Easy Day
Today is the official start of Fall Break. Whether your Deac came home, went elsewhere for the weekend, or is on campus, my money is that they slept in (heck, they still may be sleeping at the time I wrote this in late morning!) Because it’s Fall Break (and thus a slow news time), I have just a few things to share today.
Earlier this week, we held an event for Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and our very own Mahlea Hunt (’23), a member of the Lumbee tribe (and Miss Lumbee 2022), is featured in a video about the day. Part of the day’s events was to work in the “Three Sisters” Garden: “The garden is intended to be an experiential learning space where the three sisters (corn, beans, squash), and other foods traditional to the Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands will be grown.” The “Three Sisters” Garden was beautifully explained by our Office of Sustainability here. The project is a collaboration between our Office of Sustainability and our Intercultural Center. 
I wanted to draw your attention to a couple of upcoming academic dates from the Academic Services calendar (a great site for your Deacs to bookmark, BTW). When students get back from break, we’ll be in the academic advising period. In other words, students should be meeting with their Lower Division Adviser (i.e., their pre-major adviser) or their Major adviser (and Minor adviser if applicable). The advising period runs through October 28th; this is a check-in between student and adviser to review their course plan for next semester, make sure they are on track with requirements, and just to see how they are doing personally. Spring course registration runs October 31-November 11. Earlier this week, undergraduate students received this message from the Office of the University Registrar with details on spring course registration.
The other date to mention is that October 24 is the last day to drop a full-term class with a grade of W (Withdraw). In practical terms, what it means is that the course shows up on a student’s transcript, but there is no letter grade, just a W to show they attempted the course but withdrew. Sometimes after midterm grades come back, a student decides they want to withdraw from a particular class. It’s important for students to understand that they should not start that withdrawal process on the due date of October 24th; there are signatures and other things they need to acquire, so starting well in advance of that date is best. See more details here.
We’ll close with two publications: news fans can check out WFU in the News (Oct. 3-9) and this week’s WFU Should Know student e-newsletter.
Wishing your Deacs a restful Fall Break!
–– by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)
October 13, 2022