JWU Family e-Newsletter
November 2020
FINISHING THE SEMESTER STRONG

In a recent update, Providence Campus President Marie Bernardo-Sousa, LP.D., ‘92 shared cautious optimism about the campus community's efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. More than 3,100 students, in addition to a randomized sample of faculty and staff, were tested in October, resulting in 12 positive cases – a positivity rate of 0.38%. "It is because of your care for our community and conscientiousness that we have been able to boast a low positivity rate," said President Bernardo-Sousa. "While this is encouraging, we must continue to be vigilant, especially as we near the close of the semester and the traditional holiday season."

Soon after, the "Why Risk It?" campaign was rolled out to encourage continued adherence to COVID protocols. It reminds students, particularly those in Providence, of what's at stake:
  • Your health and the health of those around you: no one wants to be sick!
  • Enjoying your current living situation: quarantining is not cool!
  • Finishing what you started with in-person labs or classes: your professors would miss you!
  • Conversations with local or state police: they'll be around more off campus, so do the right thing!
  • Keeping your hard-earned cash: avoid fines!
  • Stress-free holidays: don't bring COVID home to your families!

Be sure to follow our COVID website for information on testing results, FAQ's and important updates.
FIRST-YEAR READS ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS

Through the annual First-Year Reads program, English department faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences ask first-year students to read pieces from National Public Radio's famous "This, I Believe" series. These writings have inspired people around the world to share their stories and perspectives. Students in the ENG1020 or ENG1024 course take part as a way to share a common academic experience with their first-year classmates.
 
The accompanying contest asked students to submit essays in the spirit of the “This, I Believe” series. This year, we asked students to consider the current cultural and societal issues we are facing. We asked not for solutions to these challenges (whether discussing the health/financial crisis or racial injustice) but to allow this essay to voice something about who the students are and what they believe, in the context of these very unique times. 

From approximately 30 entries received, three winners were chosen:
  • Sophia Magri, an undeclared Business major from Worcester, Mass.
  • Emma Smith, a Sports, Entertainment, Event-Management major from Wrentham, Mass.
  • Nithia Akineza, a Biology major from Bethesda, Md.

On the evening of October 16, in celebration of JWU's Homecoming & Family Weekend, the three students read their essays and fielded questions from Arts & Sciences faculty. Faculty were greatly impressed by the students' writing and their thoughtful approach to the contest.

Congratulations, Sophia, Emma and Nithia. Families, please take a minute to read their winning essays.
IMPORTANT RES LIFE INFO

What an unusual year this has been! It's certainly one we won't soon forget. Now that we're in November, there are pertinent things you should know when it comes to Residential Life.

Fall Closing
Fall semester on-campus housing ends with halls closing at noon on November 24. Students who applied for and received an extended stay may need to relocate to a temporary space, also by noon on the 24th. These students should watch their email for more info. Anyone on campus during the extended stay should note halls close on December 18 at noon. They should also be aware that some services (library, transportation, etc.) may have reduced schedules after in-person classes end on November 20.

Winter Break Housing
All halls are closed during the winter break (December 19 - January 3). Any students needing accommodations during this time will be considered for a spot at Harborside Village and they should contact Residential Life as soon as possible.

Spring Opening
Halls will re-open on January 4 & 5 for students with lab segments. This will allow them to complete a required two-week quarantine and begin labs on January 19. The move-in period for students without lab segments is January 15-18. All students will need to have a negative point of origin test prior to arriving to campus; results should be emailed to health services at healthservices.pvd@jwu.edu. Please note that a negative test does not negate potential requirement for quarantine. Move-in time slots will open in early December and students will receive more info via JWU email.

2021-2022 Housing Application
Next year's housing application will go live in late January and there is no housing deposit required! We encourage all students who are interested in living on campus to log in to the housing portal, available through jwuLink, and apply, beginning in January. We are offering a simple block pricing structure with a variety of housing options to returning students. Our goal is for students to find a safe, affordable, and welcoming environment to call their “home-away-from-home” here, on campus. Housing pricing and availability will be shared with students later in the spring semester.

