Class of 2022

Message from the Dean

I hope you were able to complete all the tasks that were due today (June 28, 2018) and that you are preparing for pre-registration coming up in July. In the Academic Highlights section of this week’s newsletter, I describe some of the things that characterize a “balanced schedule.” This will help you to get off to a healthy and strong start to the semester.

 

Remember to begin your Common Reading of A Body Undone: Living on After Great Pain by Christina Crosby. A hard copy of the book should arrive at your home address shortly.

Tomorrow you can participate in a Facebook Live session at 12pm ET. Professor Crosby, a member of the English Department and Feminist, Gender Sexuality Studies Program will be joined by Professor Jennifer Tucker, Chair of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and member of the History Department, and by students Caridad Cruz ’21 and Christopher Jackson ’20. If you miss the session, you can watch it on the Wesleyan University Facebook page.

Lastly, beginning tomorrow Friday, June 29^th through August 10^th, most offices at the university will close on Fridays at noon ET. With the upcoming July 4^th national holiday, you may find it difficult to reach various personnel at the university for most of next week.  We will do our best to address any questions or concerns. In the meantime, there is a wealth of information on the Orientation website.

Have a great week and remember this will be the last time we will send information to you using your personal email account. Please use your Wesleyan email account from now on.

Dean Thornton

Academic Highlights

Preparation for Pre-Registration

Last week, I advised you to think in terms of a building manageable course of study that offers challenge as well as flexibility for you to explore the curriculum and discover new interests.  As you pursue your educational goals, keep in mind the idea of constructing a schedule that is balanced, challenging, and interesting. What exactly did I mean?

An academic schedule is balanced when:

• There is a combination of small and large classes, lecture and discussion, and variations in course content and focus (e.g., reading, writing, quantitative work, artistic activity). This can provide breadth and stimulate academic curiosity while keeping a schedule manageable yet challenging.
• There is variation in class days and times. For some students, this is as important a consideration as what courses to choose. Without sacrificing intellectual rigor or interest, students should try to distribute their courses across the week and through the day in the way that works best for them.

Message from Orientation Interns

Hello, incoming students!

This week, we’d suggest getting familiar with some academic resources. In a couple days, you’ll begin selecting courses. To prepare for that moment and avoid the anxiety that sometimes accompanies it, use WesVising to get acquainted with various departments. Additionally, whether you foresee needing advice from the STEM Zone or information about stress relief from WesWell, you will find other resources easily accessible through the Wesleyan University website’s resources page.

As a Wesleyan student, you can use a plethora of resources to expand your virtual library, as your Wesleyan email will grant you access to JSTOR, Lynda.com, the Mango Languages program, and a free New York Times subscription, among many other things you’ll find when exploring your WesPortal in depth.

We hope you find this helpful over the long and exciting summer between high school and college. 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 (as of 6/28) 

Thursday, July 12 – NY, NY
Saturday, July 21—Los Angeles, CA
Sunday, July 22 – Bay Area, CA
Wednesday, July 25— Mamaroneck, NY
Saturday, July 28 – Washington, DC
Thursday, August 2— Boston, MA
Thursday, August 9 – Seattle, WA
Monday, August 13 – Chicago, IL
Tuesday, August 14 – Fairfield County, CT
Wednesday, August 15 – Philadelphia, PA

Message from the Dean

You have several tasks to complete by June 28, a week from today.   We will use the information to learn more about your academic interests, needs and preferences in order to connect you with housing, your faculty advisor, the Learning and Living seminar, and other people and services who will support you at Wesleyan.  Submit these materials now so that you can turn your attention to course selection and registration. For most first-time college students, the large number and variety of course offerings, compared to the pre-determined curriculum in high school, may seem simultaneously exciting and intimidating. Do not worry, however, as there are several useful advising resources to help you through this process. Check out the Academic Highlights section below to learn more about them.

You may  recall that last week I mentioned the Common Reading, The Body, Undone. This week, I am excited to share with you that the author, Professor Christina Crosby, will host an upcoming Facebook Chat next week.  Join us for #Faculty Friday Facebook Live on Friday, June 29 at 12pm ET with Professor Crosby, a member of the English Department and Feminist, Gender Sexuality Studies Program.  She will be joined by Professor Jennifer Tucker, Chair of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and member of the History Department, and by students Leslie Maldonado ’19 and Christopher Jackson ’20.  Watch Live on the Wesleyan University Facebook page or at  https://www.facebook.com/wesleyan.university/

Academic Highlights

Preparation for Pre-registration

Students typically welcome Wesleyan’s feast of course offerings with great enthusiasm. Some even imagine a scenario in which they may immerse themselves in the endless study or performance of their scholarly or artistic interests. Your goal should be to create a manageable course of study that offers challenge as well as flexibility for you to explore the curriculum and discover new interests as you pursue your educational goals.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “prior preparation prevents poor performance”? This applies well to selecting courses in college too. Visit the Academic Planning & Course Registration section of the landing page for entering students to get started. The Advising Guidelines, Wesvising, and WesMaps combine  to form a powerful trio of services through video and text that will facilitate your exploration of Wesleyan’s diverse liberal arts curriculum.  You will get advice from faculty and students as they discuss different academic disciplines, pathways, and the General Education Expectations, among many other things so that you can create a balanced, challenging and interesting course of study for your first semester at Wes.

