Parents & Families Update for November 2021

Question of the month

What should my student's meal plan look like right now?

Check the Dining Plan Budget Guideline to check if you are on budget for your meal plan. You can check your balance through your Qcard account or at the cash register. If your student has leftover meal points, they will automatically roll over to the spring semester. However, any balance left over after the spring semester has ended will be forfeited.

See the Dining Plan Budget Guideline and for Dining Plan FAQs.

Thanksgiving Break Closing

Greetings! We hope that the semester is going well for your student. Midterms have passed, and many students have begun looking forward to the Thanksgiving Break, finals week, and the end of the semester. The Office of Residential Life is busily preparing for the Thanksgiving break period as well.

As a reminder, all University residence areas close for the Thanksgiving break on Friday, November 19th at 6:00pm and reopen on Sunday, November 28 at 10:00am. QU housing is closed during this period, and all residential students are expected to depart campus unless they have applied for and received approval from the Office of Residential Life. Our break housing request form has closed, and we hope that everyone’s plans for the break have been finalized. Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We expect all residential students to refer to the checklist below as they prepare to leave their rooms/suites/apartments/houses for the break:

• Unplug ALL electrical items except for refrigerators- if students have a fish tank they must leave a post it note on the plug/wall socket or Res Life staff will unplug it!
• Turn off all lights. Light switches will be turned off so plan outlet usage accordingly.
• Close and LOCK the windows. Close the curtains or blinds.
• Make sure the room is clean (vacuum/sweep/mop).
• Empty all trash. Do not leave trash bags in the room. Remove them to nearest trash closet or dumpster.
• Take valuables home. The University is not responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen items.
• Take personal items such as medications, glasses, and chargers home. Students will not have access to their room over the break.
• Make sure furniture is not blocking room doors.
• Hill residents should remove all items from balconies.
• Remove any prohibited items from the hall. Any prohibited items found after closing will be confiscated and will not be returned.
• Lock your door and take your QCard with you.
• Students leaving vehicles here over break are required to park in the York Hill parking garage.

University staff will be entering rooms after closing to ensure these expectations are met. If action is required because of a failure to comply with these expectations, students may be asked to return to campus to address the issue.

We wish everyone safe travels and an enjoyable Thanksgiving break!

Staying late due to final exams

Finals week is taking place from December 14-18. If your student has a final on Friday, December 18, and is looking to stay overnight, they can fill out a late stay request through Res Life. More information on the request will be sent out as the end of the semester approaches. Students can find information on their final exam schedule through MyQ, under Academics, and then Final Exam Schedule.

Financial Aid for Next Year (2022/23)

Make sure you complete your FAFSA as soon as possible so it doesn’t delay the awarding of next year’s offer letter. Returning students can expect their Financial Aid Offers for the 2022/2023 academic year over the summer. If you haven’t already done so, you can complete the 2022/2023 FAFSA at - https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

J-Term (Winter-session Courses) 

Has your student enrolled in J-term (January term) courses? Please be aware that these courses aren’t covered by financial aid. Students may either pay for these courses out of pocket, or consider a loan to help with your course expenses. Information about some student loan resources are available here.

Registration

Undergraduate and graduate students registered successfully at their appointed registration times over the past few weeks. Beginning on November 8, 2021 open registration begins. Open registration allows students to register if they did not do so previously or allows students who did register to make changes to their registration. Please be advised of the following dates for continued open registration:

• November 8 - 21: Open registration
• November 29, 2021 - January 4, 2022: Open registration for J-Term
• November 29, 2021 - January 28, 2022: Open registration for Spring

Student Accounts

Now that students are registered, invoices for the January and Spring terms will be generated. Students will be notified the week after Thanksgiving when their invoices are generated. If you share the financial responsibility of tuition and fees with your student please make note of the following:

• Students and their designated proxies can view invoices in Self-Service
• Payments for January Term and Spring term are due on 12/15/21.
• Payment Plans allow students and their proxies to pay tuition and fees in 5 monthly installments if they enroll by 12/14/21. Learn more about payment plans
• Parents, spouses and other authorized users can become a proxy to view student grades and student accounts. Learn more about proxies

Parking

A new Parking Advisory Board consisting of various student representatives (commuter, residential, undergraduate, graduate), Public Safety, Facilities and One Stop had its first meeting. Historical information on parking was shared and some new ideas were presented. The next meeting is being scheduled. Commuter students will be issued new parking decals for the spring. Commuters should keep an eye on their email for more details.

