Tuesday Thoughts

In this Issue:

• Family Weekend weather
• Careers in Marketing (alumni panel) – Oct. 1
• Metrics of Excellence
• P’29 weekly message: finding a mentor

This morning we had tests of Wake’s emergency alert systems. Your students should have received a phone call, a text message, an email, and a temporary takeover of their laptop screen, which looks like this:

If your Deac did not get this screen takeover, they need to download Alertus from our IS website. This is really important because heaven forbid it was a real emergency and students were in class and had their phones off (but laptops on), the would be able to see emergency instructions.

On to today’s news…

Family Weekend weather

For those of you who are coming this weekend for Family Weekend – and I hope it is a lot of you! – it is worth keeping an eye on the weather. This is the forecast as of this morning:

Temps look good, though I am less enthused about the prospect of rain. All that to say that it would behoove all guests to continue checking to see if the forecast changes as the week progresses, and pack accordingly. I am a big believer in the idea that if I pack a raincoat and umbrella, it might not actually rain – but if I don’t pack those, it might. You make the choice that works for you :)

Careers in Marketing (alumni panel) – Oct. 1

My colleagues in the OPCD (Office of Personal and Career Development) wanted to be sure the Daily Deac was aware of the following offering, as so many of our students talk about being interested in marketing:

“Careers in Marketing (Alumni Panel) | Wednesday, Oct 1, | 5 – 6:15 p.m. | Virtual 

Encourage your student to join us for a virtual panel discussion with alumni providing insights into the field of marketing, which incorporates a range of career options. Hear these professionals talk about areas like brand management, account management, digital marketing, content marketing, communications, and market research/insights.

Students will have an opportunity to ask questions in an open forum at the end of the event.”

So if your Deac is interested in marketing – or is even considering it – encourage them to participate if they can!

Metrics of Excellence

Even though I work at Wake and am generally exceptionally plugged in to things going on here, sometimes it takes a few steps back to look at the Forest as a whole, instead of seeing just the trees (and by that I mean individual projects, updates, etc.) This morning I got one of those high level views that ties a lot of our Wake threads together in a really compelling way – it is an article on Inside WFU entitled Metrics of Excellence. It opens with:

“Record-breaking application numbers, the largest incoming undergraduate class in the University’s history and expanding national influence in key academic areas affirm the continuing strength of Wake Forest’s educational reputation.”

The article then goes to point out some of the outcomes that speak to the excellence of a Wake Forest education:

• Within six months of graduation, 97% of the Class of 2024 is employed or enrolled in graduate programs
• Graduates consistently secure positions at top organizations and gain acceptance into prestigious graduate schools
• Three out of every five class sections at Wake Forest have fewer than 20 students; 99% of class sections have fewer than 50 students
• 97% percent of undergraduates who enroll at Wake Forest as first-time, full-time students return for their second year

The article also mentioned some of the major wins we have had in terms of academic momentum:

• Through its Educating Character Initiative, the Program for Leadership and Character has built a community of educators from more than 400 higher education institutions engaged in developing and implementing ideas for integrating character education on their campuses
• In the past four years, eight Wake Forest faculty have won highly competitive CAREER awards, the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for young faculty
• In July, the second campus of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Charlotte welcomed its first class of students

I encourage you to read the full article because it is a really good look at the Big Picture and where Wake shines.

As an alumna and an administrator, I am proud of Wake Forest’s trajectory, and I love that we are in such high demand (there were nearly 20K applications for our Class of 2029, and we enrolled 1,545, the largest in Wake’s history). I can’t wait to see where we go in the next 5-10 years!

P’29 weekly message: finding a mentor

Yesterday our First Year Families page added a new message. This one is about finding a mentor. Hope our P’29s might find it helpful.