Thursday clarification

Happy Thursday, Deac families! Wanted to bring a couple of updates or clarifications today. You might have seen on the news yesterday that Governor Cooper has enacted a mask-wearing order for NC, which goes into effect Friday at 5 pm. 

I also have a clarification from Residence Life and Housing about the email that went out yesterday to our ‘24s about the housing process and roommates. Key points to know:

First-year students do NOT have to pick a roommate. It is not a requirement. Residence Life and Housing will still form roommate pairs as needed, via the process we have successfully used for years.

The intent of yesterday’s message was NOT to have all students “shop for a roommate.” Our goal here was to allow students who already know someone they want to room with to make that choice. 

If your student does not already know someone they want to live with, they should not be shopping for one now. Let our matching process take place for you.

Finally, even if your student chooses a roommate via the process outlined in the email, that is not a guarantee they will get a double. A lot goes into roommate assignments for first-year students (we have to work through a medical accommodation process first, then we look at assigning the remaining rooms, keeping in mind the requirements because of COVID). So right now it is impossible to speculate as to whether a student will get a single or a double.  

I say this a lot to parents and families: trust the process. So please, trust the process.

As an aside, this is a great time to remind that every email that goes to students does not automatically go to parents and families. This is by design. One of the ways we help college students develop independence and foster responsibility is by communicating with them, and letting them have the chance to read, digest, and act on the information they receive.

There are certain emails that will go to parents and families too, and we have a well-developed parent and family communications philosophy and set of guidelines we use to determine what gets emailed to families and what does not but is archived on Family News (for campuswide emails) and/or Emails Your Students Received (for ‘24s only). If you have not discovered this document yet, I encourage you to look at it so you know the types of situations where you will hear directly from Wake. 

Also, know that when I am made aware of emails that go out to all students, I will always reference them here in the Daily Deac. That’s a perk of being a Daily Deac-er 😉

— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (‘92, MA ‘94)