicate that you have read and understood the Financial Agreement and Academic Agreement. Until you have completed the activity guide, you will have a registration hold on your student account. You are strongly urged to complete this step ahead of advisement so that course selection and registration goes smoothly. If you need additional help with your SOAR activity guide, follow this tutorial or contact the Office of the Registrar via email or by phone at 601.266.5006.
• Submit proof of two (2) immunizations for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR).  Visit the Admissions webpage for information. You must log into your application portal for access the upload form. 
• Advisement and Course Registration. Please prioritize scheduling an advisement appointment with your Academic Advisor soon, as it is an important first step in earning a degree from USM. Your initial appointment will be about an hour long and is foundational to planning your course of study at USM (especially if you are a transfer student). We encourage you to schedule an appointment with an Academic Advisor at your earliest convenience. To schedule an appointment with an advisor, click the Advisor’s scheduling calendar located here. More information and for a list of advisors, please visit https://www.usm.edu/gulf-park-advisement-center/index.php 

• Learn your SOAR password. You will have to log in to SOAR during Orientation. If you can't remember your SOAR password, reset it at campusid.usm.edu before you attend Orientation. (Your username is a lower-case “w” followed by your 6- or 8-digit Southern Miss ID number.)

• Log in to your Southern Miss email account. Follow these instructions or log in to Microsoft Office 365’s Outlook email. Your Southern Miss email account is the primary way your professors and the University will communicate with you; it is important that you activate this account and check it regularly.

• Get your student ID made. Having that ID made makes it official: you're a Golden Eagle! Make sure to hold on to it — you will need it every day. Visit the One Stop on the first floor of Hardy Hall. 
• Talk with staff in the Office of Financial Aid. Financial Aid counselors will be available during regular business hours to speak with you individually about your financial aid. (A veterans benefits coordinator will also be on site.) You are highly encouraged to take care of all of your financial aid business before orientation.

• Contact Admissions if you want to change your major. If you change your mind about your major after applying for admission, contact The Office of Admissions to communicate your new major.

• Submit any AP, IB, CLEP or college credit to Admissions. If you have earned college credit from a source outside of Southern Miss, you must submit proof to The Office of Admissions so that it can be applied toward your degree. If you have earned college credit through dual enrollment at another college or university, you must request official transcripts be sent to Admissions.

• Send final transcripts to Admissions. Recently graduated high school seniors should send a final official transcript that reflects all grades earned during their senior year and date of graduation. New transfer students should send a final official transcript (with no work in progress) from the last college or university attended.

• Get excited about Welcome Week. Welcome Week is our chance to welcome returning students back to campus and new students to campus for the first time! It includes an interactive program of events designed for you to meet your peers and get connected with faculty and staff to help you achieve success at Southern Miss.

We strongly encourage all students to schedule an advising appointment with an Academic Advisor at your earliest convenience. Only students who are registered for classes will be allowed to participate in Fall Orientation. To schedule an appointment with an advisor, call or email the Gulf Park Advisement Center at 228.214.3440 or gulfparkadvisingcenterFREEMississippi. Please specify your major when you contact the Advisement Center. More information can be found at www.usm.edu/gulf-park-advisement-center/. 

You must be admitted to Southern Miss in order to attend Orientation. The Office of Admissions can assist you with getting admitted to Southern Miss prior to your Orientation session. To contact the Office of Admissions, please email admissionsFREEMississippi or call 601.266.5000.

No.

No. Please contact the Office of Online Learning about your next steps.

If special assistance or auxiliary aids are needed, please contact the Office of Student Affairs at gp-orientationFREEMississippi to discuss accommodations at least one week prior to your Orientation session.

Although Financial Aid professionals will be available during orientation, Gulf Park students are strongly encouraged to complete all financial aid processes as soon as they get registered for classes and before orientation.

UNV 100 is a required 1-hour course for all new students at Southern Miss. It is an online pass/fail course administered online through Canvas.