Still away on my travels, so today’s pre-post is about getting to and from campus at breaks.
Around this time of year, we typically get questions about the Thanksgiving and Winter breaks and how to schedule flights home for their students. Here’s a few things to consider as you make your student’s travel plans:
1. Check the Academic Calendar before making any flights. The Academic Calendar is the official schedule for the University. Make sure you are aware of the exact date for breaks.
2. Ask your student to review his/her course syllabus and talk to his professors first before making firm travel plans. Occasionally a faculty member will decide to make a class optional or will allow a student to take his or her finals on an earlier date than originally scheduled. In addition, some students may think they want slide in an extra day off in the days leading up to Thanksgiving – but students need to be aware of their professor’s attendance policies and make sure they are not missing required classes.
3. Think about airports. The closest airport to campus is the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, which is about 25 miles from campus. Farther away – typically 1.5 hours drive from campus – are Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte airports. While a flight into Raleigh or Charlotte might be cheaper than Greensboro, consider the cost of shuttle service by private hire or via our Transportation office, or Ubers to those airports vs. a shuttle or Uber to Greensboro. If your student has friends on campus willing to drive them to/from the farther airports, that’s great – but if not, the cost of shuttle service may be worse than the cost of flying into Greensboro.
4. If you have daughters planning to take part in sorority recruitment, remember that they need to arrive on campus earlier than the official start of the spring term. Recruitment begins on January 8th (see the parent and family calendar here).
