July 8 Weekly Update: Academics and registration

Bottom Line, Up Front

• Upcoming key dates or action items for families 
• Thoughts on course registration
• Academic accommodations and Meet the CLASS (Center for Learning, Access, and Student Success) Director Zoom events
• Tool your Deacs should consider using: the Comprehensive Syllabus
• Pre-Wall Street Career Track Zoom

Dear parents and families of incoming students,

We’re bringing you the weekly email with FYIs, due dates and other considerations for you as your student gets ever closer to beginning their Wake Forest experience. Here’s what you should know this week.

Upcoming key dates or action items for families

Here’s what you should know this week.

• If you have not already done so, talk to your student about having them make you an authorized payer (third party access) in Workday. This allows you to receive notifications of tuition bills and other payments due (strongly recommended that all students authorize a third-party payer) Your student will have to do this via their Workday account, which they can access with their WFU email login credentials (student third party setup instructions here).
  • In the past, we have had students add Authorized Payers/Third Party Access but not grant access to specific functions, such as Make a Payment, receive Proactive Past Due Notifications, View Account Activity and View Account statements. To manage permissions via Workday, students will need to:
    • Type in the search “Manage Permissions for my Third Party”
    • Choose the permissions.
    • Click Ok.
    • Type a purpose of waiver for the permissions and confirm FERPA permissions.
  • Once you are set up as an Authorized Third Party, if you go into the QuikPay payment portal, you will be prompted to enroll in or decline GradGuard tuition insurance. The GradGuard tuition insurance plan ensures up to a 100% tuition refund throughout the semester for tuition, fees, meal plan, and housing (up to $50,000.00) in case of withdrawal due to accident, illness, mental health, death of a payer, or loss of employment of a payer. 
• Student health insurance enrollment or waiver process is now open:
• All enrolled students are required to enroll in or waive the Student Health Insurance plan annually (i.e., you complete a waiver to show your student has acceptable insurance coverage through your policy).

• All students are automatically charged for the student insurance plan and required to complete the enrollment or waiver forms. If you do not complete either form by September 15, you will be automatically enrolled even if you have existing coverage. If you have sufficient coverage through your own policy, you may complete the waiver form and the charge will be removed.
• While not due until September 15, you should enroll in or waive coverage now.
• In addition to comprehensive medical coverage, the policy includes (2) preventive dental visits with an in-network provider and a $200 vision allowance for glasses or contacts.

• Coverage is effective August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026. The cost is $2,842.00 annually or $1,421.00 per semester. For questions, please call 1.833.207.7430 or visit University Health Plans for details.
• Students who have not completed the enrollment or waiver forms will receive email reminders at their WFU email address. 
• Tuition must be paid by August 1. Parents and families who need to know how to make tuition and other payments should use the following step-by-step guides:
  • Third-Party Users: Access Your Workday Account
  • Third-Party Users: Managing Student Financials  
• Ensure your student has a plan to have a laptop, as they are required. Visit WakeWare, the student laptop program, to order a laptop. WakeWare is the official Wake Forest laptop program, selected specifically for our undergraduate students. Only WakeWare models include four years of on-campus accidental damage and repair coverage. All WakeWare repairs are handled right on campus in the ZSR Library, by our friendly team at The Bridge IT Service Desk. Purchase WakeWare from the Wake Forest bookstore, online or on-campus. There are some distinct benefits to a WakeWare laptop that new families should be aware of:

• WakeWare computers are insured for four years with an extended warranty and accidental damage protection. Students can call, email, chat, or stop by to work with one of our Service Desk Analysts at The Bridge.
• If your student’s WakeWare laptop is ever in need of repair, they can drop off their laptop at The Bridge Service Desk, conveniently located in the atrium of the ZSR Library, and one of our licensed technicians will handle their repair. 
• Students will be issued a loaner laptop for the duration their WakeWare laptop is being repaired.
• Take advantage of summer promos from retailers: Apple products receive AirPods or Apple Pencil with purchase of a laptop or iPad. See go.wfu.edu/BuyWakeware for details. Offers are redeemable through purchasing at the Bookstore or online. 
• You can also see what the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) requirements are if your student has a laptop they are considering bringing to campus. 

• Technology Grants are awarded to incoming undergraduate students who receive need-based, merit, or athletic scholarship funds from Wake Forest during their first two years of enrollment. Students eligible to redeem a Technology Grant were notified in late May at their WFU email address.

Thoughts on Course Registration

• Registration for fall classes will occur July 16-August 10. At your student’s designated registration time, they will be permitted to access registration by logging into Workday. They will be allowed to register for up to and including seventeen hours. Registration will remain open until 11:59 p.m. EDT on August 10.
• The Office of the University Registrar sent a comprehensive message out to students on June 24. Encourage your student to read it thoroughly and carefully. Refer to Course Registration for details.
• Registration can be a high-stress time for students, and it is easy for families and loved ones to feel that stress too. Here are a few tips that we hope might make this process easier:
  • Let your students take the lead on researching classes to take, and what they sign up for. If your student knows what they want to study but is not sure which class(es) to prioritize this fall, Departmental Course Guides for New Deacs can help. Remember, most incoming student schedules will include the following: 

