Get Ready for Wes! Newsletter 12

Message from the Dean

This will be my last issue of the Get Ready for Wes! Newsletter, but I will continue to communicate with you throughout the year using the Class of 2022 blog and emails. Now that the time for preparation is coming to an end and you are embarking on “experiencing Wes,”  there remains one central piece of information that you need to know. As a Wesleyan student, it is your responsibility to become familiar with the university’s academic expectations, procedures, and consequences specified in the Academic Regulations. I am pointing out a few aspects of those regulations in the Academic Highlights section to get you started. Feel free to come to my drop-in hours (see blog) when you get settled on campus to discuss any concerns or questions you might have about the academic regulations or any other issues.

As a member of the Class of 2022, be sure to check the Class of 2022 blog regularly. To get you started, check out “Thoughts from a Peer Advisor: Tips and Tricks for NSO” written last year by former Academic Peer Advisor Elisa Greenberg ’18. She offers some good advice.

I wish you safe travels to Middletown, and a productive and enjoyable orientation experience.

Sincerely,

Dean Thornton

Academic Highlights

THE ACADEMIC REGULATIONS

As you begin your first year at Wesleyan, you should review the academic regulations because they will help you successfully navigate Wesleyan and inform your decision-making. Check out the degree requirements and review the information about academic standing, and academic review and promotion. It is also important that you explore the general regulations because they discuss course enrollment, attendance, and grading. Lastly, you should know that professors are expected to notify the class dean when a student is doing unsatisfactory work or there is a student conduct issue.

As with all guidelines at the university, the academic regulations are intended to foster a community of care and accountability. Be sure to come in to meet with me, your faculty advisor or, your professor, if you have any questions about the regulations and other issues.

Message from the Orientation Interns

With Orientation coming up next week, we have a few things that we wanted to remind you about so you’re ready to go once you step on campus.

First, make sure to look at the required forms on WesPortal under the New Student Checklist.  Have them filled out and ready to turn in once you get to campus. These include the direct deposit form, your employment eligibility verification, and your W4 forms. These are crucial if you want to get a job on campus.

Second, get familiar with Guidebook. This is the service used to stay connected with all things happening during Orientation. You can access it through an app on your smartphone or on the web browser of any web-connected device. You can look at the schedule, meet the Orientation Leaders, and see a schedule of events during “WesWOW” – Wesleyan’s Week of Welcome.

Two things you really should know about Guidebook are how to find your small group and how to build your own schedule. Under the groups tab, you can find your group number based on where you will be living on campus. This will also tell you who your OL and RA is and where you’ll be meeting. Additionally, when you go into the orientation schedule, tapping the plus icon next to any event or “Add to My Schedule” when you’re viewing an event’s details, allows you to add it to your personal schedule. You can even set a reminder to let you know when those events are coming up.

While building your schedule, please remember that all Orientation events are required, except for events that happen at the same time as others. With those, you get to choose which to attend.

We cannot wait to see you all soon!

GO WES!

The Orientation Interns
Maximilien Chong Lee Shin ‘21
Caridad Cruz ‘21
Christopher Jackson ‘20
Virginia Sciolino ‘21
orientation@wesleyan.edu
(860) 685-5666

Get Ready for Wes! Newsletter 11

A Message From Your Dean

In a short while, you will arrive at Wes, and you still need to complete the items listed on the checklist in your WesPortal. These items include:

Now that you are a little closer to being a college student, it is a good time to review communication etiquette and to learn about the ways that you can forge positive relationships with faculty and staff at Wes. To get started, read the blog post about email etiquette written by former academic peer advisor, Faisal Kirdar ’14. Then checkout the Academic Highlights Section of this week’s newsletter for insights into preparing for productive academic advising meetings with your faculty advisor.

I will send out my final Get Ready for Wes! Newsletter to you next week. Check it out for some pointers on making good use of the New Student Orientation program. After you arrive at Wes, be sure to continue to visit the Class of 2022 blog weekly to learn about upcoming due dates, advice, and opportunities.

