The Middle of Everywhere

A Special Welcome From President Anne F. Harris

Dear Parents and Families,

I am delighted to share this special issue of our parent and family newsletter, The Middle of Everywhere. For those of you who are new to the Grinnell College community this fall, the name of this newsletter carries connotations of Grinnell's vibrant community and meaningful impact on the world. You will find that Grinnell is a global college in a rural setting, with a national voice.

If you are the parent of a first-year student, we are joyfully anticipating your arrival on campus for New Student Orientation or for one of our Pre-Orientation programs (IPOP, PCPOP, and the Grinnell Science Project), we are looking forward to welcoming you and your student! And for families of our returning students, we're anticipating the excitement of a new academic year, reunions with friends, and tales of summer adventures.

This newsletter is focused on what new and returning students need to know. You will receive four other updates during the academic year -- two each semester -- with campus news, helpful resources, and stories of Grinnellians from across the United States and around the world. If you want to learn more about what's happening beyond the boundaries of campus, I encourage you to visit the Campus Partnerships webpage, where you can click on the big yellow button to subscribe to our “Community Connections Newsletter,” and learn more about the ways in which the college and community work together for the common good.

We can't wait to welcome you to the Middle of Everywhere!

Warmly,

Anne

Anne F. Harris

President

Welcome and Welcome Back!

I'm JC Lopez, Vice President of Student Affairs. The Division of Student Affairs supports the growth and learning of Grinnell College students outside of the classroom. Our outstanding team works to help students find belonging and connection, to thrive both personally and academically, to ensure their safety and wellness, and to support the distinct needs of first-generation, international, and low-income students. We look forward to seeing everyone on campus!

John, Ellie, and Melissa Seehorn by Herrick Chapel

Welcome to Grinnell College from the Parents and Families Leadership Council Co-Chairs John and Melissa Seehorn P’25

As parents of a senior, we are delighted to be among the first to welcome you to Grinnell! It’s a place brimming with a deep sense of community and belonging, which includes you as parents and family members. As we reflect on our own experience as parents of a Grinnell student, we are so grateful that our daughter chose a college that offers such a rich academic and extracurricular experience, surrounded by tremendously engaged and interested peers, faculty, and staff. Best wishes with your student’s transition to college life. This will be a busy (and likely emotional!) time for your family, and we are so glad that your student already has made such a fabulous choice about what comes next. Here’s to terrific times ahead!

Highlights from the Center for Careers, Life, and Service

First Year Students - Get Started with CLS

The Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS) empowers students and alumni to live, learn, and work with meaning and purpose. First-year students begin interacting with CLS in the fall semester, when they meet individually with their assigned Exploratory Adviser for their initial meeting. During this first meeting, the student and their adviser begin building an advising relationship, set a few initial goals, and learn about CLS resources tailored to the student’s specific interests, goals, and needs.

Following this meeting, students will explore pre-professional, industry-specific career communities, learn about global fellowships and awards, ways to engage civically with the Grinnell community, and identify experiential opportunities to build on their skills and hone their interests. More information on scheduling an initial appointment and other ways to engage with CLS will be shared during New Student Orientation!

Students and families can learn more about the CLS at career.grinnell.edu and follow our Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop on upcoming events, reminders of deadlines, student experience highlights, and more.

The Grinnell London Business & Finance interns having dinner in London with alum Atanas Djumaliev (â03) and BFCC Director Michael Lawrence.

The Grinnell London Business and Finance interns had dinner in London with alum Atanas Djumaliev (’03) and BFCC Director Michael Lawrence.

For two summers, the Center for Careers, Life & Service (CLS) coordinates the London Program, a program for students to gain international business experience through eight-week internships. Students can choose any area of business and finance that they are interested in such as trading, consulting, strategy, marketing, and more. The London Program matches each student to an internship in their area of interest, provides housing, a stipend, a work visa and cultural activities. The program is funded through alumni donations and is run by Business and Finance Career Community Director, Michael Lawrence. For more information on the London Program and career community opportunities, please visit the Business and Finance Career Community web page on the CLS website.