Enjoy!

Message from Orientation Interns

Hello to all incoming Wesleyan students!

This week, you should focus on completing your Orientation Checklist items whose June 28^th deadline looms above you, namely the Academic Interest Questionnaire, Academic Self-Reflection Essay, Emergency Contacts notice, Placement Tests, Transfer Connections Form – and first-years, don’t forget to register for the Learning & Living Seminar, Great Books Unbound: How to Live Forever.

Your Housing Preference Form is also due June 28^th.  Check out the videos of the myriad and wonderful housing options available at Wesleyan!

Good luck with everything! 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

Summer Sendoff Schedule as of 6/18

Thursday, July 12 – NY, NY
Saturday, July 21—Los Angeles, CA
Sunday, July 22 – Bay Area, CA
Wednesday, July 25— Mamaroneck, NY
Saturday, July 28 – Washington, DC
Thursday, August 2— Boston, MA
Thursday, August 9 – Seattle, WA
Monday, August 13 – Chicago, IL
Tuesday, August 14 – Fairfield County, CT
Wednesday, August 15 – Philadelphia, PA

Message from the Dean

Greetings! Last week, you received an email containing your Wesleyan email address and information about the WesPortal. The New Student Checklist contained in the WesPortal will keep you informed about upcoming deadlines, such as the Health Forms, due tomorrow June 15. It would be a good idea to dedicate next week to completing as many of the items on the New Student Checklist as soon as possible. Besides the Academic Interest Questionnaire and the Academic Self-Reflection Essay that I cover in the Academic Highlights below, there are several other items that require your attention by June 28.

• If you have documented accessibility needs, please complete the Disability Notification and Accommodation Form.
• Take the Placement Tests for math, foreign language, and music theory if there is any chance that you will take a course in that area during your Wesleyan career.
• If you are a fall transfer student, sign up to be paired with an upper-level transfer student in the Transfer Connections Program. Past participants have reported great satisfaction from being able to discuss their experiences with other transfer students at Wes.
• The Learning & Living Seminar for first-year students is an opportunity to live with your classmates from that course in the same residential hall and cultivate a greater intellectual and social community. For more information and registration, click here.
• Be sure to submit a photo for your WesID card before the deadline. You will need it to gain access to meals, residences, and other vital campus facilities and events.

Finally, Wesleyan’s First Year Matters (FYM) program engages new students in meaningful dialogue through a common reading.  This shared experience serves as an introduction to intellectual life at Wesleyan with an address by the author followed by a Q&A and group conversations.  All new students are required to provide a written response to the reading over the summer as well as participate in sustained dialogues throughout the first semester.  A Body, Undone by Christina Crosby, Professor of English at Wesleyan, should be arriving on your doorsteps or inboxes within the next few days. A letter from Michael Whaley, Vice President of Student Affairs, and Joyce Jacobsen, Vice President of Academic Affairs, regarding the book selection and the FYM program for the Class of 2022 is available here.

Academic Highlights

Academic Advising as a Partnership between Faculty and Students

The Academic Interest Questionnaire (AIQ) is used to gain insight into your academic and personal interests, motivations, and challenges.  You need to submit the AIQ and the Self-Reflection Essay by June 28.  Students have found these exercises beneficial in getting their thoughts and hearts ready for the college journey, and they will help us to assign you a faculty advisor.

Your advisor and I, as your class dean, are looking forward to learning more about about your hopes and interests.  We want to cultivate a relationship of openness and trust with you so that you will feel comfortable discussing with us your educational goals, course-related issues, career interests, and adjustment to campus life. If we cannot answer your questions, we will refer you to resources that can support your success, including faculty with the discipline-specific knowledge you seek.  While the faculty will be available all year long, they also will be available at the Academic Forum during orientation to answer your questions before you begin the fall semester.

Your advisor and I encourage you to explore a range of disciplines and interests—from the personal and professional value of studying languages and cultural immersion to the wonders of the cell and outer space to the beauty of form, color and the word to the power struggles across the globe—and all that’s in between and beyond.  We will work with you to make sure that your schedule is balanced across the disciplines, in the kind of work and assessments your courses demand, and the times at which they offered.  It will be important to allocate time for study, self-reflection, and socializing.

I will talk more about advising and course planning in later notes.  In the meantime, explore the landing page for entering students and pay attention to the checklist deadlines.  Have a great week!

Message from Orientation Interns

HEALTH RESOURCES

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Hello, class of 2022! We hope your summer is off to a great start! We want to remind you that you CANNOT mail any packages to Wesleyan that will arrive before August 10th. Any packages received before August 10^th will be mailed back.  As you fill out your health forms in preparation for your arrival, you might want to peruse our personal advice about health resources available on campus.