If you have any questions, contact Residential Life by email or at 401-598-1141. Please allow us time to respond – typically no more than two business days.
PAYMENT DEADLINE, PLUS FAFSA FILING

The spring semester payment deadline, December 4, is approaching. To avoid holds on their accounts, students must have an approved payment plan, on-time payments and no outstanding balances, all financial aid documents in place, etc.
 
Additionally, now is the time to fill out the FAFSA for next year’s financial aid! We encourage early filing. Students should visit fafsa.gov to fill out the 2021-22 FAFSA Form and be sure to list JWU’s school code, 003404, on their form.
 
Please direct any questions about payments, financial aid and the FAFSA to your student's financial planner. Remember, planners can't discuss specifics of your student's account with you unless they've granted authorization. 
TREATS FROM CAMPUS DINING

Campus Dining invites students to celebrate the fall semester with a late night breakfast on Monday, November 16, at Harborside Café and Snowden Dining. If your student is on campus that night, they should plan to attend. Breakfast staples, prizes and delicious treats are on the menu.

After November 20, Campus Dining will have an operation open on each campus. Follow us on social media for the latest news, updates and information: jwu providence campus dining (Facebook) jwupvdcampusdining (Instagram).

Finally, we're pleased to offer a great sweet potato pound cake recipe – perfect for Thanksgiving – courtesy of Courtney Crudden, manager of Harborside Café and a recent JWU grad (A.S., B.S., M.S.). Courtney, pictured above, says “It's a perfect fall recipe. I make it every year, and it is so good." This fall-flavored cake can be made into muffins, cupcakes, bread, bundt cake or sheet cake.
Ingredients
½ cup butter, softened
8oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 ½ cups cooked & mashed sweet potatoes (can use canned sweet potatoes)
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Bake sweet potatoes until insides are soft. Cool and peel potatoes.
  2. If using a Bundt pan, grease and flour pan. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese, butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add sweet potatoes and vanilla, beat until blended. Add eggs to mixer, one at a time, mixing in-between each egg.
  4. Add flour mixture to sweet potato mixture; beat on low just until combined.
  5. Pour batter into a Bundt pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 ½ hours, or until wooden toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Invert pan onto a sheet tray or cooling rack, remove pan, and allow to cool.
  6. Serving suggestion: serve as is, or top with powdered sugar or cream cheese frosting.
STUDENTS GETTING INVOLVED

The Student Engagement calendar is packed with opportunities for fun and interaction over the next month. Tomorrow, students on campus can stop by the Wildcat Center Lounge any time between noon and 8 pm for a two-part activity: Do You Want to Build a Snowman, featuring build-a-bear-style snowman stuffies, and letters to veterans. We'll even have hot cocoa available and Frozen playing in the background. Stuffies are available while supplies last and students can reserve one on UTix (linked through the Involvement Network).

All students, regardless of location, can sign up for upcoming virtual activities. They grow in popularity each week and some students walk away with gift card prizes. Here's the upcoming calendar:
  • Bingo: 11/13, 12/4, 12/11
  • Trivia: 11/15, 11/29, 12/6
  • Paint Night: 12/3
  • Holiday Decorating Contest: 12/9

We're excited to welcome families to some of these events. Read the Homecoming & Family Weekend recap below for more details.

Students can find more info on all things Student Engagement on the Involvement Network and by following us on Instagram @jwupvdinvolved.
VIRTUAL PANEL WITH SPORTS-RELATED RECRUITING COMPANY

On October 15, Experiential Education & Career Services (EE&CS) presented a TeamWork Online Executive Career Panel, open to all students. Buffy Filippell, Founder and President of TeamWork Online, moderated the panel that included:
  • Kurt Hunzeker, former XFL Team President
  • Philicia Douglas, Manager, Inside Sales, New Orleans Saints & Pelicans
  • Shauna Griffiths, CEO of SLG Impact – former CMS & NBA Executive
 
Panelists shared stories about their career paths and discussed what it took for them to be successful in the sports industry. Students gained knowledge about how COVID has impacted the industry and how to look forward with resiliency. Students have reached out to EE&CS directly to say what a wonderful event it was and how much they learned. We've even heard from panelists that some students contacted them directly to network and learn more from them!
 
