As classes resumed on the Chicago Campus today, Northwestern officials announced adjustments to New Student Week activities to accommodate freshmen who are planning to fly to Evanston.
“We anticipate that many of our new students may need to take additional time in arriving, so we are making the necessary arrangements to provide them assistance once they do arrive,” University President Henry Bienen said Wednesday in a statement.
NU is asking students who will arrive late to call their schools’ assistant deans to reschedule registration times, placement tests and advising appointments. The university is also scheduling make-up sessions for Responsibilities classes, the campus safety seminars that are required for all new students. Students can make up the seminars later in the quarter, officials said.
Resident Assistants will be on duty every hour during New Student Week to help freshmen move into their rooms. Students who arrive late should contact their dorms’ RAs to receive important dorm information.
Vice President for Student Affairs William Banis sent an e-mail to incoming freshmen telling them that NU would accommodate them if they are unable to reach Evanston in time for the start of New Student Week.
Lane Fenrich, Weinberg dean for freshmen, said administrators are waiting to see how plane delays will affect New Student Week.
“Everything’s going to be done on an ad hoc basis,” he said. “We have to see how many students arrive late.”
Fenrich said he has received calls from a handful of people who will be late, mostly international students and faculty members who serve as freshman advisers. Although freshmen are supposed to arrive Friday, meetings with advisers are not scheduled until Monday. Freshman registration is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 21.
Most placement testing already has been completed online, and students who arrive late will be allowed to make up missed tests, Fenrich said.
Students can access updated information about New Student Week through a hotline at (847) 467-8910 or at the Web site www.wildcats.northwestern.edu/nsw.
Elsewhere at NU, campus clergy members held several services yesterday and today for students and Evanston residents coping with Tuesday’s attacks. Banis said administrators are considering holding a universitywide service once students return to campus.
Bienen said students, faculty and staff members are encouraged to contact the university’s Counseling and Psychological Service for assistance dealing with grief or shock. Counselors can be reached during business hours at (847) 491-2151 and after hours at (847) 491-8100.
Classes for NU’s Medical School, Law School and School of Continuing Studies resumed this morning after they were canceled Tuesday.
“Things are back to normal at this point, so we’re going through with what are normal activities,” said Charles Loebbaka, NU spokesman.
