A piper and the roar of the O-Taiko Japanese drumming group entertained more than 120 students at the noon event.
The drumming group includes Otago University staff, students and members of the public.
The summer school students later joined a long and good-humoured queue to eat some barbecued sausages.
By taking papers at the school, students can gain credit for courses with six weeks of study, instead of about 13 weeks usually required to complete equivalent papers during the main university study year.
Students can take a maximum of two papers, but most opt for a single paper.
A total of 56 papers are being offered at this year's school, including eight new papers.
The most popular paper this year is chemistry 191, a second chance paper that has attracted 117 takers and can be studied only by students who have previously failed a first-year chemistry paper.
A marketing paper was the second most popular, with more than 100 takers, and forensic biology attracted about 100 people.
Otago University Students Association president Laura Harris and school director Dr Elaine Webster spoke at the welcome.
The school's overall student roll has dropped about 10% since 2013, but Dr Webster said she was encouraged by early roll indications this year.
The figures were still ‘‘volatile'' and subject to change, but she hoped this year's student roll might exceed the 1617 students who attended last year.
Theatre studies student Lani Swann said she had found the welcome ‘‘really fun'' and was also enjoying her first taste of summer school classes.
