Read everything
In this Issue: The importance of students reading the things they receive from WFU (emails, the syllabus for each class, etc.)
This is a message I like to share with families every year so you can talk about this with your Deacs before the fall semester begins.
The Bottom Line, Up Front of today’s post is: students need to read all the things sent to them (e.g., emails from Wake administrators or faculty members, their course syllabus for each class, the weekly WFU Should Know e-newsletter, etc.) because students will be held responsible for knowing the contents (whether they read them or not).
In reading emails or the WFU Should Know e-newsletter, students need to look for action items, policies, and expectations. Are there requirements? Due dates? Deadlines? Fees if you do (or do not) do something? Policies they will be expected to uphold? etc.
We want students to be in the habit of reading the fine print. Even (or maybe especially) when the email or document is long.
If something does not make sense or is unclear, they should ask the sender for clarification as soon as possible.
Reading the course syllabus
A syllabus is a document that contains all the requirements for a faculty member’s course, including assignments and when they are due, course policies (such as attendance), learning objectives, grading policy, required textbooks or other materials, etc.
The syllabus is typically given out on the first day of the course (or made available online in Canvas), and the faculty member reviews the pertinent information with the class.
Students are held responsible for knowing what is in the syllabus and adhering to its requirements.
What if a student doesn’t read closely (or at all)?
If a time comes when your Deac doesn’t read their emails/other communications and faces some sort of consequence, we encourage families to let their student experience this as a learning moment.
It will be better for them to learn a mildly painful lesson now at college (when the stakes are pretty low), than to make a serious misstep with their first boss/job out of college (when they could face a tough consequence or have career-limiting consequences).
I work in the University Marketing and Communications team and we are mindful of the fact that many students don’t like emails (and certainly don’t like long ones!) and we try to be responsive when we can. There are some times where there is a complicated situation, or a lot of nuance, and we need more words than they might like. Students need to read those anyway :)