Start of the Semester Things to Consider

Y’all, I have been derelict in my duty to our P’26s: we have started up with our Weekly Messages for First-Year Families, and I completely forgot to link to it from the Daily Deac. My apologies – you can see the first two messages here. We have one on things your new students should be doing in the opening weeks of school, and the second message is on navigating residential life. Going forward, we will link these in the Daily Deac, most likely each Tuesday. We also have the recording of New Student Convocation online now; music begins around the 4:30 mark and remarks around the 6:55 mark. Finally, first-year students received this message about their light switches and outlet usage today.

Speaking of things to read, your Deacs are getting the syllabus for each of their classes, which is essentially a contract for the class, showing what the assignments are and when they are due, how they will be graded, any class policies such as attendance, etc. that they need to be aware of. It is critical that they read all their syllabi in detail and make sure they understand the contents, because they will be held to the syllabus.

Back in May, I shared a post called Read Everything, and if you didn’t read it then, I encourage you to read it now. One of the struggles we sometimes have is that students do not appear to read the important messages we send them – those could contain important dates, deadlines, action items they must complete – or if they read them, they skim and miss critical details. Students will be held accountable for the contents of their syllabi, any emails from administrators, or policies that have been shared with them, so it is to their benefit to get in the habit of doing a deep read of everything that is sent to them and to be on the lookout for important to-do’s, deadlines, and action items.

And at the start of each semester, I like to share with new families (or remind our continuing families) of our Family Communications Guidelines and Philosophy, so you are aware of how we want to work with families. The bottom of the website shows the types of situations when families would hear from Wake Forest (and when they would not). Please review this website if you had not already done so.

As a mom myself (to a HS senior), I imagine that many of you are missing your kiddos already. I wanted to remind you that we do have a Quad Cam that gives a wide view of the Quad. It’s too distant most likely for you to be able to recognize your student walking across the lawn. I will confess I have always hoped that students might do something fun on their loved ones’ birthdays and tell them to log on to the Quad Cam at noon on their birthday so they can wave to you and blow you a kiss. At minimum, it gives you a sense of what the weather is like.

Here was the view from the Quad Cam first thing this morning. Please note the pristine rows in the grass, which was being cut as I watched (you can see the riding mower mid-picture). I always love the symmetry of a freshly-mown Quad.

— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)

August 24, 2022