Sophomore class vice president Maggie Carswell said the class boards organized SPW in the past, but this year Student Affairs and Student Involvement and Multi-cultural services (SIMS) coordinated the weekend events.
“It was mostly [vice president for student affairs] Karen Johnson and Student Affairs," she said. "They helped a lot deciding to get all the faculty together to come up with all the info sessions and helped decide what would be most helpful for the parents.
"They told us the game plan, and we agreed because we thought everything was important. It was more helpful because they gave us a different perspective. As students it is hard to know what your parents want to see.”
Although SPW is usually held in February, Carswell said the event was moved to the fall semester to allow parents the opportunity to gain a better perspective on the process of choosing and declaring majors.
“Normally our sophomore parents weekend is in the early spring, but we changed it to the fall because after I met with faculty and Academic Affairs ,we felt the information that sophomore parents needed, they needed in the fall to help their daughters prepare for the spring,” Johnson said. “Also the sophomore class is a forgotten class. Freshmen you spend a lot of time with, juniors and seniors are getting ready to graduate so we wanted to give [sophomores] a little bit more attention and help and assistance."
Friday events involved a check-in process followed by a small reception later in the evening, Johnson said. According to the Saint Mary's SPW schedule, Saturday events included information sessions on navigating majors, succeeding during sophomore year and understanding post-graduate options. Sunday morning activities included zumba, Mass and a tour of the Heritage Room.
“They’ve been in academic sessions all day and had a lunch-in, and there’s receptions [Saturday] afternoon,” she said. “A lot of our faculty is coming in for the reception so parents can meet them. Then there will be a photo booth later and a game watch party.”
Sophomore class president Ellen Raymond said she was thankful to Johnson, the faculty and the SIMS office for their involvement in coordinating the weekend.
“We want to thank Karen Johnson and the SIMS office,” she said. “We want to thank the faculty for coming out on a Saturday too to come talk to us. It really provided a wholesome experience to see faculty with them.”
