From the Dean of Students' Desk

Welcome to the first issue of the 2007-08 academic year for Staying Connected, a newsletter for parents of first-year students. We hope you’ll enjoy the informative articles, some of which have been written by students and staff members.

This e-newsletter is coordinated by the Dean of Students office. Our web designer is Joshua Hirtz, a junior from Cedar Hill, Missouri, majoring in computer science. We obtain a number of our articles from PaperClip Communications, a firm which produces content for parent newsletters.

By the time you all read this, most of you will have enjoyed a wonderful experience during New Student Orientation weekend. We offer quite a few programs for parents and we hope that you got most of your questions answered. We know that it can be a stressful time for you, but we do try to make it go as smoothly as possible.

If your son or daughter did not attend the Orientation weekend activities, it is extremely important that they seek out assistance to find out what they missed. Many important campus resources are introduced during Orientation. By contacting the Information Desk in the University Center, new students can check to see if there are any leftover packets of information that might prove helpful. Any student who did not attend Orientation should come to the UC front desk to pick up a student handbook and planner. We expect new students to review the policies, procedures, and resources contained within this handbook. This is how they know what Webster expects of them.

We encouraged new students to attend Webster’s Involvement Fair on August 29 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Quad. Booths were set up to provide information and allow students to sign up for all the student clubs and organizations, as well as other opportunities for involvement on campus. You might ask your student if he or she attended and what they found interesting.

If your son or daughter is wondering where they can eat on campus, please ask them if they have been to our largest restaurant, Marletto’s Marketplace. This dining facility offers many options at every meal. And Campus Dining has installed an informational kiosk to provide students with nutritional information about the food. While nothing may be as good as the home-cooked meals your son or daughter enjoyed prior to coming to Webster, the food at Marletto’s has received good reviews from students, faculty, and staff. Chef Todd and his culinary team do an excellent job. The food is certainly a lot better than what I remember having when I was in college.

Another great spot to eat on campus is the University Center Crossroads, featuring the WOW Café, Freshëns Smoothie Company, and Blimpie Subs n’ Salads. See more information about these restaurants at the Campus Dining website: http://www.websterdining.com/.

We plan to get another newsletter out to you later in the Fall semester, hopefully in early October. We’d love to hear from you with your comments or suggestions for articles.

Sincerely,
Ted Hoef, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President and Dean of Students
hoeftl@webster.edu

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