Closing Out Week One

In this Issue:

• Encourage your Deacs to go to the Fall Involvement Fair on 9/2
• Faculty House Calls for first-year residence halls on 9/2
• Deacs Do Good on 9/3
• Leadership and Character Involvement kickoff on 9/3
• Free mindfulness classes
• Free Wellbeing Coaching
• After hours on-call nurse
• Daily Deac will be dark for Labor Day (administrative offices closed, classes are in session)

It’s gameday! Our first football game of the season is tonight, and it looks to be a gorgeous day for the game. To get you all in the spirit, here is a photostory from Wake the Demons on Wednesday night. And in other Athletics news, a record 353 student-athletes landed on the ACC Academic Honor Roll; that’s more than 70% of Deacons honored. Go Deacs!

At the start of every semester, I like to mention a few of our free (and amazing!) resources that are available to your students, as well as upcoming events. Whether you are a new P’29 parent/family member or a soon-to-graduate P’26, keep these in mind and recommend them to your Deac if these might be a good fit for them.

Encourage your Deacs to go to the Fall Involvement Fair on 9/2

This ran in yesterday’s WFU Should Know, the weekly email we send all students every Thursday afternoon with key news and info:

“Join us for the Fall Involvement Fair on Tuesday, Sept. 2, from 3:30-6 p.m. on Poteat Field and learn about nearly 200 organizations, departments, service agencies, and campus traditions that you can get involved with this year. Finding your place at Wake Forest often comes from meaningful involvement in clubs and organizations.”

Students of all years – but perhaps especially our ’29s – should go to the Involvement Fair and find a handful of clubs to join.

In the event your student has class or lab during that time, they can browse organizations in The Link and contact any organization to get on their distro list. Students can also work with the Office of Student Engagement on developing a personalized involvement plan if needed.

Faculty House Calls for first-year residence halls on 9/2

All first-year/’29 students got an email yesterday about Faculty House Calls in their residence halls on Sept. 2, right after the Fall Involvement Fair. The Faculty Fellows (i.e., faculty who do periodic programming/events in each first-year hall) will be in the hall lobby from 6-7:30 p.m. You can see this example for Collins residents, but know that each first-year hall got a tailored version for them.

This is a chance for your ’29s to meet their Faculty Fellows, have conversations with them, grab some free food and res hall swag, and more.

It might be tempting for your ’29s to zoom in, grab food, and go – but I would encourage them to lean in to this experience. Getting to know a faculty member that will be a regular presence in your res hall is a huge bonus. This can be someone your ’29 can go to with questions (about anything) and building a relationship with a Faculty Fellow helps demystify the idea of going to their actual faculty’s office hours (i.e., open time for any student to drop in and talk about the class – or anything else) when they need help.

Deacs Do Good on 9/3

I saw this in the Office of Civic and Community Engagement enewsletter this week:

“The Office of Civic and Community Engagement invites students to join us on Wednesday, Sept. 3, from 9 a.m.-12 noon on the Manchester Plaza Stage for Deacs Do Good. Students can stop by and learn about the OCCE’s programs and how they can get involved with volunteer service and campus traditions in the upcoming year, including: Day of Service, Virtual Tutoring, Campus Kitchen, Hit the Bricks, and Project Pumpkin! Breakfast treats provided.”

For service-minded Deacs and Deacs who want to be involved in our traditions like Hit the Bricks (strongly recommend!) this would be a great place to drop by next Weds.

Leadership and Character Involvement kickoff on 9/3

I also saw this tidbit in the Leadership and Character enewsletter this week:

“On Wednesday, September 3 at 6-7 p.m. students can join us for dinner as we hold our Leadership and Character Involvement Kickoff in the Magnolia Room. This gathering is an opportunity for students to meet Program staff and faculty, as well as to learn more about the work we do, and how to get involved.”

I am a huge fan of our Leadership and Character program, and this might be of particular interest to students who really want to think deeply and purposefully about issues of ethics, character, leadership, and values. (This would have been a great option for me – a strong introvert – at the start of my college career, had it existed then!) 

Free mindfulness classes

Our Office of Wellbeing shared this with me – as well as the next item on Wellbeing Coaching:

“MindfulWake’s Intro to Meditation is a 4-week course where participants learn mindfulness and meditation skills. Through this curriculum, students may experience less stress, better sleep, increased focus and less self-judgement.  MindfulWake classes are free and open to all Wake Forest University students.  Your students can find more information and register at go.wfu.edu/mindfulwake.”

Free Wellbeing Coaching

Wellbeing Coaching is a free and private service that can help support students as they work to make lifestyle changes — anything from increasing sleep or movement, to pursuing financial goals , or anything they choose related to their wellbeing.  These sessions are a great way to take stock of where a student is right now, where they want to be, and to find partnership and accountability to get there. Clients will meet 1-1 with a certified coach on a bi-weekly basis for the semester, with sessions starting the week of September 8.  Students can find coach bios, more information, and register for a session at  go.wfu.edu/wellbeingcoaching.

After hours on-call nurse

I always like to remind families of this around the first weekend of the semester. In the event your student is sick when Deacon Health is closed, an on-call nurse is available 24/7 to assist students with current healthcare concerns during non-clinic hours. Students can call 336.758.5218 and follow the prompts. A list of off-campus providers is also available here.

Daily Deac will be dark for Labor Day (administrative offices closed, classes are in session)

Just a reminder that there will be no Daily Deac on Monday, as administrative offices are closed for Labor Day (though your Deacs do still have classes).

Happy long weekend, Daily Deacdom! We’ll see you on Tuesday.