WakeParents & Families
E-newsletter from the Office of Family Engagement
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It’s the end of the semester, and I hope your Deacs aced all their finals and that your family is poised to have a wonderful Winter Break together.
As I reflect on the semester, I am filled with gratitude. We were able to have a vibrant semester, with in-person classes, labs, arts performances, and much more. We held some of our most cherished Wake Forest traditions, brought incredible speakers to campus, and hosted events that connected our campus community to each other. Our rates of COVID on campus were blessedly low, and our many athletic victories kept our school spirit at an all-time high. Many thanks to your students for all they did to contribute to the semester’s success.
We also have a few important news items we want families to know:
- Wake Forest will require either proof of a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose or an approved exemption for all students, faculty, and staff for the Spring 2022 semester.
- Wake Forest will continue to require approved face coverings indoors at the beginning of the semester.
- Wake Forest will be playing in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on December 31. Visit our Bowl Central page for full details.
- Dr. Shea Kidd Brown has been appointed Wake Forest’s Vice President for Campus Life, effective January 1, 2022.
- Wake Forest administrative offices will be closed December 20-January 3. Our After Hours Help page will connect you to resources if you have an urgent need that cannot wait until we reopen on January 4.
As we embark on Winter Break, may your students focus on these four Rs: reflect on the semester, relax, reconnect with family, and recharge their batteries. We all have great work to do together in the spring.
Wishing our Wake Forest families a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season. See you in 2022!
Go Deacs!
Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)
Executive Director of Family Communications
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Upcoming Dates and Deadlines
December 15
Flu vaccination deadline
January 7
COVID booster deadline
January 8
Residence halls open at 9 a.m.
January 9
Deadline to sign up for optional tuition insurance
January 10
First Day of Classes (FDOC)
January 14
Last day to add first-part-of-term class
January 17
MLK Holiday (no classes)
January 25
Last day to add full-term class
Please check here for more parent and family dates: parents.wfu.edu
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Academics
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From the Office of Academic Advising (OAA):
- The last day of class for the Fall 2021 semester was Friday, Dec. 3. Final exams ended on Saturday, Dec. 11. Students can expect to view their fall semester final grades on Thursday, December 16.
- In-person classes will resume for the Spring 2022 semester on Monday, January 10.
- Students who plan to be part-time for the Spring 2022 semester should review the part-time status information on our website and fill out the online request form as soon as possible. Academic counselors in the Office of Academic Advising are reaching out to students who are enrolled in fewer than 12 credit hours for the upcoming Spring 2022 semester in an effort to assist them in finding classes that work for their schedule and academic goals.
- Please note that the Office of Academic Advising will be closed starting Wednesday, Dec. 22 and will re-open on Monday, January 4, 2022.
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Events
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From the Office of Sustainability: We are delighted to share that US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo will be visiting Wake Forest University from January 25-27, 2022. Joy will lead the fourth installment of our interdisciplinary writing workshop for students, and a poetry performance on January 26 in Wait Chapel. This event is free and open to the public. Students can see this site for more information about the poetry performance or to register.
From the Office of Civic and Community Engagement:
- Join the Office of Civic & Community Engagement on Saturday, January 22, for the 13th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Read-In! Students can volunteer with elementary school children to help celebrate Dr. King’s life and promote his messages about civil rights, literacy, and community service by serving as either a Reading Buddy, guiding a child through different booths, or as a Station Leader, who leads an activity or game at a booth. Students can sign up to be a MLK Read-In Volunteer.
- Is your student actively engaged in the campus and Winston-Salem community during their time at Wake Forest? Have they heard about the Civic Scholars Program with the Office of Civic & Community Engagement? Civic Scholars complete work across three key areas — academics, direct service, and leadership development — complementing the work that they’re already doing both on campus and in the community. Learn more about the Civic Scholars Program.
From the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life: Interfraternity Council Recruitment registration is live and will end on January 3. An information session for families is scheduled for January 10 at 12 p.m. EST. More information is available on our website.
From the Wake Forest Fund: Because we are nearing the end of the calendar year and tax year, many of you may be making charitable gifts. We hope you will consider giving to the Parents’ Campaign of the Wake Forest Fund. Parents’ Campaign gifts are used this fiscal year to directly benefit your students — through enhanced programs, resources, and to support our outstanding faculty. You may give securely online here. We rely on gifts from parents and families, alumni, and friends to be able to provide all the special extras that make up the Wake Forest experience.
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Resources
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From the Mentoring Resource Center and Alumni Personal and Career Development Center: Winter break is the perfect time for your student to build connections and expand their network, whether that’s through in-person conversations or virtually. Building relationships is a skill set that your student will use over and over again beyond their time at Wake Forest, and will help them in their job and internship search! Check out this Winter Break To-Do List with four key resources to help your student jumpstart their job or internship search and start growing their network now.