TeamWork Online was founded in 1987 as the first recruiting company to focus on sports executive recruiting that reaches across nearly every professional sport, multiple collegiate programs and leading live event producers in the world. EE&CS has an annual subscription which provides our students with access to internships and jobs for a wide array of areas such as events, digital marketing, video/broadcasting, graphic design, software engineering, business intelligence, sales and marketing, accounting, food & beverage, operations and more.

Encourage your student to set up a virtual appointment to learn how to sign up, research, and search for opportunities. They should go to jwuLink > jobs & internships > schedule appointment > career center > appointment.
WILDCAT WELLNESS KIT

Last month, Counseling Services rolled out its Wildcat Wellness Kit and their goal is to have it reach every JWU student. The resource is designed to help students cope with everything 2020 – the election, the national discourse and COVID-19. The guide is filled with information about campus resources in addition to resources outside of JWU. There are live links throughout the document which bring students directly to resources being mentioned.

Families are welcome to review the Wildcat Wellness Kit here. We encourage you to discuss the content with your student and direct them to resources as needed.
FOCUSING ON FINANCIAL LITERACY

Johnson & Wales offers students and families access to financial literacy programs and resources through a partnership with iGrad. Students are encouraged to access the site throughout their enrollment and can do so through jwuLink.

One helpful iGrad resource is the Scholarship Search Tool. Encourage your student to explore it as they look for sources of financing for this year and next. Any questions about iGrad can be directed to Kathi Tavares from Student Financial Services by email or phone (401-598-1728).
COMMUNITY STANDARDS AND CONDUCT UPDATE

We continue to be proud of our JWU students and the smart choices they are making around the university's COVID-19 Conduct Protocols. We have had excellent attendance from both required and non-required students on our Friday COVID webinars, and it was great connecting with families at the family webinar last month. Thank you for your great questions!

As we head toward Thanksgiving, remind your student that there are only a few weeks left and to continue making choices with health and safety in mind. We are all in this together! If your student is interested in attending a Friday webinar, please have them contact our office by email to register. Registration is mandatory.
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 2020

Five JWU departments – The BRIDGE, Library, College of Online Education, College of Hospitality Management and Gender Equity Center – joined to support students in honor of International Human Rights Day. They invite students to celebrate now through December 10 with a virtual interactive exhibit around voting rights. Visiting this online resource on their own time, students can learn about International Human Rights Day, read up via the voting rights LibGuide, check out voting rights around the world, celebrate the centennial of the 19th Amendment, and SHARE their own thoughts and experiences around voting.

Human Rights Day is observed every year on December 10 – the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): a milestone document proclaiming the inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Mark Your Calendars
HOMECOMING & FAMILY WEEKEND RECAP/FAMILY ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Last month's virtual Homecoming & Family Weekend was a huge success. It was great to see students and families connecting and having fun. 97% of survey respondents indicated they enjoyed the activities and 89% said they would participate in other virtual activities, plus encourage other students and families to do the same. If you'd like to get involved, you don't have to wait long!

Student Engagement is pleased to announce the addition of family events to our virtual activities calendar. Join the fun with your student, and click on available links to register. We'll provide additional links in future newsletters. Note that prizes for applicable events (team trivia and bingo) are awarded to JWU students only.

  • November 13 @ 8 pm – Bingo
  • December 3 @ 7 pm – Paint Night
  • January 10 @ 7 pm – Team Trivia
  • February 13 @ 7 pm – Paint Night
  • March 27 @ 8 pm – Bingo
  • April 18 @ 7 pm – Team Trivia

Stay tuned for information on additional family-only events, including PFAB chats and Wildcat Family Support Series webinars. If you have any questions, contact Parent & Family Relations by email or at 401-598-2895.
WEBINAR NEXT WEEK

We've got one more family webinar scheduled before the holiday break:

Thursday, November 18 @ 7 pm
Joe Baressi, PhD, LICSW, LCDP, Associate Dean of Students for Counseling, Health & Wellness, will provide an update on JWU Providence's status with COVID testing, discuss related plans for the start of the spring semester and answer your questions. Register here.

