August 2019 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

This week, we welcome Purdue’s largest student body in history, including an extremely talented freshman class that we’re proud to call Boilermakers.

We’re excited to roll out, in about a month, a new program called Steps to Leaps, which comprises a range of enhanced and, in some cases, new resources to support our students in building and refining the skills that will help them succeed academically, in their careers and in their communities — skills such as resilience and fortitude, financial literacy, leadership and network building.

Steps to Leaps is grounded in the idea that all Boilermakers have the potential to make giant leaps in their lives, and that those giant leaps start with individual steps that we’re here to support.

You can read more about one Steps to Leaps initiative in this newsletter, and we promise to keep you and your student updated in the coming weeks.

We take seriously our duty to educate and prepare our students, including your Boilermaker, for successful lives and careers after graduation, and we are confident Steps to Leaps will enhance our ability to do so.

Whether your student is joining us for their first semester or their last, thank you for building a solid foundation of support for our students to succeed and for continuing to support them as we begin a new academic year.

Sincerely,

 

Mitch Daniels

President

Featured Stories

ODOS expands student assistance capabilities

The Office of the Dean of Students has announced the creation of Student Support Services, an expansion of existing resources designed to assist students with personal, academic and financial challenges.

The expansion of services includes the addition of new staff members, who will be available to meet with students as needed during regular business hours. Walk-in services for students will be housed in the Office of the Dean of Students, located on the second floor of Schleman Hall. More.

A Message from the Chief of Police

As your new Purdue student gets ready for their trip to our campus here in West Lafayette, I would like to be among the first to say, “Welcome to Purdue!” As you might expect, I have been inundated with concerns from parents like you about student safety on campus as more information about last weekend’s horrific tragedies in Texas and Ohio comes to light.

While no place is immune to random acts of violence, please be assured we place the highest priority on campus safety. Last year, Purdue’s West Lafayette campus was named the 12^th safest campus in the nation based on our reported FBI/UCR crime data. That being said, vigilance is always necessary. We are a sworn law enforcement agency that is internationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (https://calea.org/). Your public safety teams serve under the umbrella of the office of Environmental Health and Public Safety. To learn more about EHPS, please follow this link www.purdue.edu/ehps.

Now, parents often ask me, “What should I tell my student?” and “What do you do to protect my student while on campus?” Here ereHereare 10 basic facts I would like you to share with your student(s) as they head for West Lafayette:

1. The number one crime on our campus is theft of property. Electronics and bicycles are the 2 top items stolen. Please take advantage of our online registration for electronics and bikes located at https://www.purdue.edu/ehps/police. Look for the links on the left side of the page near the bottom. Remind your student they need to secure their personal belongings and lock their door when they are not in their room.
2. With regard to alcohol and illegal use of narcotics, here are the facts: In Indiana, the legal drinking age is 21 and marijuana is still illegal to possess or consume.
3. EHPS promotes the National “See something – Say something” program. Timely reporting of crimes or suspicious incidents increases our ability to respond to and solve problems. If your student sees something suspicious, please encourage them to call the Purdue University Police department and then alert a Purdue staff member or Resident Assistant in the residence halls. Our students, staff, faculty and visitors play an important role in keeping our campus safe through their reporting efforts!
4. Our telecommunications center dispatches our Police, Fire and EMS services. All across Indiana, your student can call or text 911 to reach the local law enforcement agency in an emergency. Your student will find useful emergency and non-emergency phone numbers on the back of their new student ID card.
5. More than 300 emergency call boxes or “blue lights” as they are more commonly known, are strategically placed around campus and are another way your student can communicate with their police department. One touch of the ETS button voice connects to our 911 dispatcher and indicates where your student is calling from. For a map of our ETS locations please go to https://www.purdue.edu/campus_map/graphics/campusmap.pdf
6. The Purdue University Police Department provides a “Safe Walk” program on campus. Rather than walk alone at night across campus, students can call 765-494-SAFE to reach our Safe Walk service. This service is provided by our Purdue Student Security Patrol.  For more information about our Safe Walk program please go to https://www.purdue.edu/ehps/police/about/studentpatrol.html. This telephone number is also found on the back of the student ID card.
7. Purdue reports their annual police and fire statistics to the Department of Education. If you are interested in reviewing and discussing these statistics with your student, please go to https://www.purdue.edu/ehps/police/reports/YourCampus.pdf.
8. You may or may not know that Purdue University has its own Fire Department that provides fire response and Emergency Medical Service on campus. Their services, including ambulance service to the hospital, are provided at no cost. For more information on how PUFD serves the campus community, please go to https://www.purdue.edu/ehps/fire/index.html
9. The Purdue Emergency Preparedness and Planning office has all sorts of great information your student will need to know about emergency preparedness on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus including how to sign up for our Purdue Alert emergency notification system. Family members can follow @purdueemergency on Twitter to receive the same Emergency Alerts that students do. For more information on how to sign up for Purdue Alert and dozens of other important campus safety processes, please go to https://www.purdue.edu/ehps/emergency_preparedness/index.html.
10. Your Purdue University Police Department has a web site with excellent information including a number of safety programs we offer our students. If you want more information on available programs, or just want to learn more about the variety of things your PUPD does, please go to https://www.purdue.edu/ehps/police/index.html and spend some time looking around.

