7/2 Weekly Update: Preview of the Tentative Orientation and New Deac Week schedule

Bottom Line Up Front:

  • Upcoming key dates or action items for families and/or students
  • Reminder on move-in dates
  • Preview of tentative Parent and Family Orientation schedule
  • A note from our Title IX office about required student course

Dear parents and families of incoming students,

Looking ahead to your Deacs’ arrival in August, we want to draw your attention to a few key items this week, then we will focus on a preview of the tentative Orientation and New Deac Week schedule.

Upcoming key dates or action items for families and/or students

Here’s what you should know this week.

for students

for parents/families

  • July 1 — Enrollment opened for the Health Insurance Enrollment/Waiver Form process; NOTE you must enroll or waive coverage (every year!) or you will be charged for WFU student insurance. See website for details and enroll or waive on or after July 1.
  • Fall tuition notification was issued July 1; Tuition must be paid by August 1. The following step-by-step guides are now available:
  • July 10 (Wednesday) — Family Weekend event registration opens at 10 a.m.
    • Family Weekend event registration will open Wednesday, July 10th at 10 a.m. Here is the tentative schedule for the weekend:
    • Registration (i.e., packet pick up) for Family Weekend will begin at 10 a.m. on Friday morning, September 27th. We will host our annual Deacon Family Festival that afternoon, have dinner options around campus, and special dining discounts at select Winston-Salem eateries (no advance registration needed). We will end Friday with the Night of Student Entertainment in Wait Chapel.
    • Saturday the 28th will feature a variety of activities, which include access to the student tailgate area before the Wake Forest vs. Louisiana football game.
    • On Sunday the 29th, we conclude the weekend with a farewell brunch (tickets required; purchase during registration) and Club Sports Jamboree.
    • Other activities and experiences such as tours, lectures, presentations and the like are in the works and will be added to family weekend.wfu.edu. For those still looking for hotel accommodations, please peruse the Visit Winston Salem website for current hotel listings in the area; also consider Airbnb, VRBO, etc. in the Piedmont Triad area (i.e., Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem). We will be updating the list of activities and Winston-Salem dining discounts on Friday, September 20th, when we receive notice of kickoff time. We look forward to having you with us in September!
  • July 16 webinar on Workday Financials: Parents and families who need to know how to make tuition and other payments should register for our upcoming, virtual demonstration about how to engage with your student’s financial information in Workday: 7 p.m. (EST) on July 16.

Reminder of move-in dates

As we look to move-in and Orientation, please keep the following dates in mind:

  • Friday, August 16 — Students accepted to Wilderness to Wake and Marching Band will move in
  • Saturday, August 17 — all other Pre-Orientation programs (including Connect@Wake) will move in.
    • Your student will receive their official move-in date at their WFU email address from the Office of Residence Life and Housing. The specific start time for your student’s program will be communicated by their Pre-Orientation program.
    • There will be an optional reception for families of students doing Pre-Orientation programs on Saturday, August 17 at 4 p.m. (see next section).
  • Wednesday, August 21 — move-in for students not participating in Pre-Orientation programs; check-in will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • Move-In Assistance: Move-in assistance from campus partners will be available until 12 p.m.
  • Students will receive a recommended move-in time slot with their housing assignments released by Wednesday, July 31st.
  • Moving in can seem chaotic, with hundreds of students arriving on campus in just a few hours. Our recommended time slots help with traffic flow so you can settle into your new home as quickly and smoothly as possible.
  • Students should arrive at the LJVM Coliseum no more than 15 minutes before their move-in time.

Parent and Family Reception for Students attending Pre-Orientation

  • All Parents and Families with students attending Pre-Orientation programs are cordially invited to connect with members of the campus community on Saturday, August 17th at 4 p.m. in the Wellbeing Center, Sutton Gym, C407 (21A on this map). This is an informal reception hosted by Orientation, Family Communications, and the Office of Family Engagement. There will be brief welcome remarks at 4:30 p.m. Dress is casual.

Preview of the tentative Parent and Family Orientation schedule — August 21-22

  • We have a tentative parent and family Orientation schedule available, which you can see here. We want to provide some context on the schedule.
  • Many of the activities for Orientation have parents and families attending one session, while their students go off in another direction. This is intentional, as it will help students connect to each other, rather than stay with their families the whole time. The sooner they meet and get to know their classmates, the easier the transition is likely to be when you leave.
  • There are multiple parent and family sessions. You are welcome to attend any that you like. Some two-member households opt to ‘divide and conquer’ and go to different sessions, doubling the number of sessions they can cover.
  • We will be sharing any slideshows/handouts (from presenters who provide them) the week or two after orientation.

There are a lot of tasks your students will need to attend to over the coming weeks. Continue letting your students take the lead on planning and completing all action items. Every bit of practice they get in self-management now will serve them well once the semester starts.

A note from our Title IX office about required student course

Our Office of Institutional Equity has been receiving a lot of questions from new families about a required Orientation course, Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination or Sexual Assault Prevention. They have asked me to share the following with new families:

  • “As you may have noticed, your student’s Workday account includes a list of tasks to complete before they register for classes at Wake Forest. We have had some questions about one of these tasks that includes the completion of a required course titled Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination or Sexual Assault Prevention.
  • This course, while required, will not be sent out to incoming students’ WFU email until early August. However, this should not prevent your student from being able to register for classes.
  • Your student can check the task box as complete, acknowledging that your student is aware of the upcoming mandatory training, and that they plan to complete it once sent.”

Parting Thoughts

We’ll be back next week with another message for P’28 families. In case you missed last week’s message, you can view our archive here.

With best wishes,

Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)
Executive Director of Family Communications

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