Greetings from the Center for Religion, Spirituality and Social Justice!

Welcome to Grinnell! My name is Rabbi Sarah Brammer-Shlay, and I serve as the Dean of Religious Life/Chaplain at Grinnell College. The Center for Religion, Spirituality and Social Justice (CRSSJ) is here to support your student during their time on campus. We provide students with many opportunities for meaningful connections, such as attending our interfaith lunchtime study series, participating in holiday/communal events or meeting with one of our clergy staff for support. We are here to support all students regardless of religious identity, including those who do not identify as spiritual/religious. I hope to see your student at an upcoming CRSSJ event.

Resources for Academic Success

The Offices of Academic Advising and the Registrar are excited to welcome the class of 2028 to campus! The transition to college is a big one, not only for students but also for families.

Grinnell College has a broad array of resources and services to help students succeed and thrive and information about them is conveniently available in one location—the student services and resource website. A potential change for both students and families is that it is up to the student to initiate and opt into using college resources and services. Our academic resources are intended for use by any and all students, which may be different from how resources were navigated during high school. Please encourage your student to learn about and take advantage of the experts on campus.

Another difference for both students and families is how grading information is provided to students. In high school, it is common for both parents and students to have real-time access to scores and grades. At Grinnell College, faculty use a variety of course management and gradebook systems, and post assignment and exam scores at varying times in the semester. The best way for a student to know where they stand in a given course is to use the syllabus to monitor their progress and to visit faculty office hours to confirm or ask questions.

Whether it’s making use of campus resources or tracking one’s academic progress, one of the most notable changes from high school to college for students and families is around privacy rights. In college, students have the right to decide what information is shared and with whom—these rights are defined through the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Not to get too technical, but there are exceptions (to ensure safety, for example) and waivers (so your student can give you access to certain information). Ultimately, it’s less about families trying to navigate FERPA and more about having a conversation with your student to come to agreement about shared information so they can feel supported while they practice managing their privacy rights.

Parents, families, and other supportive adults play an important role in the transition to college, adulthood, and independence. We look forward to making connections with our newest Grinnellians, so please encourage your student to engage and connect with our offices early and often.

Welcome from ODEI

On behalf of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI), welcome to Grinnell! We are Vrinda Varia, Associate Chief Diversity Officer for Intercultural Student Life and Autumn Wilke, Associate Chief Diversity Officer for Disability Resources. Our teams in Intercultural Affairs and Accessibility & Disability Resources work closely with your students as we center, celebrate, and explore their robust identities and communities. We envision a Grinnell that is a living, learning, and working environment in which all are valued, engaged, and treated with dignity and respect. We hope to see your students at our cultural centers, joining a multicultural student organization, or over the next few days at PCPOP!

News You Can Use

Reminders from Student Financial Services

The deadline to waive the Student Health Insurance plan is August 14, 2024.
Please plan ahead for charges that may post after the semester starts. This may include parking permits, shuttle charges, carpool fees, digital access textbooks, etc. Notifications for these types of charges are only sent to the students, so we recommend that your student monitors their online account throughout the semester/year and prepare for items they know they will need.
Make sure your student also has a plan to pay for other expenses that do not appear on the bill. Expenses that may arise right away include transportation to campus, textbooks and other course materials, and items to make the dorm feel like home. These expenses are generally the student’s responsibility to cover. You can find estimates of what your student might spend on the Cost of Attendance website.
If your student plans to carry a balance and pay it off with work-study earnings, please have them complete a Student Payroll Deduction Agreement (pdf form available through SharePoint). This will ensure their balance gets paid with each paycheck.

What you need to know about textbooks

The Pioneer Bookshop is owned and operated by Grinnell College and is the most reliable source for textbooks. The staff work directly with faculty members, so they know the exact books and editions that are required. They guarantee that the books your student buys are correct.