Have a terrific week,
Dean Thornton

Academic Highlights

PREPARING TO MEET WITH YOUR PRE-MAJOR FACULTY ADVISOR

As the Faculty and Student Advising Handbook states:

The objective of the pre-major advising program is to help first-year students and sophomores think seriously about their educational objectives in the context of the liberal arts education offered at Wesleyan.

Together with your faculty advisor, you should develop a challenging and coherent educational plan for the first two years, one that achieves curricular breadth while preparing for the depth that the major will bring in the last two years.

Here are some guidelines for preparing for your first meeting with your advisor:

PREPARING FOR MEETINGS

  • Have a plan
  • Formulate goals
  • Study the curriculum
  • Work out alternative course schedules
  • Identify specific questions for your advisor
  • Be familiar with the basic nuts and bolts of the course registration process

THE ADVISING MEETING

  • Discuss course choices and your academic interests in the context of long-range goals
  • Be receptive to questions and suggestions
  • Share concerns that may affect your success in the upcoming semester
  • Ask for any needed referrals
  • Discuss any academic regulations that seem confusing
  • Arrange additional meetings during the semester

For more information, see the Faculty and Student Advising Handbook

Message From The Orientation Interns

Hey everyone!

Check out the links below to stay in the loop on all Wesleyan Orientation related information. There are only a handful of Orientation emails remaining, as we are nearing the start of the Fall 2018 semester. With this in mind, ensure you are going through these updates thoroughly to have fewer things to worry about before embarking on your college journey! Also, a reminder that while WesAdmits 2022 is a valuable resource, not all of the information posted by students is accurate and the Orientation office can be contacted to confirm anything discussed on this forum via email at orientation@wesleyan.edu.

Arrival Day

Wesleyan Orientation Highlights

Orientation Schedule via Guidebook

Meet Your Orientation Leaders!

Orientation Info for Transfer Students

International Student Orientation

GO WES!

The Orientation Interns
Maximilien Chong Lee Shin ‘21
Caridad Cruz ‘21
Christopher Jackson ‘20
Virginia Sciolino ‘21
orientation@wesleyan.edu
(860) 685-5666

Get Ready for Wes! Newsletter 10

Message from the Dean
As of today, Thursday, August 9, there are only two weeks or so remaining until International Student Orientation and New Student Orientation. We are looking forward to welcoming you to Wesleyan. As you approach your Wesleyan Arrival Day, I thought this would be a good week to share my Top Five Academic Recommendations for the Class of 2022:

  1. Ask Questions
  2. Go to class
  3. Build relationships with faculty
  4. Learn from your classmates
  5. Locate your resources

For some additional advice from a student perspective, check out an essay that was written by former Wesleyan Academic Peer Advisor, Racheal Earnhardt’17.  Her insights and recommendations are still relevant today for your class.  Imagine–the students (Class of 2020) to whom she addressed her initial remarks will be starting their junior year at Wesleyan. Wow! Time passes quickly, so listen up, work smart, and have a great time.

In this week’s Academic Highlights, you can review the latest recommendations from the current Academic Peer Advisors and explore some of the other resources available at Wesleyan that will help you get off to a great start.

For students who were unable to participate in the August 6 video chat with me, you may register for the August 13 video chat at 12 p.m. EST. You must register by Sunday, August 12 at 12 p.m. EST, then check your Wesleyan email on Monday at 9 a.m. EST to find out how to access the session. I use the GoToMeeting application that allows for easy participation in the conversation by phone or computer.

Have a terrific week,
Dean Thornton

Academic Highlights
ACADEMIC RESOURCES AT WESLEYAN

Besides your professors, academic advisors, and Student Affairs staff, Wesleyan offers a host of academic and personal support. You should familiarize yourself with these and other resources now so that you may begin to strategize how you will include these people and places in your weekly routine when classes begin.

Academic Support Resources

Academic Peer Advisors

Deans Peer Tutoring Program

Librarians

Teaching Assistants

STEM Zone

Math Workshop

Writing Workshop

Message from Orientation Interns
Hello!

Soon, you will be on campus to begin Orientation! Before you arrive, check out the Orientation Schedule available via Guidebookmobile – desktop. There will NOT be printed handbooks.  If you do not have access to a smart device, computer or tablet, contact orientation@wesleyan.edu to discuss alternatives. Remember that Orientation is required for all students, and Guidebook will help you keep on top of the requisite activities!