From the Student Health Service:
- The status of a student’s vaccine documentation will be available in the Student Health Portal under My Profile > Immun. History. If they see the flu/influenza vaccine or COVID booster listed (along with the date they received it) on their Immun. History page, this means that their documentation has been reviewed and accepted, and they are in compliance with the policies. It may take up to 48 hours between your student submitting the documentation and it getting processed by Student Health Service.
- If your Deac submitted an exemption request, the status of their exemption request will also be available in the Student Health Portal under My Profile > Immun. History. If they see a medical or religious exemption listed on their Immun. History page for the flu vaccine or COVID booster, this means that their exemption request has been reviewed and accepted. If they do not see that, they should check their Secure Messages within the Student Health portal.
- Note that Student Health Service will update any documentation received after Dec. 22 by Jan. 5. If your student does not see their most recent vaccine documentation under My Profile > Immun. History, they should check the Secure Messages section of the Student Health Portal. It may be that their vaccine documentation is missing required information.
From Residence Life and Housing: Happy Holidays! We hope you and your students have plenty of time to rest and enjoy time together during winter break. We have a few reminders to help you and your Deac plan for a return to campus in the new year.
From Student Financial Services:
- Payment for Spring semester tuition and fees was due on December 1, 2021. If you have not made a payment at this time, you can still do so; please visit DEAC to view your student’s balance and submit an online payment.
- There is still time to enroll in the Dewar Tuition Refund Plan for spring 2022. This low-cost plan helps to minimize the financial loss when a student withdraws due to accident or illness. Learn more about the University’s Withdrawal/Course Drop Refund policy and how Tuition Insurance can assure up to 75% refund throughout the term. You can sign up for this plan until January 9, 2022.
- Each year by January 31, Wake Forest makes available an IRS Form 1098-T to all students who had qualified tuition and other related educational expenses billed to them during the previous calendar year. Students are encouraged to sign up for online access to the 1098-T tax form. For more information on the Form 1098-T, please visit the Tax Information page.
From the Office of Personal and Career Development (OPCD):
- Students who are interested in working on their college-to-career journey over break can do so by updating their marketing materials, building relationships family and friends who may support their journey, and by continuing to check Handshake for opportunities. A reminder that while the OPCD office will be closed from 12/20-1/3, new opportunities will still be posted in Handshake and many application deadlines are occurring during the break. Our online office resources are available 24/7 on our website.
- Spring Career Fair set for January 19th! The Spring Career Fair is open to ALL students. Any student interested in networking with employers or are looking for full-time/internship opportunities are encouraged to attend. Students are able to register in Handshake. Additionally, if you or anyone at your organization has hiring needs and would like to participate in the fair to recruit our Deacs, you can reach out to Dana Hutchens at hutchens@wfu.edu.
- Students — Check your wardrobe: Students who plan on doing interviews in the spring should check their professional attire while home over break and bring them back for the spring semester. A reminder that grants are available for those students who need professional attire.
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Campus Safety
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Wake Forest uses the Wake Alert system — voicemail, email, text message, website and web banners, and social media (Twitter, Facebook) — to notify faculty, staff and students when the University believes that members of the Wake Forest community could be at risk. Those messages are issued as soon as pertinent, vetted information is available. It may take time for authorities to investigate, verify and provide instructions or updates. Based on recent feedback, the University will communicate more extensively about incidents in the vicinity of campus for the sake of greater community awareness. Read more about recent University alerts.
Wake Forest University Police: We encourage parents and families to sign up to receive crime alerts on the Wake Ready website, in addition to downloading the LiveSafe app. While crime alerts are sent in real time to students, faculty and staff, they are not for others. For those registered through Wake Ready, crime alerts are emailed daily at noon, but only if new alerts have been posted in the previous 24 hours.
Any emails that are sent to students, faculty, and staff are archived on the Family News website.
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Parents & Families Page
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Parents and Families Page is your portal to news and information specifically for Wake Forest families.
Want the Daily Deac parent blog to be sent automatically to your email every day? Subscribe on the main Daily Deac page by typing your email address in the Subscribe box. The Daily Deac is our blog for parents and families. It’s a great way to get a snapshot of life at Wake Forest.
A message about how we disseminate campus news to parents and families: Any emails that are sent to students, faculty, and staff will be posted on the Family News page. Those are not routinely emailed to all families. If you wish to check for family news items often, you may wish to bookmark that page so it is easily available.
See our Who to Contact for... page.
Contact the Office of Family Engagement at parents@wfu.edu or 336.758.4237.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Some staff members are working remotely, and some offices are working a reduced schedule. However, if you have an urgent need to reach someone at the university because you have a concern that must be addressed quickly, we have designated the University Police as our 24/7 contact. They can assess the situation and determine who best to address your concern. The 24-hour contact number for University Police is 336.758.5591 (non emergency) or 336.758.5911 (for the kinds of emergencies where you would normally call 911). University Police can get in touch with on-call duty staff 24-hours/day.
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Wake Forest University
The Office of Family Engagement
1834 Wake Forest Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
1.800.752.8568
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