From the Dean of Students' Desk

Welcome to the third issue of the 2007-08 academic year for Staying Connected, a newsletter for parents of first-year students.

As I write this column during the last week of November, first-year students are in the middle of “crunch time.” This may be the most stressful time of the year for new students as they juggle all of the demands on their time while preparing for finals and finishing up their final projects and presentations. Finals week is December 10-14. For many classes, writing assignments and oral presentations will be due during the last two weeks of the semester. Now would be a great time to send a care package to your student, perhaps filled with some of their favorite snacks. This works great for both residents and commuters. For more information on care packages that can be ordered via a link on our Campus Dining website, check out http://www.websterdining.com/gifts.html.

After finals week is over, faculty have a week in which to turn in final grades. Students may go on-line at any time to check their Fall semester grades via the website at http://www.webster.edu/academics/registration.shtml. Just be aware that some grades may not be posted until after December 21.

I would like to offer a caution about first semester grades. It is very typical that first-year students will get a lower GPA in college than they had in high school. A lower GPA is not automatically a sign that the student hasn’t worked as hard as they did in high school. There is an adjustment to be made with university courses and it takes a while to get used to that. If your student is disappointed with their grades, I encourage them to talk with their advisor and/or the Academic Resource Center to discuss new strategies that they might employ in future semesters. It is quite common for students to have their first semester GPAs be less than what they (or you) expected. On average, the overall GPA for freshmen at Webster is just over 3.00. Typically, the GPA will go up as the student is here longer. The overall average for all full-time undergraduates at Webster is 3.32.

Registration for Spring semester began on November 7 for first-year students. Undergraduate students need to first get their proposed schedules approved by their advisor and then they are cleared to enroll on-line. In some cases, students may have a hold on their registration due to having a balance owed on their account. If your student has experienced a hold on their registration, the business office should be contacted to make arrangements for payment of the balance.

This Staying Connected e-newsletter is once again coordinated by our web designer Joshua Hurtz, a junior from Cedar Hill, Missouri, majoring in computer science.

We will have another issue of the newsletter on-line in January or early February. We’d love to get your suggestions for future articles. I hope that you and your first-year student enjoy the holiday break.

Sincerely,
Ted Hoef, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President and Dean of Students

Comments and Suggestions
We hope to publish this Webster University Newsletter for Parents of First-Year Students at least 2-3 times per semester. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for future newsletters, please send them to hoeftl@webster.edu. We look forward to your comments and suggestions.

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