It is hard to believe that we are several weeks into the fall semester. Believe it or not, there was a time when you could expect to breathe a little over the summer “break.” But this past summer, as have many summers before, proved to be an extremely busy time for the Division and the entire campus. We should be very proud of our many accomplishments this summer, and I would like to thank each and every one of you for your hard work and continued commitment to serving the needs of our community.

There are a few highlights from this past summer to which I’d like to draw your attention …

FASET orientation welcomed an unprecedented number of new students and their parents/guests to campus this past summer. This year we welcomed 2,714 new students and 3,031 parents/guests to campus over a total of 11 orientation sessions. Many thanks to the Office of New Student & Sophomore Programs for leading this incredible effort. FASET is truly a collaborative effort involving all of the Division’s departments and units. I sincerely thank you all for your hard work and positive attitude in welcoming these students and families.

New Student Convocation and Parents Reception welcomed more than 3,000 students and 540 guests respectively this past August at the Georgia World Congress Center. We were delighted to have many faculty and staff in attendance to welcome the newest members of the Georgia Tech community.

The Campus Recreation Center also generated a lot of buzz this summer. More than 239 children of Georgia Tech faculty and staff participated in Tech Wreck summer camp this summer. The CRC also hosted 9 “mega” swim meets over the summer months which generated an additional 19,880 visitors to Georgia Tech’s campus.

In collaboration with the Office of New Student & Sophomore Programs, the Office of Leadership & Civic Engagement sponsored the Community Connections program. The event included a summer long collection drive to benefit the Atlanta Day Shelter (ADS) for Women and Children. The drive raised $266 and resulted in over 3,000 items for ADS (i.e. toiletry items and school supplies). Ninety students and staff participated in the on-campus packaging event to assemble all the donated items into kits and care packages for ADS.

The Office of Greek Affairs helped advise a very successful Fall 2012 Fraternity Rush and Sorority Recruitment. More than 700 men and 400 women participated in these events which yielded over 534 and 332 respective bids.

Since the announcement of its creation last June, the Office of the Arts has been moving forward in advocating for, promoting and facilitating arts partnerships on campus and between Tech and the community. One of its first big accomplishments is developing the new Office of the Arts website which is expected to launch later this fall. Last week, the Office of the Arts hosted a Student Open House at the Ferst Center that attracted approximately 200 students.

The Multicultural Competency Committee also recently released its final draft of the Multicultural Competency Strategic Plan. This innovative and comprehensive plan will help the Division move forward in creating a more inclusive and supportive cultural for our students and staff. You can read more about this plan in this edition of The Buzz at Student Affairs.

In addition to the Multicultural Competency Plan, we are also working diligently on other strategic initiatives including program reviews and professional development opportunities.

Looking forward, it promises to be a very busy year for all of us especially since we are welcoming the largest freshman class and largest graduate student class in history at Tech. The Counseling Center is seeing an unprecedented number of new clients since the beginning of the year – 61 new clients the first week of school which is a 60.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year. The Grand Challenges Program which is a freshman living learning community is at full capacity with 110 students – click here to read a recent article publish by the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine about this exceptional program. Career Services is also ramping up with many of their fall events including the much anticipated Career Fair on September 10 and 11. In the past, over 5,000 students attended this two day event.

Last but not least, we all are looking forward to Family Weekend 2012. This signature event for the Parents Program and the Division of Student Affairs will welcome more than 2,000 guests to campus on September 21 and 22. Your help in preparing for this event is tremendously appreciated for we couldn’t possibly be successful without your support.      

Again, thank you for all that you do for the Division of Student Affairs! We can all be very proud of our achievements this summer. I look forward to our success this academic year.

Sincerely,

Bill Schafer
Vice President for Student Affairs