Thursday in brief

In this Issue:

• Registration perspective shared in student e-newsletter
• When is Family Weekend 2026? (We don’t know yet!)
• Is your student staying on campus for Thanksgiving? They can order a Thanksgiving meal

I hope some of you already saw the Fall in the Forest post on Instagram. Campus is so beautiful with all the fall leaves.

And if you watch the video, you will see students in pants and jackets, as well as students in shorts. That’s because we have entered that weird part of fall in NC where it could be hot or cold given the day. To wit, the forecast high for tomorrow is 71, and the high for Monday is projected to be *44* (with a low temp of 28). Which just begs me to roll out some of my favorite weather funnies for your viewing pleasure:

Let’s get to the news of the day!

Registration perspective shared in student e-newsletter

Thursday afternoons are when WFU Should Know (our weekly student e-newsletter) goes out. Today there was an item from the Office of Academic Advising with some perspective on registration this week:

“Students and families should keep in mind:

It is unlikely that first-years and sophomores will get a full schedule during the first week of registration.

Some seats are reserved for majors, minors, or students with a specific class standing. All reserved seats will be released on Thursday, November 13th. Departments may choose to release some reserved seats before that date.

Departments are carefully monitoring enrollment. Additional seats and even sections of courses may be added.

If you are on the waitlist for a course you are hoping to get, make sure it does not conflict with any other classes in your schedule. Students with scheduling conflicts will not move off the waitlist. If enrollment in a course will put you over 17 hours, you also will not move off the waitlist.

Consider alternative courses with open seats that fit your current schedule. Advisors are available in OAA to talk you through different options.

Students who have been approved for a credit overage will be eligible to register for their additional classes on November 17th.

Remember that there will be movement across courses until the Add deadline on January 21st.”

I know as a college mom myself that it can be hard to hear administrators say “trust the process.” My experience – and I have been at Wake a long time – is that things typically do have a way of working out.

When is Family Weekend 2026? (We don’t know yet!)

I have gotten this question a few times from families and thought it might be helpful to share in the Daily Deac: When is Family Weekend 2026?

The date for Family Weekend is typically set for a weekend with a home football game. We don’t normally get the football schedule until late January or early February.

Even once the schedule is released, there is some due diligence we need to do before deciding the date (e.g., check on availability of hotel space, see if there are religious holidays to be aware of, check the academic calendar so we don’t pick a weekend too close to move in/too late in the semester, etc.).

So know that it does take a bit of time between the football schedule release and the determination of the Family Weekend date. We know you all have plans and want to know as soon as possible, and I will share it the moment I get it. Thank you for your patience in the interim.

Is your student staying on campus for Thanksgiving? They can order a Thanksgiving meal

While I daresay most of our students leave campus for Thanksgiving break, not all are able to. And for those students, our Deacon Dining has a method for them to order their very own Thanksgiving meal. See flyer below for details (click to enlarge).

Closer to Thanksgiving break, I will share updated hours of operation for campus facilities so students can plan ahead for their needs. But I wanted to share this now since I have it.