THE ART OF MAKING ROOMMATE ASSIGNMENTS — Thousands of North Carolina students will be leaving home for college in the next month and most will bunk up with someone they have never met. The Residence Life and Housing staff at Wake Forest University sorts through hundreds of housing agreements by hand each year, looking to make perfect matches for students. “We have most of the software to help with the matching, but doing it by hand helps us get to know the students,” says Connie Carson, director of Residence Life and Housing. “We try to match most of their preferences, but we intentionally try to put students together who have some differences. It’s part of the first-year experience.” Housing staff tries to match North Carolina students with students from other states. When all out-of-state students have been matched, housing staff works to match students from rural areas with those from urban parts of the state. Since first-year students at Wake Forest are not allowed to choose a particular roommate or residence hall, the staff has the challenge of making decisions about all incoming students. Carson says the task can be extremely challenging, especially because students’ preferences tend to change significantly during the summer before their freshman year. To arrange an interview, please contact Jacob McConnico at mcconnjn@wfu .edu or 336-758-5237.
MORE BACK-TO-SCHOOL STORY IDEAS – Higher education and K-12 story ideas relating to back-to-school issues can be found here.
SUMMER CLASS GOES SOUTH — This summer, while following the paths of civil rights history through the Deep South, Wake Forest sociology students will explore present-day social inequalities. From Atlanta to the Mississippi Delta, 15 students enrolled in a three–credit course will travel by bus to cities, towns and rural areas in five southern states beginning July 28. The class, Social Stratification in the American Deep South, was designed by Earl Smith, chairman of the sociology department at Wake Forest, and Angela Hattery, associate professor of sociology, to help students better understand social, economic and political issues in the South. Several students are from North Carolina, including Winston-Salem and Greensboro. To arrange interviews with Smith, Hattery or the students, contact the News Service.
WFU HOSTS ‘POLICY PROJECT,’ ULTIMATE IN DEBATE CAMPS — Approximately 56 high school students from around the country are at Wake Forest participating in the university debate team’s four-week Policy Project. The camp, which runs through Aug. 1, is one of the nation’s premier workshops for high school debaters. Camp director Ross Smith says other institutions have used the Wake Forest model in developing similar camps of their own. Students are coached by expert debaters, including Wake Forest debate team coaches, in debate theory and research. Their topic for the week, which will also be the national high school debate topic for the upcoming year, is U.S. ocean policy. The students will participate in several practice debates in preparation for the camp-ending tournament. Wake Forest’s debate team is consistently ranked among the top debate programs in the country and is directed by Allan Louden, associate professor of communication. To arrange coverage, contact Sarah S. Mansell at manselss@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.
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