2021 Next Stop GW #1 - Welcome!

Congratulations to the newest member of our community! It's official! We can't wait to get to know you this summer and beyond. As a native DMV'er (ie: what us locals call the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area) I am excited for you to make D.C. your new home. I came "home" in 2015 when I accepted a role to work at GW. Prior to then, I had worked in Fraternity & Sorority Life and Residence Life, but still felt like I was looking for my niche in Student Affairs. Well, six years later and I think it's suffice to say I fell in love with Orientation and transition programs -- and found my niche! That is my hope for you, to find your niche while a student at GW and I have a very good feeling you will.

I don't know about you but this past year to me has felt like a roller coaster with all the loopty loops and twists. Through it all, my colleagues, the rest of the Orientation team, and I have been preparing for your arrival to campus and while we have a lot to do this summer, the fall can't come soon enough. Our roles are to help orient, connect, and support you through your transition. This transition may look different for each of you and that's okay. We will be here every step of the way - ready to guide you through this exciting next step in life.

This email newsletter will come to your inbox at the beginning of each month through August. It is your primary resource for communication from GW. The newsletters will provide monthly topics to focus on, action items to complete, community updates, and ways to connect with your peers via social media.

We hope this is one way you stay on track this summer and remain connected to your new community! See you online this summer and in person the week of August 22.

May is American Cheese Month and we want you to take a break to think about your favorite cheese. Oddly, this got me to thinking about politics, well fictional politics, and rewatching the West Wing episode about Big Block of Cheese Day. Thanks to binge-watching, West Wing is still a student fav. If you haven't seen it yet, add it to your watch list, and then silently thank us on that day you get to use this saying during your internship.

Really, did you think your monthly focus was going to be about cheese? Well, sort of, it's just our way of saying take a break and prioritize finding time for yourself and your interests.

While we have a few things on our checklist below to get you started on this journey, we really want your focus to be on high school!

Relish in this moment. Celebrate your graduation and your accomplishments. You have worked so hard. You should be SO proud of yourself! We certainly are!

As the summer progresses, we won't be talking about cheese in this section, we will use this and our website to provide updates regarding upcoming events, such as move-in and Orientation, help you to get to know more about campus and our community, and remind you of tasks to complete.

The first-year summer checklist is in your admitted student portal.

PRO TIP: write down your login information to the portal and keep it in a safe place - this is different from your netID (GW email). You will use both often.

• CLAIM your NetID and password. You need this to create your GW email.
  • Claim it by Thursday, May 6 to be on schedule to participate in the housing process.
• REGISTER for First-Year Fall Orientation
• COMPLETE the GW First Year Academic Interest Survey
• SIGN-UP for a date/time to register for your fall courses.
  • Your session will be virtual.
  • Note: First-year students in the School of Engineering and Applied Science are pre-registered for fall courses. See the online orientation module for more details.
• FIND a roommate. RoomSync will help you create a profile to help you identify others to live with.
  • Note: Our colleagues in Campus Living and Residential Education (CLRE) will send you an email to your @gwu.edu email address by Friday, May 7 so you can get a jump on making connections. If you don't claim your GW email by Friday, CLRE will send the roommate profiles on a rolling basis as you claim your email.
• APPLY to live on-campus in our Residence Halls.
  • Note: Applications will open May 17. You will receive more details about the process the week of May 10 from Campus Living and Residential Education.
• REGISTER with Disability Support Services, if you would like additional support to accommodate a disability for your classes or living on campus.

Reminders

• his fall, we plan to be back in-person and we expect courses will be in-person with some remote options to meet varying needs of our community. As you view your BanWeb profile, the Campus Assistance Portals section is still set for our more restrictive spring & summer virtual learning period. Your "View On-Site/Off-Site Status" will be updated as it gets closer to the fall semester. No action on your part is needed at this time. You do not need to request fall access through the COVID-19 Campus Assistance Portal.
•  As you review your BanWeb for holds, you will notice a First Year Registration hold on your account. This hold will remain on your account until the date/time of your class registration, at which time it will be lifted. The hold will be placed back on your account until the add/drop period (August 12 at 9 a.m. ET).

As the newest members of our community, we want to ensure you stay up-to-date with campus and community happenings.

Health Update: Students who are in person this fall must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19

We are thrilled about the comprehensive on-campus experience we will offer our students, including in our classrooms, residence halls, laboratories, libraries and studios. We also know students will need options, and we will incorporate flexibility into our fall plans wherever possible to meet the varying in-person and remote needs of our community. As we continue to make progress this summer with our reopening plans, updates and information will be communicated and available at this website.

READ the university's vaccine requirement announcement and the FAQs, including a section for international students.

Celebrating 200 Years of History!

Congress established our university's charter on Feb. 9, 1821. In February, we began our eight-month celebration that will culminate during Alumni & Family weekend the first weekend in October.

WATCH our bicentennial kick-off event to catch up on GW's history and watch a short film narrated by GW alumna and actress Kerry Washington. Yes, that Kerry from the TV show Scandal.

Are You Our Next Danya?

Danya Sherman, a 2018 alumna, developed a napkin that can detect frequently-used date rape drugs. The budding entrepreneur then entered GW's New Venture Competition, one of the largest collegiate competitions of its kind, and kick-started her groundbreaking business.

Watch how New Venture Competition organizers applied their own principles of innovation to save the day as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down campus and threatened to cancel the 2020 Competition outright. The 2021 competition was just held on April 16.