University encourages families to participate in Family Weekend Nov. 9-11
Faculty, staff and students are usually the only aspects associated with the University of South Dakota. But another part of the university that may not be commonly thought of is the families.
Family Weekend is Nov. 9-11, and is a chance for USD families to visit their children and the campus to see what students have been up to the past few months.
Family Weekend is put on by Student Services. Phil Covington, the associate dean of students, said Family Weekend is a chance for the families of students to come and see what is happening on campus.
“This weekend is mainly targeted at the families of first year students, but it is open to all families,” Covington said. “It’s a time for the students to show their families their new home, including the places they go and the people they know.”
USD consistently tries to keep students on campus each weekend, Covington said.
“Family Weekend is a time when families can come to the students rather than the students going home to see their families,” he said. “We know our students like to go home, but it is also cool for that visitation to happen here as opposed to at their home.”
First-year Laura Mallow, who is from Rapid City, S.D., said she’s excited for her parents to come.
“I haven’t seen them in a while and I can’t wait for them to see how I live,” Mallow said. “I live far from home, and it’s nice to have a time that they can come and see me.”
Covington also said this weekend is a time for students to give their own spin on what’s happening at school as opposed to the administration’s decision on what parents get told.
There are many different activities that go on during Family Weekend.
Covington said USD likes to take advantage of what there is to offer on the campus and in the community.
“We try to highlight the variety of events that are already happening here at USD,” Covington said. “We haven’t asked anybody to provide anything out of the ordinary.”
Covington said USD is fortunate to have fine arts and museum events the university can encourage families and students to attend. The Saturday morning brunch is the only coordinated event. Covington said the university encourages families to be a part of the tailgating before the football game and then attend the football game with their students to make it a full-day event.
Family Weekend has been around for several years, but that is has been more heavily advertised in the last few years, Covington added.
“It’s difficult to say how many people are drawn in because there is no specific event that happens at one place at one time,” he said. “We know there are typically 150 to 200 people that attend the brunch, but we know there are a lot more people in town for Family Weekend.”
Parents are not the only family members encouraged to visit USD on Family Weekend.
“Though it’s mainly parents, siblings and grandparents also attend,” Covington said. “It also depends on how far away the relatives live.”
Several thousand parents received a post card in the mail that informed them of Family Weekend. Covington said awareness of Family Weekend was mainly focused on parents rather than students.
“We know that some students do not inform their parents of all events that occur here at USD,” Covington said. “During Fast Tracks, we informed parents of Family Weekend as a sort of ‘save-the-date’ kind of piece. There’s also a link on the university home page.”
Beth Braun, a first-year student, said she felt there was not enough information released about the weekend.
“My parents are unable to come because of the short notice,” Braun said. “There were not enough details that I could tell them so that they could plan ahead.”
Covington said he knows there is always room for improvement when it comes to getting the word out about these sort of events.
The university would like to expand the events that go on during Family Weekend and possibly will in future years, he said.
“Overall, Family Weekend is about the time the families spend together, not the events,” Covington said.
