Subject: Requesting Your Support for New Seawolf Winter Welcome 2023

To: All Faculty and Staff

Dear Colleagues on East, West, and Southampton Campuses,

This January, we are excited to welcome 800 new undergraduates to our Stony Brook community. We are hoping to make this year's New Seawolf Winter Welcome (NSWW) events, from January 19-21, even better than the past, and to accomplish that, we need your help! 

Facilitate Workshops and Programs 

 During NSWW, each student will experience a broad range of learning opportunities, consisting of required programs and Weeks of Welcome (WOW) programming. There are 2 required programs for which we're seeking support from faculty and staff to facilitate: “Seawolves: This Is Us” and “Professor Tell All”. 

Seawolves: This Is Us is a diversity workshop designed to introduce new students to our multicultural campus environment, community values, and expectations for fostering respect and civility. Please consider serving as a facilitator for one or two of the 90-minute in-person workshops that will be presented to small groups of up to 40 students. The workshops will be held Friday, January 20:

• 10:25-11:55am for transfer students, or
• 2-3:30pm for transfer students or first year students

Professor Tell All is an academic workshop designed to be an informal conversation that gives transfer students a glimpse of academic life and faculty expectations, as well as the opportunity to ask questions and gain tips and strategies for success. Please consider serving as a facilitator for one or two of the 50-minute in-person workshops that will be presented to small groups of up to 40 students. The workshops will be held Friday, January 20:

• 11:10am-12pm,
• 1-1:50pm, or
• 2-2:50pm

Please click here to sign up for one or more workshops by January 5, 2023. We will send you a confirmation of your assigned workshop(s) on January 6, and will provide you with more detailed information about the workshop script and content.  

SBU Weeks of Welcome (WOW)

WOW isan initiative focused on welcoming new and returning Seawolves to campus and providing engaging opportunities for involvement and community building. We are seeking your support and creativity in hosting events to welcome our new and returning students throughout Winter Welcome, January 19-22, and throughout the first 4 weeks of the semester from January 23 to February 19, to strengthen their sense of belonging and connection.

We need your involvement to make these opportunities a success! If you have a particular skill or interest, or want to offer an in-person or virtual workshop on a topic that helps acclimate students to Stony Brook, or just want to help lead a fun or social activity, we greatly appreciate your participation.If you're looking for ideas, please see this list. 

On January 20 at 1pm, we have a 50-minute WOW program block built into the students’ orientation schedule. If you are interested in hosting a workshop during that time block, please click here to indicate space needs by January 5, 2023.  We will send you a confirmation of your space on January 6. New Student and Transition Programs will release unused spaces held by the end of December for all other program reservations. 

All WOW events from January 19 through February 19 should be submitted to your SB Engaged page with the category SBU Weeks of Welcome (WOW) and any other applicable categories selected. In addition, please include the WOW graphic on your marketing materials for these events. Please also set all event visibility to “Public” on SB Engaged. As you promote your events on social media, please use the hashtag #SBUWOW and follow and tag @sbengaged, and we will do our best to reshare. If you have any questions about how to add content to SB Engaged page, please contact studentengagement@stonybrook.edu.

We’ve compiled signature events and important dates to help inform your spring event planning. Below is a link to a Google Calendar of confirmed signature events and dates for your reference:Signature Events & Important Dates Calendar. 

Funding is available to support WOW programming through New Student and Transition Programs. Please complete this funding request form by December 21 for priority review. 

If you would like to collaborate with Student Engagement & Activities on any large scale programming, please reach out to sea_programsandtraditions@stonybrook.edu.

If you have any questions about New Seawolf Winter Welcomeworkshops and programs, please contact newstudentinfo@stonybrook.edu. 

We appreciate your support in helping connect our Seawolves to all that Stony Brook has to offer. Thank you in advance for your support of these initiatives and for spending some time getting to know the newest members of our Stony Brook community!  

Sincerely,

Ric S. McClendon, EdD
Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students

Nakiya C. Drago
Director, New Student & Transition Programs

Christine Marullo
Director, Student Engagement and Activities