Once you download the app onto your mobile device, note that there is no passphrase.  Simply click on the magnifying glass, search “Wesleyan New Student Orientation 2018” then click Guides.

Please feel free to browse, explore and of course send us any feedback you think could make the app better for the Orientation experience.  Note that the Orientation Schedule is subject to change.  Always check Guidebook for the most uptodate information prior to attending an event.

We also want to bring your attention to upcoming deadlines to watch out for: your Fall Semester Payment and First Year Matters response (due August 10th) and Health Insurance Decision Form (due August 12th). It might make your life easier to get the Required Documents out of the way because, although they’re due August 29th, you will already be on campus by then. As always, try to keep on top of these last checklist items, and reach out to us if you need encouragement, nuggets of wisdom, or answers to pressing questions! GO WES!

The Orientation Interns
Maximilien Chong Lee Shin ‘21
Caridad Cruz ‘21
Christopher Jackson ‘20
Virginia Sciolino ‘21
orientation@wesleyan.edu
(860) 685-5666

Summer Sendoffs  
Thursday, August 9 – Seattle, WA
Saturday, August 4 – Beijing, CH
Monday, August 13 – Chicago, IL
Tuesday, August 14 – Fairfield County, CT
Wednesday, August 15 – Philadelphia, PA

Don’t Be Nervous

By Rachel Earnhardt, Peer Advisor (Original Post: August 18, 2016)

It was in the Container Store, standing among clearance laundry baskets and desk organizing supplies sometime in early August, that I had a *minor*meltdown about starting college. Somehow, browsing for reasonably priced, but sturdy dorm necessities had made college feel so suddenly imminent and terrifying. If you find yourself having a similar experience, whether it be in Target or Bed Bath & Beyond or anywhere else really, I’m here to say that’s completely normal.

If you are totally chill and prepped and ready for college, then I envy you. Likely though, if you have traversed the internet to find this humble peer advisor blog post titled “Don’t be Nervous,” you are feeling anxious or excited or overwhelmed or some combination about starting college and would like to hear from some “wise” not much older soul who’s been there. I hope you find my personal narrative and unsolicited advice reassuring.

Okay, let’s rewind to the weeks leading up to the Container Store Incident. The summer before my first year at Wesleyan, I had my first real job working as an assistant camp instructor at the natural science museum. For several weeks, I stayed gloriously busy doing bug-themed crafts and making dinosaur footprint cookies and leading nature hikes and deliberating about how long I could avoid washing my staff shirt, but then, abruptly, camp ended. And the whole month of August was empty. It stretched out…a painfully open, unplanned void. This unscheduled month meant that I had four weeks with nothing to do other than think about heading off to college.

Let us rewind a bit more to April of my senior year. I had made an exhaustive spreadsheet, titled “The Decider.” With nearly 25 categories (like food, climate, “do I have to take a math class?”, faculty to student ratio, etc) I had meticulously input data about all the schools to which I had been accepted. I had been blessed with several wonderful options, many very similar to Wesleyan. But after careful analysis, Wes emerged as the clear choice. The last (and most important) category of my spreadsheet was titled “good vibes?” Next to other colleges, I wrote things like “too cold” and “too radical.” By Wesleyan, I had written the succinct, but completely confident: “Yeah.”

Yet still, even though I had penned this definitive assessment and highlighted the Wesleyan column in green on the spreadsheet, sent in my deposit, and bought my “Wesleyan Girls: Making Connecticut Beautiful Everyday” shirt, throughout the month of August, I woke up wondering. Wondering about each of the other schools from my spreadsheet, and even ones that I had not even applied to. For example, I had to remind myself that I crossed colleges in the state of Minnesota off my list for a reason (I’m sure it’s a great state, but I’m from the South and I’ve always just pictured a frozen hellscape). In retrospect, I realize that channeling my energy into my college choice stemmed from a general anxiety about going 900 miles away for school, where I didn’t know anyone.

