Fri-YAY!
In this issue:
- URECA Undergraduate Research Day
- First-year faculty house calls
- Data Driven – story on young alumnus and baseball analytics
- Mid-Autumn Day
- Reminder about contacting us after business hours/on the weekend
Happy Friday, Deac families! All signs point to a beautiful fall weather weekend, so your Deacs should be in high spirits.
I found several web gems that might give you a smile as you start your weekend. Enjoy!
URECA/Undergraduate Research Day
One of the great events at Family Weekend is Undergraduate Research Day, and I hope many of you had a chance to see it. I’m not sure how much families might know about undergrad research, but it is something of a rare phenomenon. At a lot of big R1 schools (i.e., national research universities), their faculty are primarily invested in their Master’s and Ph.D. students, because those are the students working in their labs and helping advance their research.
At Wake, undergraduates who are interested in research can talk to their faculty and see if they can get involved in their scholarly projects, even as a first-year student. It’s one of the things I have always loved about Wake. (And in a similar vein, you don’t have to be an arts major to try out for our plays and our ensembles – anyone can!)
Anyway, some of my colleagues put together a story about the event, which is worth a read:
“This year, 140 undergraduate students and more than 120 faculty mentors participated in Undergraduate Research Day, which. It provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to present their recently completed and ongoing research projects in both poster format and in oral presentations. “The range of questions researched is only limited by the imagination of our students,” said URECA Center Director Wayne Pratt. Read more about celebrating undergraduate research and creative work.”
First-year faculty house calls
Over Family Weekend, I was reminded by a faculty member that “Faculty house calls” are coming up on October 3rd in the first-year residential communities.
So for P’27s, on October 2nd, your Deacs may want to tidy their rooms just in case their door gets a knock.
Data Driven – story on young alumnus and baseball analytics
I got my issue of the Wake Forest Magazine e-newsletter today, and there is a web exclusive story that really caught my eye, because my house is a baseball-loving house (Mr. Daily Deac is a Little League umpire and district Little League staff, as well as a die-hard Dodgers fan).
“The Wake Forest baseball team’s run to the Men’s College World Series in June kept Deacon fans pulling out their lucky shirts, caps and coffee mugs long after they typically stow them for the summer.
But while we cheered for Rhett Lowder and Brock Wilken and the other Diamond Deacs on the field, Chris Lewis (’22, MSA ’23) was leading another team of students off the field, offering hard data in addition to vibes to help the Deacons get to Omaha.
Lewis was the baseball program’s director of analytics for its historic 2023 season. He and a team of 22 undergraduate and graduate students used cutting-edge technology to collect and analyze data from practices, games and biomechanics to help head coach Tom Walter (P ’23), pitching coach Corey Muscara and the rest of the staff improve the team’s own weaknesses and target opponents’. (We asked for more on what exactly they study, but Lewis and the coaches treat that information like trade secrets.)”
Read the full story here. It’s terrific.
Mid-Autumn Day
Our Office of the Chaplain does a terrific job sharing information about religious holidays and practices that our students (and their families!) may be observing. Some of our students and families will be celebrating Mid-Autumn Day today:
“Mid-Autumn Day (also known as Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival) — A traditional festival celebrated by many East and Southeast Asian people. The moon on this day is believed to be at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of Autumn. Family members gather to appreciate the moon while enjoying delicious mooncakes.”
祝你和你的家人中秋快乐
Reminder about contacting us after business hours/on the weekend
Periodically we like to remind families that if something urgent comes up after normal business hours or on the weekends, please refer to our After Hours Help page. There is info there for true call-911 type of emergencies, our 336-758-CARE (2273) 24/7 line that is available for student mental health concerns, how students can access the after hours nurse line for medical concerns when Student Health is closed, or how they can get a facilities work order for repairs, etc.
So please use that resource for timely assistance, as those will be the quickest ways to get answers and support. Thank you!
And because it’s Friday, give your Deacs a call 🙂 And have a great weekend!