Monday, May 08, 2017

Jack Tours 1515, a new Off-Grounds Student Center



If you have visited UVA, you may have shopped or grabbed a bite to eat on the Corner. The Corner is a shopping district just next to the University that is full of shops, restaurants, and cafes that serve the UVA community.

When one of the businesses on the Corner closed about two years ago, the University bought the building at 1515 University Avenue with the idea that it could be transformed into a flexible student space. What was interesting about the development of the project was that students were involved in every step. Facilities management documented the renovation process, so many of us were eagerly watching as the project progressed.

When 1515 opened, it became a hub of student activity immediately. Jack recently took a tour of the building, which has space for studying, music performances, exercise, playing games (hello, free skee ball, pool, foosball, air hockey, and video games!), meditating, and group meetings. There's also a coffee bar called Crumbs with the most beautiful desserts, which was closed during our morning visit. 1515 is open until 2 AM and it's full of students no matter what time I walk by.

I hope you enjoy the video by the Office of the Dean of Students' marketing team!

Tuesday, May 02, 2017

What's Happening with the #UVA21 Waiting List?



It's May 2nd and I think I'll skip right to the information you're probably craving. We're making a few offers to students on the waiting list. I'm not able to post a total number or a breakdown of where the offers will be.

How We Make Waiting List Offers

We will call or email a student on the waiting list to give them a heads up when we are ready to make them an offer of admission. Students who put themselves on the waiting list a month ago may have moved on by now, so some tell us right away that they aren't interested anymore. That's totally fine...we appreciate the ability to move quickly right now since we know there are students eager to hear some news from us.

Within a few hours, we can usually have the student's official status in SIS changed so they can view their offer letter. The student will have a couple days to make a deposit. If the student has all of their financial aid forms submitted, they'll have a couple days after the aid package is posted to make the deposit.

When We Make Waiting List Offers

We contact students in the afternoon so we don't disrupt the school day. Adjustments are made for the time zone of the student, of course. Our office closes at 5 PM each day, so there's a window of a couple hours during which we make our calls.

How Coming Off the Waiting List Affects Housing and Orientation

Summer Orientation doesn't start until June, so students admitted off the waiting list still have time to register for a summer orientation session. Housing forms aren't due until June 1 and the Office of Housing and Residence Life does not even start to assign dorms until after those forms are in. In other words, there's no disadvantage to joining the class from the waiting list.



We're going to move quickly on this. We're so excited to make these offers!