May 2017 Newsletter

Dear Purdue Families,

As you begin to welcome your Boilermakers home for the summer, wish them well on their summer adventures, or are in the midst of making final preparations for a trip to campus to attend commencement, we wish you all the best!

With finals in full swing and commencement just around the corner, we would like to take this time to remind families of challenges students may experience as they wrap up their semester, and of the resources available to guide them. As you may recall, a series of key themes focused on mental wellness was shared throughout the year, and can be reviewed in our our newsletter archive.

Families can help their students discuss mental wellness through conversations and resource sharing for assistance, such as: academic advisors, the Academic Success Center, the Office of the Dean of Students, the Center for Career Opportunities and/or Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

Need to connect with us over the summer? We will be here! You can reach us at parents@purdue.edu and by calling 1-844-228-0449 between 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. EST Monday – Friday. We wish all our Boilermaker families a wonderful summer and we look forward to welcoming you back in our August newsletter!

Boiler Up!
Parent & Family Connections

Featured Stories

Your gifts in action: Recreation and Wellness

Thank you to all the parents and families who’ve given to the Purdue Parents Fund. Your gift supports, among other programs, Recreation and Wellness.

This year, thanks to your gifts, Recreation and Wellness launched the Healthy Student Organization Initiative. The initiative encourages student organizations to strive for holistic wellness with their members by learning about and practicing the eight dimensions of wellness. The program provides resources to students about all areas of wellness encouraging them to investigate the multitude of resources on Purdue's campus with active members. Several organizations submitted entries explaining how their organization prioritized wellness for their members. An example of a submission was by an organization who participated in intramural soccer, “This helped us physically and allowed us to become closer and work as a team. We learned to work together more and how to build off people's strengths.” The grant from the Purdue Parents Fund, along with collaboration from the community, provided three monetary rewards for organizations to continue to practice wellness, receive a student voucher card for reduced prices at local restaurants, as well as incentives through a Weekly Wellness Challenge which brought the Wellness Office on campus to teach students about a different dimension of wellness each month. Recreation and Wellness intends to continue educating student organizations about promoting positive health behaviors and will continue the Healthy Student Organization Initiative to reward participating student organizations.

Your generosity to the Purdue Parents Fund is meaningful and directly impacts the lives of Purdue students who need extra support. We are grateful!

Purdue Day of Giving: Record success!

Many thanks to all who donated on Purdue Day of Giving! All together, we were able to raise a record $28.2M from 15,181 donations in 24 hours. Statistics on Parent giving will be announced very soon! Follow our Facebook page for an update later this month!

Wilmeth Active Learning Center to Open August 7-

Six Library Facilities Closing After Spring ‘17 Finals Week for Move to Wilmeth Active Learning Center

Purdue University’s newest building, the Thomas S. and Harvey D. Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC), is on schedule to open to the public Monday, August 7. More.

IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) Update

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool on fafsa.gov and StudentLoans.gov is currently unavailable. The IRS decided to temporarily suspend the DRT as a precautionary step following concerns that information from the tool was being misused by identity thieves. At this time, it is anticipated that the online data tool will be unavailable until the start of the next FAFSA season in October 2017.

Options while the DRT is unavailable: Applicants filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) or applying for an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan can manually provide the requested financial information from copies of their tax returns. The online FAFSA and IDR application remain operational, and applicants can continue filing the FAFSA or applying for an IDR plan as they normally would.

See the full IRS and Federal Student Aid statement at: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/update-internal-revenue-service-irs-and-federal-student-aid-fsa-statement-irs-data-retrieval-tool-drt

Commencement News

Congratulations to your Boilermaker on their wonderful accomplishment! We are all excited to welcome you to campus for spring commencement ceremonies. If you have not already stumbled across the commencement website at http://www.purdue.edu/commencement, now is a great time to look over all the site has to offer, which includes seating suggestions as well as photos and video information. If you are seeking a gift item for a graduating Boilermaker, the commencement look-book is a great place to start: http://bit.ly/PurdueSpringGrad17. And proceeds from Purdue officially licensed products benefit Purdue student scholarships.

Tickets

An e-mail will be sent on May 8 to participating graduates that will include a link to print or forward electronic commencement tickets. All tickets are general admission, guests without a ticket should report to the Box Office on the ground level of Elliott Hall of Music. Unused tickets will be handed out before the ceremony on a first come basis. Please keep in mind that anyone without a seat in Elliott Hall of Music will be welcome to watch the ceremony via a live broadcast in Fowler Hall located inside Stewart Center. Additional ticket information.

Suggested Driving Routes

State Street Redevelopment Project construction is well underway. This work has already closed a significant portion of State Street through campus and will continue to impact travel on and near campus in the coming months. Purdue University police are urging motorists to get an early start and follow route and parking suggestions for the May commencement ceremonies as road construction continues near campus.

Directions to designated parking locations are available here.

Please use caution and utilize the maps at http://statestreetwl.com/campus-access-routes-map for travel information throughout the duration of the project. This helpful campus construction map shows current closures and restrictions on campus.

Parking

Parking will be available in the Grant Street, Northwestern Avenue, University Street, and Wood Street parking garages. Please avoid parking in 24-hour reserved places. Uniformed Purdue police will be on duty and will provide directions, as needed. The surface spaces around the Hall of Music will be reserved for handicapped parking. Shuttle services will be provided in those areas for guests if needed. Please let us know if you or your guests require accessibility assistance.

For a printable campus map highlighting the parking areas, see the following map: Campus Map (use down arrow on “map features” to select parking lots and garages).

Photos

Parent & Family Connections invites families to stop by our tent on Haas lawn (across from the armory) for candid photo opportunities. Photos will be available on our Facebook page. For graduates, a professional photographer will photograph graduates in the Armory and will also take photographs of each graduate receiving his or her diploma cover. Lifetouch will send each graduate an e-mail link for viewing the photographs once they become available, however families can add their email so they also receive the proof. Information on this process can be found at- https://events.lifetouch.com/purdue. If parents want to be notified when their graduates photos are available for purchase they would select the appropriate ceremony, provide their student’s name and the email address they would like notification sent to.

Commencement Ceremony

While a “clear bag” policy is not in place, audience members who have no bag or bring their belongings in a clear bag similar to one used at athletic events will be able to enter Elliott Hall more quickly. Also permissible is one small clutch bag (no larger than 4.5 inches by 6.5 inches) - approximately the size of a hand - with or without a handle or strap. For more information on the type of bag allowed, click here.

Commencement Brunch

The Purdue Alumni Association and the Purdue Memorial Union invite you to join us in celebrating the 2017 Purdue May graduates with a memorable gourmet brunch. Celebrate this special occasion with the entire family at Purdue’s official commencement brunch on Saturday and Sunday, May 13-14, in the Purdue Memorial Union. Registration for this event ends on Monday, May 8 at 5:00 p.m. Registration available here.

Department Receptions

A number of academic departments will host receptions for graduates. A list will be published with the week of May 8th at http://www.purdue.edu/commencement/. Questions about specifics of the receptions should be directed to the academic department.