Welcome to the Purdue family. We look forward to serving you and your new Boilermaker. If you have specific questions please reach out to me at chief@purdue.edu. 

Thank you for taking time to read this and for sharing your student with us.

Boiler Up!

Chief John Cox

Purdue University Police 

2019 Parent & Family Connections Publications

The online version of the Family Handbook and Calendar are now available on the Things to Know Tab. Any remaining printed materials will be available during Family Weekend at the check-in table.

Parents Fund Highlight

Thank you to all the parents and families who’ve given to the Parents Fund. Your gift supports, among other programs, Purdue’s Span Plan Non-traditional Student Services.

According to a 2019 fact sheet released by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) and Ascend at the Aspen Institute, overall college enrollment declined by only 6 percent from 2011 to 2016, while the enrollment number of student parents declined by nearly 20 percent.  This means that only 22% of all current undergrad students (3.8 million) are raising children at this time, and more than two in five of these student parents are single trying to balance school, child care and work.

Although balancing these things is a huge challenge for these individuals, an even bigger issue that they face is the associated costs because nontraditional undergraduate students are continuously trying to fit into an environment that is not necessarily built for them.  Working through the high costs and limited availability of childcare while also finding themselves on a limited student budget makes life that much harder, and is a prevalent concern right here on Purdue’s campus.  In 2016 alone, approximately 230 undergraduate Purdue student parents were in need of financial assistance; 90% of those surveyed make under $10,000 annually, half of these students were relying on the government’s help for food and 44% were already working at least 40 hours per week to meet their familial needs.

This is where Purdue’s Span Plan Non-traditional Student Services decided to step in and help.  In 2017, a Student Support Fund was created to provide undergraduate student parents with financial resources for child care associated costs.  During this inaugural year (2017-18), they were able to support 14 students with $17,000 to help with child care expenses ranging from $700-$1,200 per month for full-time care.  Three of the student recipients were able to graduate in 2018, and the rest have continued their education at Purdue with the same cumulative GPA, if not higher, than the previous year’s while enrolled full time.

In order to continue their support, Span Plan has applied for and been selected to receive a Big Give grant for the past two school years which funds go directly to their Student Parents Support Scholarship for continued child care assistance.  Per Melissa Ayala, Director of Span Plan, these grants have also allowed them to expand their reach to include funding for nontraditional undergraduate students searching for internship and research opportunities which otherwise may not have been possible due to childcare costs.

For more information about the Purdue Parents Fund or to make a gift, visit Parents Fund or contact Jeni Hill, Director of Development for Student Life, at jkhill@prf.org or by calling 765-496-1105.

Family Weekend 2019

Family Weekend - October 25-27, 2019

Plans are almost finalized for events for the upcoming Family Weekend October 25-27. The Family Weekend website with a list of events will launch Wednesday, August 28th, with registration for Family Weekend Events opening on September 11th at noon (Eastern). Watch your inbox for additional information on these dates. Note: emails will be sent to individuals subscribed to the Parent & Family Connections monthly newsletters.

Dates

August 27, Last Day to Register Without a Late Fee

September 2, Last Day to Cancel a Course Assignment Without It Appearing on Record, Labor Day (No Classes)

September 16, Last Day to Withdraw a Course with a Grade of W or to Add/Modify a Course with Instructor and Advisor Signature

October 7, Schedule of Classes published for Spring 2020 Term

October 7-8, October Break (No Classes)

October 25-27, Family Weekend

November 27-30, Thanksgiving Vacation (No Classes)

December 7, Classes End

December 8, Schedule of Classes published for Summer 2020 Term

December 9-14, Final Exams

December 14, Semester Ends (9:00 p.m.)

December 15, Fall Commencement

January 13, Spring Semester Classes Begin

See the full 2019-2020 academic calendar