November 2022
Dear Families of Students in the Class of 2023,
This semester seems to have flown by so far and it’s hard to believe that there is less than a month of class time remaining in the fall semester, which must be particularly exciting for those students who are completing their degrees this term. I have spent much of this semester encouraging seniors to review their academic progress to ensure that they will meet all of the requirements to graduate in Wesleyan’s 191st Commencement, which will take place on May 28, 2023.
Those requirements are: 32.00 credits without oversubscription, a minimum of 16.00 Wesleyan credits, completion of a major, residency (six semesters for entering first-year students; four or five semesters if a junior or sophomore transfer, respectively), and a grade point average of at least 74.00. If your student is unsure about their standing in relation to any of these requirements, please urge them to contact me as soon as possible.
Most seniors will soon have one semester left in their Wesleyan career, so you may sense a bit more excitement, a bit more stress, or a combination of both in your conversations. Good questions to ask right now might include:
- “What courses are you planning to take in order to complete your major?”
- “How is your senior thesis, essay or project progressing?”
- Or, on a different note, “Since you have one last semester and are nearly done with all of your requirements, what courses would you like to take before you leave Wesleyan?”
Some seniors may have solid post-Wesleyan plans while others may still be unsure about what they will do following Commencement. Here is where a bit of support can go a long way. Encourage a visit to the Gordon Career Center, where one-on-one appointments and events focused on employment and graduate school are available. There is also a wonderful amount of information about Wes alumni who might be doing exactly what your student would like to pursue professionally and whom your student can contact. Urge your student to connect with their faculty advisors, campus mentors and me to discuss next steps in planning.
Thanksgiving recess will begin on Wednesday, November 23, and I am sure that the seniors will enjoy the downtime that this break provides. When students return, there are two weeks of classes, four days of reading period and five days of exams until winter break begins on December 18.
I will be writing to you again in the next couple of months. In the meantime, I hope you have a safe and enjoyable holiday and a happy start to the new year. Please do not hesitate to call or write if you have any questions or concerns.
Best wishes,
Jennifer Wood
Dean for the Class of 2023
T. (860) 685-2758 | jpwood@wesleyan.edu
Class of 2023 Blog