Before classes start, one of the key ways that we help students start to make connections with one another is through orientation. Cohorts will be grouped into smaller squads of about 8 students each. Each cohort is led by an Orientation Leader (OL), who is an EMP student. You’ll be notified which orientation cohort you are in on the week of July 27, and shortly thereafter you’ll be invited to a virtual session with your OL and the other students in your cohort. Once classes start, students will build their strongest bonds by actively engaging in their courses. During your first quarter, in Leadership and Negotiations, you will be split into small groups to do mock negotiations nearly every week. We find, whether in person or online, this course is instrumental to building relationship and defining the cohort connection.

EMP uses Slack, an instant messenger platform. New EMP students have been given access to the EMP workspace and have been encouraged to post in their cohort channel. Slack is intended to be primarily for social interactions. For those who are interested, we will also make the broader Harris Slack workspace available.

To build connections with full-time Harris students, we recommend you consider getting involved with Harris Student Organizations (HSOs). We have more than 30 current HSOs on a variety of policy areas and identity groups. More information about how to engage with Harris Student Organizations will be available later in the summer, and HSO events and programming will resume in a primarily virtual format when the academic year begins in late September.

We also strongly encourage you to attend the many virtual events put on by Harris both over the summer and throughout the academic year. We think you’ll find that our events not only provide engaging content and learning opportunities, but provide a way to make connections with other Harris students. Over the summer, event invitations will be sent via email. Once the school year starts and we have more events each week, you’ll learn about events through our app, HarrisHub, and via the EMP Slack workspace channel #harriswideevents.