• FYS 100 (3 hr) or WRI 111 (4 hr)
  • Some students may choose to take WRI 109 (2 hr; Fall 2025) + WRI 110 (2 hr; Spring 2026) instead of WRI 111; WRI 109 and WRI 110 may be paired with FYS 100
• A language course, pending results of the foreign language placement test or AP/IB scores (3-5 hr) 
• A divisional course to explore a potential major/minor (3-4 hrs) 
• A divisional course to explore a potential major/minor (3-4 hrs)
• HES 100 (1 hr)
  • A half-semester course that may be taken fall or spring of a student’s first year

• Urge students to use the resources from Wake Forest when they have questions or need help. Wake Forest staff have expertise and broad understanding of our requirements, which positions them to best assist our students.
• Make sure your student is aware of the Core Requirements and understands that they have options when it comes to completing Basic, Divisional, and 21st Century Stewardship requirements. If referring to the slides used during summer advising – or watching a recording of one such session – would be helpful, your student may do so here. This same site has advising and registration FAQs and directs students to everything they need to prepare for registration.
• There are also ample academic resources on the New Students website related to registration; urge your Deacs to read through all of the Planning for Registration information, as well as the Class Registration page, which has step by step registration instructions (including where they see their registration day/time).
• Help your student be open to alternatives: classes at a different day or time than they hoped, or with a different faculty member. Remind your student that going to a liberal arts university requires coursework beyond their intended major. Every divisional class – even if it’s not their first choice! – will satisfy an important requirement, and almost every student needs a handful (or more) of general electives to graduate.
• Remind them to trust the process. Things have a way of working out in the end.
• Know that there will be a drop/add period if your student wants to make changes to their Fall 2025 schedule: they can make adjustments to their Fall 2025 schedule during New Deac Week on August 22 after consulting with their Lower Division Advisor during their individual advising meeting. At that time, your student’s advisor should remove the advising hold which will allow your student access to make adjustments to their course schedule. Refer to the Academic Services Calendar for specific drop/add dates, and encourage your student to put the following deadlines in their Google Calendar/planner. 

Term Period	Last Day to Add	Last Day to Drop	Last Day to Withdraw
First Part of Term	August 28	September 10	September 23
Full Term	September 2	September 29	October 27
Second Part of Term	October 20	October 31	November 13

Academic accommodations and Meet the CLASS (Center for Learning, Access, and Student Success) Director Zoom events

• CLASS offers free peer tutoring, academic coaching, academic workshops, and more. There are so many free tools in the toolbox to help students maximize their academic success.
• If your student needs learning accommodations, make sure they submit a disability-related academic accommodation request with supporting documentation (if applicable).  Students have the opportunity to schedule their meeting with a CLASS provider via Zoom and get their learning accommodations in place before arriving on campus. Taking this step during the summer will make for a smoother start to the semester for your student. 
• If your student submitted an academic accommodation request, make sure to have them check their Wake Forest email account for a message from CLASS.  Follow up instructions are sent via email. Students can schedule and complete their required CLASS meeting over the summer and have accommodations approved and in-place before they arrive on campus.   
• Mark your calendars! On Wednesday July 23rd at 6 p.m. and Wednesday, July 30th at 6 p.m., CLASS will offer a Meet the Director virtual webinar; register here. Dr. Michael Shuman will provide information on the accommodations process and be ready to answer any questions you may have. Since students may ask individual disability related questions, these sessions will not be recorded. 

Tool your Deacs should consider using: the Comprehensive Syllabus

• As we talk about academics, I want to plant the seed about a highly useful tool from CLASS (Center for Learning, Access, and Student Success): the Comprehensive Syllabus, which is a single document students create that shows all of their homework, assignments, test dates, paper due dates, projects, etc. – which allows them to have an at-a-glance view of what they need to work on each week, how to plan their study time, etc.
• This video about the Comprehensive Syllabus shows your student how they will be able to set up a Comprehensive Syllabus once they get the syllabus for each class the first week of school. (Note: your student will probably need to log in with their WFU ID to see the video, which is stored in Kaltura, our learning platform). 
• My ’27 has been using the Comprehensive Syllabus with great success at NC State and says it is an amazing help in keeping assignments on track.
• Every student will have to find their best time management, test strategies and study strategies, but I hope the resources of CLASS might be of use to some of our Deacs. Summer is a great time for students to explore the services of CLASS and think about how they might use them this fall.

Pre-Wall Street Track

• Parents/families and students of the Class of 2029 are invited to attend an information session on August 6 at 5 p.m. via Zoom to learn more about the Pre-Wall Street Career track. The track is open to first-year students interested in exploring a career in the financial industry.
• The Pre‐Wall Street Career Track provides early and focused professional preparation for qualified Wake Forest students intending to pursue careers in Investment Banking, Asset Management, Sales & Trading, Wealth Management and Private Equity.
• Please join us via Zoom to learn more about the opportunities via the track. The session will be recorded and provided upon request for families who cannot attend. 
• For questions or to request the recording, contact the Program Director, Marty Malloy, at malloym@wfu.edu.

Parting thoughts

We’ll be back again on Tuesday with another update. Until then, if you missed anything, you can review our archived weekly messages.

With best wishes,

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