Family Connections
 May 2008




We are continuing to implement our new Parent & Family Association registration system and want to remind you to re-register for the PFA. This new system will allow us to better serve you and your student through enhanced information collection and storage. In order to continue receiving the monthly e-newsletters and remain registered for the FAMILYLINK emergency notification system, all members must re-register via the link below. As an exciting new benefit, once you have completed your registration, we will send you a UNCG PFA window cling, which you can use to display your UNCG pride. Thank you for helping us better serve you!

SIGN UP TODAY! http://web.uncg.edu/saf/pfa/



Your child is coming home for the summer. While there may be wonderful feelings of your student visiting for the summer, you may also have questions about what the summer will be like with your student. How have things changed since he or she has been gone? What will your son or daughter do with his or her time? What about money? How much time will your child be out with friends? What if he or she comes home late? Your son or daughter has spent the year away from you and is now blossoming into an adult.

It is important to realize the family rules that previously existed may no longer fit. It may be helpful to review with your son or daughter what the old rules, norms, and expectations were and how these need to be changed. Compromises can be reached that are comfortable for the entire family. Talk about expectations for summer employment and activities, time expectations for family and friends, household chores, and curfew times.

Emotionally, it is important to address any fears, guilt, and anxiety you may be feeling about your child's return home. Remember that you are still in the parental role, even if your son or daughter can now vote and is debating the presidential nominees with you. Becoming your child's friend may be a tempting thought, as you may be feeling disconnected and estranged from his or her life, but this is not a helpful or healthy role to assume in the long run.

Remember this is your summer too and deserves to be an opportunity for family bonding as well as relaxation. Time need not be wasted with arguing over unspoken and unrealistic rules and expectations of one another. So here's to clear communication and boundaries, and remember fall is just around the corner so enjoy this time with your child!

If you have questions or concerns about your son or daughter coming home for the summer, please contact The Counseling and Testing Center at (336) 334-5874 or visit our website at http://www.uncg.edu/shs.

~ Elizabeth Jodoin, MA, LPC, NCC, Staff Counselor, Counseling & Testing Center



UNCG students enrolled in degree seeking programs AND taking 6 or more main campus credit hours must submit proof of creditable health insurance at the beginning of each semester via the following website, www.studentinsurance.com. Students covered by their own or their family's plan simply verify their policy through a secure, on-line system with current creditable health insurance policy information. Students who do not provide verifiable health insurance information by Monday, September 1, 2008 will be automatically enrolled in a campus-endorsed student health insurance plan and billed $390.00 for each semester.
The campus-endorsed student health insurance policy is part of a UNC System plan, negotiated each year through the insurance agent for the state of North Carolina. The student plan is designed to balance coverage and cost and is tailored to meet reasonably anticipated student needs.

Insurance verification will begin in June 2008 and will end Monday, September 1, 2008! More information about the Health Insurance Requirement, including a list of frequently asked questions, is available at http://www.uncg.edu/shs/insurance.



Given the significant rise in mobile phone use, text messaging, and email communication in recent years, the use of landlines by students in residence hall rooms has significantly declined. In order to better meet students' needs, Housing and Residence Life will no longer offer local landline telephone service in individual student rooms effective July 1, 2008. Students who would like landline telephone service will be able to contract individually with Time Warner Cable for the service.

Over the past five years, students in the residence halls have been steadily increasing their use of mobile telephones, while at the same time discontinuing their usage of landline telephones and voicemail. In a recent survey (November 2007) of current residence hall students, 97.5% of student respondents reported that they possessed and used a mobile phone. Likewise, less than 500 students had set up their landline-based voicemail.

All residence hall students will be encouraged to either contract for mobile phone service or sign up for Time Warner's digital phone service. Students can also use other Voice over Internet Protocols like Skype through their Time Warner High Speed data connection. Exterior telephone call boxes and emergency telephones in elevators will remain in the residence halls.


The inaugural Parent & Family Advisory Council Scholarships were presented at the Excellence Awards Banquet on Monday, April 28. The scholarship awards are give to students who have inspired good will and support for UNCG through their involvements on and off campus. The Office of Orientation & Family Programs congratulates Amy DiTommaso and Joseph Pratico, this year's scholarship recipients.

Amy has been involved in creating Dancing Above the Barre, a program that teaches ballet to young girls with physical disabilities. Her nominator had the following things to say about Amy's involvement: "Each child has flourished…demonstrating increased strength, postural control, and even more priceless, self-esteem…Amy will probably never know how she has touched the lives of the eight young girls that have benefited from her teaching, but beyond that, she has touched the lives of their families, fiends, and anyone who is lucky enough to come across the story of Dancing Above the Barre."

Joseph serves as a Community Advisor and a mentor for the Leaders Emerging and Developing Program and is involved in Pi Kappa Alpha, Rotaract, the National Residence Hall Honorary, Intramural sports, and Blue Crew. His nominator had the following things to about his involvements at UNCG: "As a community advisor, he goes out of his way to make sure student's needs are being met…He is the first to volunteer to help with projects around campus and is certainly one of the most well recognized students at UNCG."

This scholarship was made possible through the generous donations of UNCG families to the Spartan Families Fund.

We invite all Spartan families to attend Family Weekend 2008, September 26-27! Family Weekend is part of UNCG's annual FallFest celebration and provides a special opportunity for you to reconnect with your student, spend quality time together, and enjoy UNCG. Event highlights include:
  • School receptions
  • Dinner and a movie on the EUC West Lawn
  • The Chancellor's Brunch
  • And much more!
Please continue to check our website, http://orientation.uncg.edu/families/weekend, for additional information about Family Weekend and program updates. We look forward to seeing you in September!



This is the last issue of Family Connections for the 2008-2009 academic year. We hope you have enjoyed receiving the e-newsletter and the information included has been useful to you and your student. We will begin sending e-newsletters again in August. If your student is returning in the fall, please be sure to re-register for the PFA at http://web.uncg.edu/saf/pfa/ in order to continuing receiving Family Connections next year. To those of you who have students graduating, congratulations!


May 2008 Academic Calendar

5/6
  • Last day of classes; University follows Friday schedule

    • 5/7
  • " Reading Day; Excellence Day

    • 5/8-5/10 & 5/12-5/14
  • Final Examinations

    • 5/16
  • May Commencement

    		•





    Please see the University Registrar's Office website
    for additional information, http://www.uncg.edu/reg/    .









    We are here to serve you, the parents and family members of UNCG students. If you have ideas for future articles in Family Connections or any general suggestions, comments, or concerns, please email us at families@uncg.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!


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    UNCG Orientation & Family Programs
    ADDRESS:
    245 EUC, P.O. Box 26170
    Greensboro, NC 27402-6170
    PHONE:
    (336) 334-5231
    E-MAIL:
    families@uncg.edu
    WEBSITE:
    www.uncg.edu/ori