Bobcat Challenge Thank You!

Thanks to the generosity of more than 1,500 members of the Quinnipiac community, over $170,000 was raised in support of our student-athletes. This year’s Bobcat Challenge champions were men’s baseball and women’s ice hockey. View the full results.

Save the Date for Bobcats Give Back!

On November 30, 2021, as part of Giving Tuesday, Quinnipiac will launch Bobcats Give Back! This is an opportunity for parents to join the spirit of Giving Tuesday by making a gift in support of the Quinnipiac Parents Fund or the school of your choice. Join us on November 30 and give back to support our Bobcats.

Get Involved: Take an Active Role in Your Student’s Education

A valuable way to share in your student’s QU experience is to join the Quinnipiac Parents Council, whose members provide philanthropic leadership for the university. Members of the Parents Council make leadership gifts in support of programs that enhance the educational experience for their children, their classmates and future generations of Bobcats.

Quinnipiac has long regarded parents as partners in the education and success of our students. We value your contribution to our joint mission of providing our students with a meaningful education in an innovative learning environment. When we make an impact on campus, we set our students up to make an impact on the world.

Get Involved

Recreation

We are approaching the opening of the eSports lab inside the Rocky Top Student Center. Construction is wrapping up and we are projecting the space to open the weekend of Dec 3-5.

There are 24 Gaming PC stations and a lounge gaming area to play XBox, Playstation & Nintendo Switch games!

Opening of On The Rocks

A couple weeks ago, we opened On the Rocks Pub and Grill on York Hill. Staffed by student waiters, we are open every Monday and Thursday evening from 6-10pm with entertainment and activities. Students can use their meal plans to purchase food. Students that live on Mount Carmel can take the shuttle up to York to check it out. Follow us on Instagram @ontherocksqu for upcoming events!

Dining feedback

Send your student every other Tuesday at 5pm to the Dining Services Advisory Board on the 2nd floor of the student center – commuter lounge.

Food Trucks

Food trucks are on campus three times a week (twice on Mount Carmel and once at York Hill). The DSAB met last Tuesday and requested we change one of the food trucks on Mount Carmel to a night option and that will be in place in the coming weeks. Meal points can be used at the food trucks unless the truck was brought in by a club or organization

NAMI

NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) is an active club on campus and an amazing resource for parents! If you suspect that your child may be struggling mentally or emotionally, remember the five Ts: Tell, Test, Teach, Talk, Take Action.

1. Tell Your Child They Can Come To You With Any Problem.
2. Test Their Academic Health By Checking Their End Of Semester Grades
3. Teach Them How To Recognize Depression And Anxiety.
4. Talk With Them More Often Or Visit If They Are In Distress.
5. Take Action If Your Student Is Experiencing High-Risk Mental Health Concerns.

To learn more and for additional resources, visit NAMI

Upcoming Wellness Programs

Self Care: Spill the tea
Tuesday, Nov. 16th: 4:00-5:00pm at Carl Hansen Student Center Piazza
Register: www.imleagues.com or email: tami.reilly@quinnipiac.edu
Let’s just meet up for some tea to have a conversation about our self care. Sharing tips and practices is always a great way to remind yourself how important your self care is.

Sweet Dreams: Come rest (and nap!) at our guided yoga relaxation session.
A great way to: Destress, boost your energy, and improve your memory, productivity, mood and alertness
Sign up in: www.imleagues.com or email: tami.reilly@quinnipiac.edu
Nov. 4th: 2:00-2:45pm/Dec. 7th: 12:00-12:45pm
All sessions are in the Athletic & Recreation Center studio B (207B)

Fitness Classes:
Fall schedule runs from Sept 7th – Dec. 11th.
All classes and registration is on: www.imleagues.com
You can sign up 24 hours prior to the start time of the class (the class will have a green circle and be “open”)
Yoga, Zumba®, bootcamp, Butts & Guts, Spinning®, Kick It By Eliza® and more!

Wellness Wednesdays:
Each Wednesday we cover a different Wellness topic, focusing on how to have not only a healthy body, but a healthy mind! We will provide educational materials (Outside Starbucks from 10am-12am at our table), let you know where to go to learn more, and open a dialogue for communication with an expert in the topic! To stay up to date with Wellness Wednesday events this year follow @quwellness on Instagram.

Help us help your students!

The following are Health and Wellness Resources your Quinnipiac student has access to but may not be fully utilizing. In the case that your child comes to you with questions about how to sign up for a fitness class or a health services appointment, you now have answers!

