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Before Orientation

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You will need to register for an orientation session, prepare for academic advising, and upgrade your MyUWF account with two-step verification.


Orientation registration for Spring, Summer, and Fall 2024 is open.

About Orientation

Orientation is the first of many traditions for new Argos. Incoming freshmen must complete orientation to register for classes. You will learn about UWF resources, discover involvement opportunities, and meet other new students.

Students who are over 21 years old, married, active duty military, veterans, or in a fully online degree program may qualify for an immediate-access virtual orientation experience. Please email orientation@uwf.edu for more information.

Orientation registration is open for all 2024 terms. Orientation fees are nonrefundable.

Register for Orientation

Discount for Pell-Eligible Freshmen

UWF offers a discounted orientation fee to first-year freshman students who qualify for a Federal Pell Grant. Eligibility is determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

The Department of Education has announced that it will delay sending FAFSA information to schools until March. As a result, UWF is unable to determine who may qualify for the discounted orientation fee available to students who receive a Federal Pell Grant.

If you completed the 2024-2025 FAFSA and your FAFSA submission confirmation email or Submission Summary indicates potential Pell Grant eligibility, please complete the Pell Eligible Orientation Fee Discount Request form and provide the requested documentation. This will allow UWF to consider you for an orientation fee discount.

To learn more about the FAFSA, visit StudentAid.gov.

  1. Confirm your offer of admission if you have not already done so. You must confirm in order to register for orientation.
  2. Go to my MyUWF.
  3. Log in using the UWF ID provided in your admission letter. 
  4. Search for and select Orientation Registration for Undergraduates.
  5. Create your registration by entering your UWF ID and all contact information. Be sure to include your preferred email address. The email you enter will be orientation's main form of communication with you.
  6. Fill out the requested information completely. Once a session date fills to capacity, it is closed. Freshmen beginning in a spring term will have only one session date.
  7. Try not to leave the screen during registration to prevent issues allowing you to register.
  8. Click Save at the end of the form.
  9. Pay your orientation fee. Visit Costs for details. We accept Visa and Mastercard. We do not accept American Express or Discover.

You will receive a confirmation email before your orientation session. Once you submit your orientation registration and payment, your space is reserved for the session you selected.

You may change sessions, add a parent or family member, or make other edits to your orientation registration even after submitting payment. Edits to your orientation registration may be completed up to one week before your orientation session. To make updates:

  1. Go to MyUWF.
  2. Log in using the UWF ID provided in your admission letter. 
  3. Search for and select Orientation Registration for Undergraduates
  4. Select Edit My Orientation Registration.
  5. Make any needed updates. 
  6. Click Save at the end of the form.

If you need to request edits to your registration less than one week before your orientation session, you must contact the orientation team at orientation@uwf.edu.

Already signed up? Please note: If you have confirmed and registered for orientation, changing your anticipated entry semester may affect your orientation session and/or costs. Please contact orientation@uwf.edu to learn more.


Prepare for Advising and Course Registration

Once you have registered for orientation, your advisor may reach out to you to verify any AP, CLEP, IB, dual enrollment, and transfer credits that could be applied to your degree audit. 

Your advisor will create a preliminary schedule to enroll you in courses required for your major. Once your schedule is ready, your advisor will email you and ask you to schedule an appointment to review and finalize your schedule.

Be sure to check your UWF email regularly for communication from your academic advisor. Visit Information for Newly Admitted First-Year Students for more information. The first-year information applies even if you earned college credit while in high school.

If your parents want to speak about specific information pertaining to your financial aid file, they will need to have a FERPA release form on file in advance: uwf.edu/FERPA

If you have earned any college credit (e.g., dual enrollment or transfer), submit your final transcript for each college attended prior to your advisor meeting. The official copy is required for courses to be added to your degree audit.

If you've taken any accelerated courses (e.g., AP, IB), send your official score reports when they become available. Official scores must be sent to Undergraduate Admissions for courses to be added to your degree audit. Have a list of AP or IB courses taken available for reference during your advising meeting, even if scores are not yet available.

The ALEKS Math Placement Exam is used for placement in the first math course for new UWF students declaring majors in the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering, the Lewis Bear Jr. College of Business, and exercise science majors in the Usha Kundu, MD College of Health.

The math course(s) you take will depend on what your major requires, whether you have incoming math credit, and your ALEKS placement score. 

Your ArgoNet account will be available for activation the following day after enrolling in freshman orientation. By activating and upgrading your account, you will have access to all of the apps in your MyUWF and your UWF Gmail account. After you have upgraded your account, your advisor will only communicate with you through your student Gmail account. 

Instructions for activating and upgrading your MyUWF account

  • To access your student email account, visit Gmail.com.
  • Type your full UWF email address and click next. (Student email addresses are the ArgoNet username followed by @students.uwf.edu.)
  • Enter your ArgoNet password and click Sign in. (The ArgoNet password is the same password students use to log in to MyUWF.)
  • After you upgrade to an ArgoNet account, you may have to wait 15 minutes before trying to access your UWF Gmail account. 

Instructions for accessing your UWF Gmail account 

 

When setting up your UWF Gmail account, you will be asked to enroll in two-step verification. UWF users who don't enroll in two-step verification for their UWF Gmail accounts will be locked out of those accounts. 

  • Go to Gmail.com and log in to your UWF Gmail account.
  • Go to Google's 2-Step Verification Enrollment page
  • You should see your options for 2FA. The more commonly used 2FA options are Authenticator app, Voice or Text message, Google prompts, or Backup codes.
  • Ensure that you have at least two of these options enabled. This way, if your 2FA option is unavailable/not working, then you can use your backup 2FA option. 

If you have any difficulties setting up your 2-Step Verification, please contact the ITS Help Desk

Instructions for configuring two-factor authentication methods for Gmail

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Next Steps

Review your personal Next Steps Checklist to ensure you are ready for orientation and class registration.

Next Steps Checklist

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Major Change?

If you need to change your major, please complete the Admissions Application Major Change Form.

Change Major

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Travel Information

Find our campus map, directions, accommodations, and other resources for your trip to Pensacola.

Visit UWF