Midweek

In this Issue:

• Family Weekend reminders – and a request
• Upcoming break periods, when our residential communities close, and what options exist for Winter Break
• Off-campus e-newsletter
• Perspective on how job recruiters use national rankings
• Chi Upsilon Sigma Latin sorority interest meeting 9/25

We’ve hit the midpoint of the week – and soon many of our families will be here for Family Weekend! I have some early intel to show today, there may be more tomorrow.

Family Weekend reminders – and a request

My colleagues who are central to planning and hosting Family Weekend tell me we are going to welcome 1,500+ families to campus this weekend. As of today, the forecast suggests we’ll have some rain this weekend, so I please prepare for inclement weather as a possibility. 

It will be important to check the Family Weekend schedule throughout the weekend, just in case the weather impact any of our event options. Also, I am told that if you have emailed the Family Weekend email address and are still awaiting a response, please stop by the customer service desk upon arrival at the Benson Center 4th floor to check in (with all events, the last couple of days before is normally crazy with final work). My colleagues also asked me to wish everyone safe travels and that look forward to seeing all of y’all on Friday. 

And now my request 🙂 We know there will be families who are not able to make it for Family Weekend. That may not be a huge deal if your student is a junior or senior, but it may be particularly hard for first-year students and maybe even sophomores. So each year, I like to encourage families to consider including students from your child’s hall/suite/apartment in some of your plans if their family can’t be here for Family Weekend.

I think especially of our international students, but there will be other students who, for whatever reason, their family can’t get to campus this weekend. Inviting them for a meal, or bringing some spare goodie bags of treats that you could leave at their door with a positive message attached, etc. might be the lift those students need. Thank you for considering.

Upcoming break periods, when our residential communities close, and what options exist for Winter Break

The Office of Residence Life and Housing sent resident students a message about housing over the breaks (fall, Thanksgiving, and winter break). Key points:

• Our communities are open for Fall Break and Thanksgiving Break (looking ahead, we are also open during Spring Break).
• Our communities close for Winter Break at 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 17, unless your student is moving into Winter Break Housing. 
• For more details on when our communities open or close, please review the dates posted here.

Off-campus e-newsletter

For families with students living off campus (this would typically be P’24s), your off-campus students got an off-campus e-newsletter today from the Office of Residence Life and Housing. There’s definitely some good info in there, so encourage your off-campus Deacs to read it.

Perspective on how job recruiters use national rankings

Earlier today I got an email that discussed a concern that some of our students have been expressing, and that is the fear that our new US News rankings will negatively impact their job prospects. Here’s what Andy Chan, our Vice President for Innovation and Career Development, shared about that:

“When deciding to recruit talent from colleges and universities, recruiters prioritize several factors, but media rankings are not one of them. In a Gallup-Strada survey, about 9 out of 10 employers do NOT focus on college rankings when making hiring decisions. Employers are much more interested in a university’s past success in producing talented graduates who are able to excel in their careers, its students and graduates specific skills and abilities, and its connections to the community and industry.

Wake Forest attracts a wide diversity of recruiters and graduate programs from across the country. Employers and graduate schools who recruit at Wake Forest rate their experience as outstanding with 70 Net Promoter Score (over 50 is excellent). They consistently report that Wake Forest produces top talent with a high work ethic and key competencies/skills (e.g., analytical, critical thinking, interpersonal, communication, teamwork, and collaboration).”

Andy is a national thought leader in this space and has revolutionized the college-to-career path, certainly at Wake, but also helped create a model for other schools to emulate. I trust his expertise on this.

Chi Upsilon Sigma Latin sorority interest meeting 9/25

The sisters of Chi Upsilon Sigma invite students to their informational eXpresso! The time is dedicated to learning about their warm and amazing sisterhood and all it has to offer interested students! If your Deac is interested, encourage them to attend on Monday, September 25 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in Benson 410 for an amazing time together!