Catching up
Mondays are Meet A Deac days, and it seems like there’s always a lot of news to catch up on every Tuesday, so here goes.
Biggest news is that a message just went out to the campus community late this afternoon about the intent to require a COVID-19 vaccine this fall. You can read the message to families here, but I will pull out the BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front):
Wake Forest intends to require that all students enrolled in the Fall 2021 Semester be fully vaccinated.
Students should provide documentation of COVID-19 vaccination by July 1, 2021. Please note that prior indication of vaccination status through SneezSafe is not sufficient documentation.
All students are encouraged to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
You do not need to wait 90 days after infection to get vaccinated. It is safe and advisable to get vaccinated once released from isolation. Vaccination provides greater protection against variants than antibodies from prior infection.
Note that a version of this message went to our incoming ’25s too; they cannot upload their vaccine information until the New Students website goes live on May 3rd.
Our friends in Residence Life and Housing have created a webinar about the housing selection process. There is a ton of good information in here to help your Deac understand key housing processes such as the residency requirement (6 semesters), living off campus, requesting a disability related accommodation, how to form roommate groups and select housing, and more. Students can view the webinar here or can sign up for live info sessions and/or events to help meet other students looking for roommates.
There is some really sage advice in the webinar – not just on the practical/tactical parts of housing selection, but also about considering things like ‘should I live with my best friend, or do I need some separation between my living space and my social space?‘ and ‘do I have a plan A, B, and C?’ in case the building/roommate group I wanted doesn’t pan out as planned. On that note, I always encourage students to have frank, transparent discussions with their proposed roommate groups in advance of housing selection, so you avoid the situation where one person suddenly finds a single open and they grab it, or gets an offer to be pulled into another group in what they perceive is a more desirable building, leaving the other 3 people in their roommate group in the lurch. So have a gentleperson’s discussion/agreement about whether you will all stick together even if someone gets a better offer, etc. Easier to talk about that upfront than deal with hurt feelings on the back end.
Our emergency alert systems are going to be tested on April 27 and 28; read details here. Additionally, a revised copy of the 2020 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report has been posted on the Wake Forest University Police website to reflect current policies and information.
Our ’24s got their issue of Letters So Dear yesterday. I love this series and all the advice in it, but I especially like this week’s offering, as some of the professional academic counselors in the Office of Academic Advising reflect on their own time at college and what they learned. Great advice within the post, y’all.
Student Union has a variety of Springfest activities happening this week, which your Deacs can see here. Also a great idea to follow Student Union on Instagram.
It’s sunny and gorgeous weather this week (other than the pollen, which is more than plentiful). Whether your Deacs choose to throw a blanket on the lawn and study outdoors, take the path from campus to Reynolda House and Reynolda Gardens for a walk (and some May Way!), or use some of our cafe tables to eat lunch with a friend, hope they get their fill of this great weather.
