With about 180 new undergraduate international students entering MTSU this semester, they’ll need folks to show them around.

The Office of International Affairs will host its annual New International Student Welcome Picnic at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, at Pavilion One in Old Fort Parkway Park.

Dr. David Schmidt

“We are friendly people, and I try to embody that,” said Dr. David Schmidt, vice provost for international affairs.

“Hopefully, that will translate to positive word of mouth when students go back home.”

The picnic is only part of a weeklong schedule that includes placement tests, health service center visits and shopping trips, leading up to an entire day of orientation starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business and Aerospace Building.

Students will receive immigration information, learn about life at MTSU and in Murfreesboro, and meet individually with advisers.

“If you look at the increases over the last few years, we’ve had a steady 50 to 60 percent increase in international students per incoming class per year,” Schmidt said.

For more information, contact the Office of International Affairs at 615-898-2116 or international@mtsu.edu. You also can visit the office’s website at www.mtsu.edu/intered/InternationalAdmissions.php.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, right, greets a group of international exchange students during their orientation in this MTSU file photo. (MTSU file photo by J. Intintoli)