Plus, our Parent & Family Relations Office welcomes you to check in during the following office hours (3 - 4 pm EST on the following Thursdays): November 12, November 19, December 10 and December 17. Note, these are Zoom meetings for open discussion/Q&A. Registration is not required; the meeting link is here.
JWU CALENDAR

Nov. 11 – Offices closed (Veteran's Day)
Nov. 20 – In-person classes end
Nov. 24 – Residence halls close @ noon
Nov. 25-29 – Offices closed (Thanksgiving break)
Dec. 4 – Spring payment deadline
Dec. 14-17 – Final exams

Visit the official University calendar for more important dates. Students should also pay attention to class-specific announcements shared by their faculty.
JWU Parent & Family Community
PFAB PERSPECTIVES
Each month, a member of our Parent & Family Advisory Board (PFAB) reflects on a relevant topic for most college families. Give them a read and see if you can relate.
When My Son Complains – About JWU Food or Anything

My son is currently a JWU junior and while he lives in an off-campus apartment, he does have a meal plan. To this day, he has often commented there is “nothing to eat” and he needs “real food.” Although he can swipe for meals in various venues on campus, order take-out from anywhere or simply go to the grocery store, somehow there is still “nothing to eat." 

When my son was in his first year at JWU, I admittedly ordered food from Stop & Shop and scheduled delivery to his dorm because I believed him when he told me he was “starving.” I have learned so much since then and I will share one important message: If your student complains they are starving or they have nothing to eat, they likely are not and there is an abundance of food and choices. They may just be venting about something else. 

For many students, including mine, I've learned food is a comforting diversion from boredom or something else they should be doing such as studying. If your student has a meal plan, they can find something to eat somewhere on campus. The JWU dining team does an outstanding job accommodating students’ needs. If students have funds available, Providence, Rhode Island is home to some of the most amazing restaurants in the United States. And let's not forget JWU is world renowned for its culinary program. 

I have learned that it is ok for my son to complain or vent and all I must do is listen without taking any action or trying to make it better. If students continuously complain and someone else jumps in to change things, they may never learn to be satisfied with what is right in front of them. Some days a student will have a great meal and other days they won’t. It's the same for us as parents – some days our job will go amazing and other days we feel like we can’t do the job. It's part of maturing and learning to work through unpleasant things on your own. In order to become independent adults, students must exemplify gratitude and appreciate what they have. In a Harvard Health Blog, Dr. Michael Miller says it like this: “Gratitude helps everyone refocus on what they have instead of what they lack.” 

Not everything goes the way we plan it but if we take a step back and enjoy what we have, it may make a lot of things better.  

- PFAB member Lori Pisacane is from Doylestown, Penn. Her son, Matthew (pictured above) is an Engineering & Design with Configuration Management major.
FAMILY SURVEY OF THE MONTH

This month's survey features two quick questions related to your communication with your student: how often it happens and what's your difficult topic. Take a minute to weigh in.
Last month, we asked you to indicate feelings you thought your student had in the first few weeks of the semester. Respondents were split almost evenly between families of students living on campus (49%) and those living off campus (51%). How did your responses compare to other families?
A segment of JWU students, mostly first-years, answered a similar question early in the semester. While this is not a scientific comparison to the family survey, it's interesting to note some similarities. Students' top 3 responses were:
  1. Explored new places on/around campus
  2. Felt a sense of independence
  3. Made connections with other students
Families Supporting Wildcats
YOUR GIFT WILL HAVE TWICE THE IMPACT

Did you know that gifts made to Johnson & Wales, of any amount, directly support students during this critical time?
And now, thanks to a generous donation from David A. Wilson, Ph.D, ’99 Hon.; P’98 and Jane Wilson P’98 (parents of an alum themselves), all gifts received between November 17 and December 31 will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $50,000!

But you don’t have to wait until the 17th. When you make a donation now, your support of your student and other Wildcats will be doubled! Make an “early bird” gift online today, or at any time before the end of the year, and it will be matched dollar for dollar. There’s no better time to give!
We Want To Hear From You!
JWU Parent & Family Relations serves as a liaison to parents and family members of incoming and current students through communication and programs. This monthly e-Newsletter helps you stay connected to your student as you journey with them through their JWU experience.