Two Items

In this Issue:

• President renews Michele Gillespie’s appointment as provost
• Should an incoming student stick with the foreign language they took in high school, or start a new one?

It’s nearly the end of the week, and I have just two items to share with you, Daily Deacdom. Let’s get right to it!

President renews Michele Gillespie’s appointment as provost

The Inside WFU website announced the following administrative update today:

“Wake Forest President Susan R. Wente announced today she has renewed Michele Gillespie’s appointment as provost for an additional three years. Gillespie began serving as provost in 2022.

‘Michele Gillespie combines the heart and commitment of a true teacher-scholar with a sophisticated understanding of what it takes to sustain and grow Wake Forest’s academic excellence across all schools and programs,’ Wente said. ‘She has already advanced many initiatives and programs – including the University’s Strategic Framework – that will shape the University’s future in important and exciting ways, and I look forward to what is ahead.'”

Read the full article here. Congratulations to Provost Gillespie. We look forward to continuing our important, shared work together.

Should an incoming student stick with the foreign language they took in high school, or start a new one?

I had a great question from an incoming student yesterday, and it is one that I suspect is on a lot of new students’ minds: should I stick with the foreign language I took in high school, or should I start a brand new language?

As an academic advisor, here’s how I would answer that question: It depends.

That’s not meant to be flippant – it’s just that there is no one-size-fits-all answer for all students. Instead, students need to think deeply about their interests, and reflect upon their motivation and their comfort level with trying/learning new things.

Before a student decides to study a brand new language, they should ask themself “how much do I enjoy learning new languages?” Starting a new language typically means 4 semesters (2 solid years) of the new language – verb conjugation, vocab flash cards, extensive classes, etc. If the student really loves learning languages and doesn’t mind starting over, terrific! Or if they know they are highly motivated to learn this new language (maybe they want to study abroad in a country speaking that language), that can be a solid reason to switch.

If, on the other hand, a student does not love grammar and vocabulary and intensive language classes, they might prefer to finish the language they studied in high school.

From a process perspective, new students must take the Foreign Language Placement Test in the language they studied in high school (assuming the student doesn’t have an AP/IB score that would determine their placement). Even if they think they want to take a different language, we still ask them to take the FLPT so they get a placement in their current language (just in case they change their mind!)

Depending on how they place on the FLPT, they could have anywhere between 1-4 semesters (i.e., half a year to two full years) to finish the language requirement at Wake. For a student who places only 1 or 2 semesters away from finishing the current foreign language, it can be a powerful incentive to stick with the language they already know.

As an aside, I have had some advisees (pre-pandemic) who had taken Latin in high school and wanted to switch to Spanish in college because they thought it would be more useful. It was a little bit of a culture shock for them to start in Spanish 111 with other students who had taken Spanish in high school (and placed into the first level class) because those students already knew some Spanish, whereas my advisees knew none and that caused them some anxiety. Please know I am not saying that a Latin student should or should not switch languages – just that they think through the possibilities before they do, so that they make an informed choice.

There is no right or wrong, just what is right for each individual student.