Side note: It was also in August 2013 that I discovered College Confidential, which is sort of the underbelly of the internet. I stayed up for hours consuming the crowd-sourced anxiety about selecting a school and prepping for college. I also read countless Buzzfeed articles and mediocre blogs about the first year of college. *This was ultimately counterproductive and I do not recommend it.

But back to the story, fast-forwarding a bit to late August. After returning several items purchased in the heat of the moment to the Container Store, I had acquired everything on the packing list (and a bunch of things I didn’t need). We packed the car and began the eleven-hour drive from North Carolina to Connecticut.

I arrived in Middletown the day before move-in and led my parents on a tour of my new home. Draped in the flowers of late summer, the verdant campus was even more welcoming that it had been during our first encounter. (Okay, here comes the corny part): As I stood on the top of Foss hill looking out at College Row under the dome of blue sky, I knew that I would have the incredible opportunity to grow in profound ways over the next four years. I had picked a wonderful place to learn and prepare to make positive impact in the world.

I would be lying if I said that every ounce of anxiety evaporated during the first days or weeks or even months on campus. Eventually, I found my community and I can confidently predict that you will, too. Here is a whole paragraph of encouraging, very sincere reassurance:

If you are wondering if Wesleyan made a mistake admitting you: they didn’t. Or if you made a mistake in choosing it: you didn’t.  You are intelligent and capable. You will be surrounded by 780 interesting, smart, creative, idealistic people in your first year class. You will be able to find common ground with plenty of other people (even if you may not find those souls on your hall). It may take a few days or weeks or months, but you will meet friends and find professors with whom you connect. You may get overwhelmed by the coursework or, on the other end of the spectrum, find that some your courses are not what you expected, but there are plenty of people around to commiserate with and more importantly, to provide support and guidance. You will change your mind and your major and likely your haircut several times…and that’s all expected and celebrated!

Because I didn’t know where else to put it—here it is the obligatory list of unsolicited advice about preparing for college/the first few weeks (in no particular order) that you will probably ignore:

  • Go to different club meetings and activities. It might take a little time, but you will meet people who share your interests. I don’t want to minimize your unique personality, but there are plenty of other folks who are interested in science AND movies!! And yes, there will be at least one other person interested in starting a band.
  • Your hall will likely fuse together for a few days. That’s totally normal. Try to expand a little…Ask people from your classes or activities to lunch or coffee or to the Film Series or a WesBAM class. (Please feel free to contact me for other friend date suggestions.)
  • If you are unsure about ANYTHING, reach out to the peer advisors, the RAs, CAPS, OSRL, the deans, your orientation leaders or any the other groovy resources available.
  • Orientation specific: Go to all the events! Maybe you feel like you met your new bae or best friend and you will never hang out again if you separate to go to the meetings….but more than likely, you will learn something important at the orientation event.
  • Real talk: Across the nation, the first two months of the fall semester see an unsettling spike in alcohol hospitalizations. Please, please take care of each other.
  • Your residential advisors and orientation leaders are so excited to welcome you to campus. Maybe you don’t connect with them on a spiritual level and that’s totally fine.
  • ******Academics don’t happen in a vacuum. Your emotional, physical and mental well-being are all intimately a part of your experience and affect your ability to succeed (whatever success means to you). ******

So let’s wrap up. You’ll recall several paragraphs ago I explained that in my spreadsheet, by Wesleyan I had written: “Yeah.” I will now artfully use that as a nice frame for this post.

Is there an expansive network of resources and people (students, faculty, staff, peer advisors, the list goes on…) to support you throughout your Wesleyan journey so that you can get the most out your time here and go on to be a thoughtful and engaged citizen? Is the entire Wesleyan community so jazzed to have you join us?

Yeah!!!!!!!

The title of the post is “don’t be nervous,” but I had plenty of people tell me that and I didn’t listen. If you’re nervous, there’s not much I can say to change that. Nervous or not, either way, you will arrive in Middletown sometime between August 28th and 31st and more than likely you will thrive here.

So, again, if in the next couple weeks you have any moments of doubt or anxiety or maybe you just get so excited you can’t breath, please feel free to reach out to the peer advisors (or one of the many aforementioned resources).