Textbooks can be purchased from the Pioneer Bookshop online store or in person at the store located at 933 Main Street, which is a quick walk downtown. Electronic copies of some textbooks may be available through the online store. Students also are welcome to visit the Pioneer Bookshop to pick out their own books from the textbook section. Students who drop or change a course, can return their textbooks for a full refund until the add/drop course deadline.

Ways to pay for books and course materials

The Pioneer One Card (P-card)
Most credit cards and cash
Textbook Advance of $300.00 each semester. This provides the convenience of spreading the cost of textbooks over several weeks. The books will be charged to your student's account.

Mailing Services Information

Everything that students need to know about shipping items to campus, mail pick-up, box-combinations, and other mail-related information can be found on the New Student Mail Services webpage. Regular academic year and break hours are also available on the Mail Services webpage.

Reminders from Student Health and Wellness (SHAW)

Don’t forget that Health Requirements are due before students arrive on campus. Any student who has not completed all health requirements will meet with a nurse during NSO to review missing items and, if needed, help schedule a time to obtain missing items. Some immunizations require 2 doses, so some students may not be able to complete everything before they arrive.

All Grinnell students are required to have Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliant health insurance that provides in-network benefits in the state of Iowa. Students can enroll or waive in the student health insurance (UnitedHealthcare Student Resources) through the Gallagher website by August 14^th.

Dental and Vision insurance are NOT included with the student health insurance. However, they are available for purchase starting August 1^st. Students can take out one or both. Wisdom teeth are a common expense we see for students, so be sure to take that into consideration when deciding!

Concerned about your student's wellness? Visit SHAW's Wellness and Prevention page to learn more and download resources about topics like stress, sleep, substance use, loneliness and more!

Campus Dining Information for New Student Orientation

If you plan to eat in the Marketplace (Main dining hall) on Friday August 23, stop by the table in front of the Joe Rosenfield Center (JRC) from 8:00am to 1:30pm to pick up your lunch tickets, which are required for entry. Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Students participating in NSO or required College activities do not need tickets, and may swipe their ID card for entry. The cost for a guest lunch in the Marketplace is $16 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.

Your student can log into GET to pre-purchase lunch tickets by either downloading the GET Mobile app from the app store or going to the GET website and logging in with their Grinnell College credentials. Once logged in, click "Order" and choose "Marketplace Special Events Tickets" and order "Now". Select "NSO Lunch" and use the "My Cart" link to check out. You may also call the Dining Services office at 641-269-3661 during regular business hours to pre-order with a debit or credit card.

Regular meal plans start on Sunday, August 25 for students who are not participating in NSO or other required activities. Dining Dollars will be available at that time.

Diverse Dietary Needs

Dining services provides options for a range of dietary needs including temporary needs due to illness illness or Kosher meals for Passover and for ongoing needs such as celiac disease, food allergies or intolerances, and Halal or Kosher diets.

A dietary tour will be offered on Aug. 23, at 11 a.m. Meet at the doors of the Marketplace. During this tour you will meet Britt McConnell, Grinnell's dietitian, and associate director Joe Culver, who will share how dining services can assist students with medical, religious, and other dietary needs. The tour includes information on allergens, how to read the menu boards, the NetNutrition app and how to navigate the Marketplace for their dietary needs.

Students may make a one-on-one appointment to meet with the dietitian on Wednesday, September 4 and Monday, September 9. Your student may sign up for a 30 minute session on a first-come, first-served basis by filling out this form.

Upcoming Public Events

From concerts to convocations, games to gatherings, you can find upcoming public events on the Campus Events Calendar.

Planning ahead? Check out Writers@Grinnell for upcoming events with writers of all kinds.

The Grinnell College Museum of Art is free and open to the public - from Yoga in the Museum to Gallery Talks and opportunities to meet the artists on display, you can see all Museum of Art events on the Campus Events Calendar.