Goodbye Gloomy Tuesday
In this Issue:
- Lighting of the Quad photostory
- ICYMI, tuition was due yesterday
- 24-hour quiet hours in residential communities for finals
- When students belong, they are more likely to earn a degree
Depending on which weather forecast you looked at yesterday, you may have thought today might bring some snow, or just very cold rain. Turns out it is just very cold rain. A gloomy Tuesday (in my head I am singing Goodbye Ruby Tuesday but subbing ‘ruby’ with ‘gloomy’)
My preferred weather app says we could get snow on Friday morning. Snow this early in December is rare, but it does happen. In the event that winter weather causes a delay or a cancellation, students would be alerted via the normal Wake Alert methods (email, text, etc.).
Now on to today’s news…
Lighting of the Quad photostory
Last night was the Lighting of the Quad, and from the looks of this photostory, a festive time was had by all! You can look through the photos and see our speakers, musical groups, and the lighting of candles. You might even see your Deac!
If you wish to subscribe to Photostories so they will come directly to your inbox every time a new one is published, you can subscribe at the bottom of the photostory.
ICYMI, tuition was due yesterday
In case you missed it, tuition for the spring semester was due yesterday. You can see payment methods and/or the Workday jobaid for authorized Third Party Payers, if needed.
24-hour quiet hours in residential communities for finals
In preparation for finals, all our residential communities will observe 24-hour quiet hours beginning Friday, Dec 5 at 5 p.m. and running through Saturday, December 13.
When students belong, they are more likely to earn a degree
As administrators, we talk a lot about sense of belonging and how important it is to our students – particularly our first-year students, who spend the better part of the first year here trying to find their place, so to speak. We know that a sense of belonging positively impacts students’ happiness. Thanks to one of our outstanding faculty members, we now also know how much “a student’s feelings of belonging predict whether they earn a degree.”
This article showcases the work of Dr. Shannon Brady. Here’s a taste:
“Students are more likely to attain their degree when they report a stronger sense of belonging in their first year of college, according to a new study by Wake Forest University psychology professor Shannon Brady.
A one-point increase on a five-point belonging scale corresponded to a 3.4 percentage-point bump in the likelihood that a student would graduate within four years.
It’s a rare—and likely first-time—look at how much a student’s feelings of belonging predict whether they earn a degree.”
Knowing the importance of belonging on degree attainment can directly impact schools’ priorities: Brady says “This connection between belonging and graduation highlights the importance of institutional efforts that help students feel academically and socially integrated—not as a ‘nice-to-have,’ but as a key dimension of student success.”
And there is good news here for families whose students did not feel that sense of belonging right away: “Even students who start out feeling less connected are more likely to finish if their sense of belonging grows over time. So institutions that track a sense of belonging and attempt to increase that sense for struggling students could change their outcomes for the better.
‘You might think that students come into first year and either feel that sense of belonging or they don’t, and then it’s set,’ Brady noted. ‘But our data are suggesting that how things fluctuate over time also matters for students.’”
This really is groundbreaking research: Brady said “It’s wild that we are the first ones to be able to do this, but the data just haven’t existed.” Very proud of yet one more example of Wake faculty showcasing their academic excellence in areas that can make a big difference in students’ lives. You can read the full story here.