Inside WFU – news for faculty and staff

Registration fee waived for children of faculty and staff accepted to the WFU Pre-College Program

May 6, 2021

The Wake Forest University Pre-College Program is now accepting applications for summer 2021 sessions. Wake Forest faculty and staff are eligible to have the registration fee waived for their middle- and high-school-age children.

Middle school students are invited to apply to join the Summer Exploration Program, a hands-on learning experience for current sixth through eighth-graders that allows students to ignite their passion for STEM and choose their own adventure while receiving mentorship from Wake Forest staff and current undergraduate students. This summer, the Pre-College Program will offer five online adventures for middle schoolers.

High school students are invited to apply for the Summer Immersion Program, an immersive, 4-day, online experience for rising sophomores, juniors, seniors and incoming first-year college students designed to provide an introduction to college life and the opportunity to explore a potential career pathway or field of study. The program will offer twenty-one online institutes for high school students.

What you need to know: 

• To be eligible for the registration fee waiver, students must submit a free online application and receive acceptance to the program.
• Upon acceptance, employees should call 980.224.9297 to complete the registration process and request the fee waiver.

For questions about the Summer Exploration Program, call 980.224.9281 or email middleschool@nullwfu.edu.

For questions about the Summer Immersion Program, call 980.224.9298 or email summerimmersion@nullwfu.edu.

Updates from HR: COVID-19, "Remember with Us," Artisans' Fair, Reynolda events

May 5, 2021

COVID-19 Update

Colleagues are invited to attend an upcoming Faculty and Staff COVID Update at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 20, for updates on summer operations and fall planning. Zoom webinar details will be emailed to faculty and staff in the coming week.

NC COVID-19 restrictions: Last week, Gov. Cooper announced a new executive order relaxing the outdoor mask mandate and easing mass gathering limits. Executive Order No. 209 went into effect April 30 and is set to expire June 1, at which point the state anticipates lifting more restrictions.

Under this executive order, masks are still required indoors. Although the order no longer requires use of masks outdoors, it does encourage face masks in crowded, dense outdoor settings, which is often the case on our campus. The CDC has also created a visual guide for mask wearing.

Mass gathering limits are also permitted to increase under the executive order from 50 to 100 indoors and from 100 to 200 outdoors. The University will continue to follow the guidance of our public health experts and will communicate any changes to on-campus gathering restrictions as protocols are confirmed.

Weekly Wellbeing Tip: Unplugging

Taking a break from tech can help you fully restore between busy times in your personal and professional life. Consider a phone free hour each day, picking up a screen-free hobby or even committing to a full weekend away from screens.

Learn more » screenlifebalance.com

Read More »

"Remember with Us: Commemoration of the Enslaved" to be held May 7

May 5, 2021

The Wake Forest University Slavery, Race and Memory Project will sponsor an event on Friday, May 7, at 5 p.m., to commemorate the enslaved individuals who worked for or were sold to benefit institution that would become Wake Forest University. During the virtual event, “Remember with Us: Commemoration of the Enslaved,” members of the greater University community will read the names of those enslaved individuals.

The Slavery, Race and Memory Project guides the research, preservation and communication of an accurate depiction of the University’s relationship to slavery, and its implications across Wake Forest’s history and the history of the United States.

Register here to join the webinar.

2021 Commencement and Baccalaureate speakers announced

May 5, 2021

President Hatch announced three speakers for the undergraduate Commencement celebration on Truist Field on May 16 at 8:30 p.m. and the speaker for Baccalaureate. The three speakers will be:

• Condoleezza Rice, director of the Hoover Institution, 66th Secretary of State, author and professor, was the first African American woman to serve as both secretary of state and national security advisor.
• Pete Buttigieg, the United States Secretary of Transportation since February 3, 2021, and the 32nd mayor of South Bend, Indiana from 2012 through 2020.
• Kendall Hinton, wide receiver for the Denver Broncos, elevated from the practice squad as emergency quarterback to start against the Saints in week 12 of the 2020 season; graduated in 2019 from Wake Forest where he played football as a quarterback and wide receiver.

The Baccalaureate celebration will be held virtually on Saturday, May 15 at 10 a.m. Bishop Michael Curry, the 27th and current presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church, will be the speaker.

Read President Hatch’s full message here »

Proposals funded: Fernandez, Gross

May 3, 2021

Congratulations to Luis Fernandez, research associate professor of biology and executive director of the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA), whose proposal entitled “PRO-Agua Project 2 – Enhancing the Use of Freshwater Ecosystem Services in Regional Land Use Planning in the Madre de Dios Basin” has been funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and by (subaward/subcontract from) Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

Congratulations to Michael Gross, associate professor of engineering and faculty director for the Center for Entrepreneurship, whose proposal entitled “CAREER: Processing High Surface Area, Nanostructured Ceramic Scaffolds at High Temperatures via In-Situ Carbon Templating of Hybrid Materials” has been funded by the National Science Foundation.