Fitness hours on Main and York Hill are M-F: 7-10 / Weekends:10-4. Hours for North Haven are M-F: 9-10 / Weekends: Closed

Student Health Services:

• Schedule an appointment by calling SHS or through your Patient Portal
• Contact- Email: studenthealthservice@qu.edu/ Phone: 203-582-8742
• Hours of Operation for Mount Carmel Campus: M - F: 8 a.m. - 8 p.m/ S - S: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. York Hill Campus hours are M - F: 12 p.m. - 8 p.m.
• Most routine services and supplies are provided without charge.
• For medications, prescriptions ordered by a health center provider may be sent to local pharmacies to be filled at the usual and customary fee. In some cases there may be an option to purchase prescribed medications through Student Health Services.

Counseling Services:

• Hours: M-F: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Mount Carmel, York Hill Health Center and North Haven Campus).
• Services available to all undergraduate and graduate students at no cost include individual counseling, diagnostic evaluation, medication management, group therapy, urgent visits, mental health referrals, consultation to faculty, staff and medical staff and telehealth services
• To make an appointment complete a confidential counseling request form through MyQ or the Quinnipiac App OR call Counseling Services at 203-582-8680, choose option #1, and schedule an appointment by talking to the counseling center secretary.
• In the case of a mental health crisis, speak with a licensed mental health provider by calling 203-582-8680 and choose option #3. For emergency Services: 911/ Department of Public Safety: 203-582-6200.

CARE

The Community, Assessment, Response and Evaluation (CARE) Team is committed to the safety and wellbeing of our community through proactive, coordinated, and deliberate approaches by identifying, assessing, managing and reducing any student interpersonal or behavioral concerns.

The CARE team meets weekly to review and discuss new referrals, ongoing cases and the best course of action to support students of concern.

CARE referrals are submitted by faculty, staff, students, and community members using the CARE and Conduct Incident Reporting Form. More information on CARE including a list of referral examples.

What have we been up to?

Parents & Family Weekend Student Experience Program: Student Mental & Physical Well Being Presentation

• Kerry Patton, Executive Director of Health & Wellness; Ariela Reder, Director of Counseling Services; Jennifer McCue, SGA Vice President for Public Relations; Sydney Nelson, SGA Health, Wellness & Accessibility Senator
• Jennifer and Sydney shared with the family information about student initiatives relating to health and wellness on campus including the video they created targeting mental health and calling to reduce the stigma.

We also provided information about mental and physical health resources available for students on campus and shared exciting videos introducing the new Recreation & Wellness Center. Families had the opportunity to ask questions about their student’s well-being and were moved by the video Jennifer shared.

Parents Advisory Council

Highlights of actions items from October 2021 meeting

Can we add additional shuttle bus trips to New Haven on the weekends?

Chef Reyes and I have worked with our partners in the shuttle service and will be providing an additional drop-off shuttle to New Haven in the early evening at 6:00pm and a pick-up at 9:45pm. We will monitor ridership on this new service and determine if further changes should occur. This is in addition to the morning drop-off/pickup to the New Haven train station and New Haven “city green.” The schedule is posted on the student portal in MyQ and also has been sent to all students via email.

Can you hold a mandatory RA Floor Meeting for students to feel more connected with other students?

Residence Life will be hosting a mandatory floor meeting the week before Thanksgiving and include some food/engagement with the residents of the community.

Will Dining send out a survey to understand more about students dining opinions?

At our bi-weekly DSAB (Dining Services Advisory Board meeting), we had three new students attend and  discussed what aspects of the dining experience to focus on for the survey.  It will go to students before the semester concludes.

Can we get vending machines at the North Haven campus with more options for students who are studying late?

We have spoken with the vending company, and they believe that the outtakes service is a much better option for providing / storing healthier items.  We also have coordinated with Chartwell’s to continue to focus on those options in the cases.

Can we get more information on the cost of food in the “Convenience Section” at Bobcat Den and on York Hill?

As of this note, Alyssa is working with Chartwells to finalize the list.  We are having some serious supply-chain issues on some items, so the list is not as complete as it needs to be.  We will follow-up on this.

Are the reported broken Blue Lights fixed?

Yes, the devices have been fixed. 

What are you personally doing as CXO to engage students?

Cookies in the Commons! My wife and I offer cookies every other Thursday at 8:30 pm. in the stone lounge as we build a spirit of community and focus on relationship building. Please have your student attend!