FARMINGTON – Freshmen orientation at the University of Maine at Farmington begins Saturday and this year includes time for UMF public safety director Ted Blais to talk with students.

“We’re taking a proactive approach this year and trying to get as many opportunities to talk with all the students that we can,” Blais said Thursday.

A dorm robbery, two assault incidents on High Street and several car break-ins made last year busy for what was then a four-officer crew. The department recently hired a fifth full-time officer, Mary Hastings, who will be sworn in Friday, he said. Until this month, Hastings worked for the Farmington Police Department.

The extra officer gives the department more opportunity to be involved in crime prevention programs, he said. The officers will also be better able to work with students and get out and visit residence halls.

“The students get comfortable in the residence halls and forget there may be people there that they don’t know well,” he said.

During this weekend’s orientation period, Blais will address campus safety with several groups and also give students an opportunity to meet department members.

“I feel it’s important for the students to see the faces within the Public Safety Department,” he added.

Blais also plans to discuss new methods of notification with the students, he said.

Last year, a text message system was set up to give students information and warnings as required by the Clery Act or Campus Security Act. The act requires colleges and universities to disclose information about campus crime and warn students when there is a situation that poses a threat, Blais said.

The system has been revamped for this year as not all cell phones were able to receive the messages last year, he said.

Campus members can be alerted with timely warnings through mass e-mails and text messages when incidents are happening such as the last year’s car break-ins in order to better protect themselves, he added.

The department has also prepared a large audible notification for severe emergencies, he said. An air horn, on loan from Farmington Fire and Rescue, was installed this week atop the Public Safety department’s building at 248 Main St. The whistle is capable of reaching students all over campus, to alert them to take cover and seek more information about the emergency, he said.

The incoming class of 525 students will participate in some fun activities Monday to help them get to know one another. Students can choose from activities, including white water rafting the Kennebec River or hiking Tumbledown Mountain.

A student convocation is planned for 9 a.m. Tuesday. The formal ceremony is a “rite of passage into their new academic life” with faculty speakers and students filing onto the stage to put their names into a book of 2008 incoming students before settling in for the start of school on Wednesday.