Penny Wyatt                                                                                                                                             

Director of Family Programs, Division of Student Affairs

The Newcomb-Tulane College First-Year Experience Office offers an array of resources and programs to help new students adjust to their new university environment, expectations, and opportunities. Your student should become familiar with these elements supporting their high school to university transition:

The New Student Checklist, located within the New Student Modules, highlights important tasks and deadlines to guide your student's transition to Tulane. We recommend reviewing it at the start of each month and checking off items as they go so they are always ready for what’s next.

The Navigator is the official e-newsletter for first-year students at Tulane. Students will receive a new edition of the Navigator often, beginning in the summer and continuing throughout their entire first year. The Navigator is designed to support your student's transition to Tulane by connecting them with campus resources, informing them of upcoming events and opportunities, and offering advice for a successful first-year experience! Families may use the online Navigator archive to review the content.

New Student Modules - The required summer modules will introduce your student to the offices and people they'll come to rely on, teach them about the campus and city they will soon (or already!) call home, and prepare them to be an engaged member of our community. With a new theme each month, these mandatory modules will ease their transition to Tulane. Consider these their first homework assignments as a Tulane student!

Hullabaloo Hello! is an immersive orientation experience and celebratory welcome to Tulane in August for all new undergraduate students, including first-years and transfers! Throughout the experience, students will be introduced to the people, peers, and places committed to supporting their transition. Plus, there will be a parade of opportunities to build community with classmates.

Students should email any questions to firstyear@tulane.edu.

The Office of Family Programs offers informative webinars throughout the year on annual administrative procedures or topics relevant to the semester or season. Participation is free but requires online registration in advance. After registering, you will receive login instructions in a confirmation email message. All webinars will be archived on the Family Programs website.

Each summer, through the Hello Wave program, Tulane rolls out the green carpet to welcome new students to the Tulane family. Hello Wave events are festive gatherings sponsored by the Tulane Office of Alumni Relations and Tulane clubs across the country. These casual events bring alumni, current students, and incoming students and their families together in their hometowns to celebrate the university’s newest arrivals before they head to Tulane. 

Incoming students and families are welcome to attend the Hello Wave in their hometown or any other Hello Wave event across the country.

Search for locations and register online here. Note that only the primary registrant will receive a confirmation email, so please share details with your guests. Questions? Please contact Valerie Calenda in Alumni Relations at vtimmer@tulane.edu or (504) 430-9431.  

First-Year students will be assigned a move-in timeslot for either Aug. 9, 10, or 11, 2026. Please do not make travel arrangements until your student has been assigned their move-in time slot. Housing & Residence Life will email new students their assigned 30-minute Move-In arrival time slot to their Tulane email addresses in early June. By assigning Move-In arrival times, Tulane spreads out the number of students and families on campus at any given time and provides students with some flexibility in planning their arrival. If a student would like to change their assigned time slot, there will be a change period when they may cancel their time slot and select a new one from available options in the Housing Portal.

Scheduling your travel for Move-In
Many families arrive in New Orleans the night before their student’s assigned Move-In Day. 

Parents/Families Activities on Move-In Day include:

The day after your student's assigned Move-In Day:

Families should plan to leave by 10 a.m. (or the previous evening)
Students' first required meeting starts at 10 a.m., and activities continue the rest of the week until the first day of classes. Please support your student in getting all the benefits of their "Hullabaloo Hello" orientation activities by allowing them to focus and fully participate in their new experience.

Consult the website and stay tuned for more details.
More information about Move-In, other housing information, and specific instructions for mailing/shipping students' belongings to campus will be announced later in the summer. It will be featured in an upcoming tutorial. Once students receive their housing assignments, they can find community descriptions and general room details on the Residence Halls webpage. Additional details are located on the New Student Housing Information and Fall Move-In sections of the Housing and Residence Life website.

Here's some helpful advice if you are purchasing items — or your student is planning to use graduation gifts — to outfit your student’s residence hall room.

Tulane University Office of Family Programs
Email: families@tulane.edu | Web: families.tulane.edu
Toll Free: 877-887-9283