The Davison Health Center, Wesleyan’s on-campus health clinic, offers a variety of services to students, including lab services, immunizations, sexual health services, and general check-ups. Visits are free and most services are offered at a reduced price than that of off-campus medical facilities. On the second floor of the Davison Health Center, you’ll find Counseling and Psychological Services—or CAPS, for short. CAPS runs mental wellness events and group meditation programs.  CAPS maintains confidentiality, so don’t be afraid to reach out to them —especially through free individual counseling sessions — as you cope with the challenges posed by a new academic environment.  Davison also houses the Survivor Advocacy and Community Education office (SACE), which is available as a confidential resource to students who have experienced sexual assault, stalking and dating violence or other forms of intimate partner violence.

In August, as you can see on the New Student Checklist in your WesPortal, all students will be prompted either to accept Wesleyan’s on-campus health insurance using Cigna as the Preferred Provider, or to decline this insurance in favor of another. Luckily, there are forms of subsidized health insurance in CT—such as National General, United Healthcare, and Husky Health CT—for those who cannot afford Gallagher. Husky D, which is equivalent to Medicaid, is the subsidized insurance of choice for many of Wesleyan’s low-income students that are nineteen years old or older. REMEMBER: it is important to start looking into insurance options now because the process of applying can be a long and stressful one.

Read more about The Davison Health Center
Read more about CAPS
Read more about SACE

As always, have a good week! 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 Sendoff Schedule as of 6/11
Thursday, July 12^th– NY, NY
Saturday, July 21^st-Los Angeles, CA
Sunday, July 22^nd – Bay Area, CA
Wednesday, July 25^th– Mamaroneck, NY
Saturday, July 28^th– Washington, DC
Thursday, August 2^nd – Fairfield County, CT
Thursday, August 2^nd– Boston, MA
Thursday, August 9^th – Seattle, WA
Monday, August 13^th – Chicago, IL
Wednesday, August 15^th – Philadelphia, PA

Message from the Dean

Get Ready for Wes! As the Dean for the Class of 2022, I am pleased to join with the deans for transfer students, Dean Louise Brown and Dean David Phillips, to welcome you again to Wesleyan. As class deans, we will support your academic goals and monitor your progress towards graduation. I will be writing to you every week with highlights and updates that will help to prepare you for a smooth and successful transition to Wesleyan in the fall.

Over the next twelve weeks of the summer, look out for our weekly Dean’s Messages on Thursdays with deadlines, reminders, and key highlights. Additionally, we are excited to pilot several video chat sessions along with other video messages to discuss in greater depth some of the topics and resources we will highlight in the weekly Dean’s Messages.

To prepare for a smooth arrival and transition to Wesleyan, it will be important for you to stay on top of various deadlines that you will see both in my notes and the Checklist in your WesPortal. In addition, the Orientation Office is up and running with a wealth of information available on-line at http://www.wesleyan.edu/orientation/, and staffed by four well-trained upper-level Wesleyan students selected to serve as the Orientation Interns for Summer 2018. You may contact your Orientation Interns with any questions at orientation@wesleyan.edu.

By now, you should have received (and reviewed) an email from Systems Analyst, Paul Turenne, containing your Wesleyan email address, initial password, and instructions about your WesPortal account, which you can access at:  https://webapps.wesleyan.edu/portal/render. WesPortal is a virtual portfolio that you will use throughout your years at Wesleyan to do everything from registering for classes, using WesMaps, checking course grades, requesting housing, and connecting to key resources. If you did not receive an email from pturenne@wesleyan.edu, please search your SPAM box for a message with subject line “Welcome to Wesleyan” or contact the orientation office immediately.

We are so excited to welcome you to campus and are looking forward to working with you this summer to prepare for the exciting adventure on which you are about to embark.

On behalf of the class deans,
Dean Renee Johnson Thornton
Dean for the Class of 2022

Academic Highlights:

Learning & Living Seminar –

Have you ever wanted to delve deeply in the Western literary canon and experience the grander of live opera at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City? Well, register for the “Great Books Unbound: How to Live Forever” first year seminar course to join a thrilling literary and cultural community of learners and dormmates. The Learning & Living Seminar Registration will close on June 28, so register now to hold your place. Registration for the non-residence based First Year Seminars will take place during pre-registration in July.

Message from the Orientation Interns

Congratulations Class of 2022 and Transfer Students!!!

We are your Orientation Interns and we will be working with you this summer to ensure that you are feeling prepared for your first year at Wes! We will be answering any questions or concerns that you may have before you arrive, feel free to email or call us.  We will be in the Orientation Office beginning June 4^th from 9 am – 4:30 pm, Monday – Friday.  We can’t wait to meet you and learn more about you, and in the meantime, here’s a video that we’ve made so you can learn more about us!

Enjoy your summer and 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, July 12^th– NY, NY
Saturday, July 21^st-Los Angeles, CA
Sunday, July 22^nd – Bay Area, CA
Wednesday, July 25^th– Mamaroneck, NY
Thursday, August 2^nd – Fairfield County, CT
Thursday, August 9^th – Seattle, WA
Monday, August 13^th – Chicago, IL
Wednesday, August 15^th – Philadelphia, PA