And of course, I invite you to have a last minute existential crisis in your local dorm supply depot. It can be quite cathartic.

Get Ready for Wes! Newsletter 9

Message from the Dean

We have entered the final few weeks before your arrival at Wesleyan. Please note the arrival days below:

  • New International Student Arrival Day:  Sunday, August 26, 2018 (Families depart Monday, August 27 – 8pm)
  • New Domestic Student Arrival Day: Wednesday, August 29, 2018 (Families depart on this day – 4:45pm)
    Residence halls open at 9am. You should be moved into your room before noon.

Remember, it is very important that you complete your Common Reading of A Body, Undone: Living on After Great Pain by Wesleyan Professor of English Christina Crosby. Submit your reading response by 5pm on Friday, August 10. This shared experience serves as an introduction to intellectual life at Wesleyan through lectures, group conversations, and an address by the author during orientation followed by a Q&A. Our meaningful dialogue about the memoir has already begun, as evidenced by a recent discussion.

Have a terrific week,
Dean Thornton

Academic Highlights

MEET YOUR CLASS DEAN – Renée Johnson Thornton, Ph.D.

Faculty, staff, and your future peers are excited to welcome you to campus. We all want to help you have an intellectually engaging and enjoyable experience at Wesleyan.

As your class dean, I am particularly excited to welcome you. It has been fun writing to you this summer and I thought it would be useful to provide a general overview of how we will work together over the next four years.

Class deans are responsible for a comprehensive program of academic advising and class management. This includes:

  • helping students develop educational goals and complete their graduation requirements
  • working with students and their professors to support student success in the classroom
  • facilitating access to academic and non-academic support services
  • supporting student transitions from high school through the undergraduate years to life post-Wesleyan

At Wesleyan, there are four class deans:  Dean Wood (Class of 2019 – Seniors), Dean Phillips (Class of 2020 – Juniors), Dean Brown (class of 2021 – Sophomores), and me, Dean Thornton (Class of 2022  – First-Years). Class Deans are paired with a first-year cohort and support that class over the next four years until graduation. We are “go to” people and have daily drop-in hours during the week. We are also available for appointments.

I will host a video chat session on Monday, August 6, 2018, from 2pm – 3pm EST. This is open to the first 24 students to register. Signup now to reserve your place. If you cannot make this please don’t hesitate to contact me. I look forward to chatting with you.

Message from Orientation Interns

Hey everyone!

A brief reminder: if you are shipping your belongings to Wesleyan, any packages that arrive before August 10th will be shipped back because WesStation cannot hold your packages before then. When you do ship things to Wes, you have your own mailing address, which you can find listed under the Student Profile section of your WesPortal. This is the general format of your mailing address, which is just your WesBox five-digit number and the address of Usdan:

Student Name
WesBox XXXXX
45 Wyllys Ave
Middletown, CT 06459

We hope you are excited for move-in day now that you know the residence hall you will be living in! If you are already starting to shop for your dorm room, here is a list of items that ResLife suggests students bring to campus. You do not have to bring all items from home —there will be a Bed, Bath, and Beyond pop-up shop in the Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore during Arrival Day, as well as the Waste Not tag sale during the weekend of Orientation where you will be able to buy used items such as furniture, appliances, and room décor for reduced prices. Also, remember to check in with your roommate(s) about splitting the cost of items for your room, and not buying duplicate items of things that can be shared! That being said, note there are things you cannot have in your dorm rooms for fire safety reasons, found here.
We hope you find these tips helpful as you start thinking about your dorm room essentials! GO WES!

The Orientation Interns
Maximilien Chong Lee Shin ‘21
Caridad Cruz ‘21
Christopher Jackson ‘20
Virginia Sciolino ‘21
orientation@wesleyan.edu
(860) 685-5666

Summer Sendoffs  
Thursday, August 2 – Boston, MA
Thursday, August 9 – Seattle, WA
Saturday, August 4 – Beijing, CH
Monday, August 13 – Chicago, IL
Tuesday, August 14 – Fairfield County, CT
Wednesday, August 15 – Philadelphia, PA